Lying on the ground, Wood stared blankly at the sky above Old Trafford. His mind went blank. He did not know what had happened in that moment, but he could feel a warm current flowing out of his nose and onto his lips. It was salty.
I should have continued playing, right? What's going on?
The sky above his head was getting smaller and smaller, and a lot of people appeared on the edge. They were all looking at him.
He could recognize a few people, including Demetrio and Roy Keane …
The scene was chaotic, and the voices all became reverberations in his ears. He could not hear what these people were saying.
While Wood was still lying on the ground and did not know what had happened, Keane was explaining to the referee that it was purely an accident — who could have known that his powerful shot would be blocked by George Wood's face?
Wood was surrounded by a lot of people. Twain, off the field, did not know what had happened. He only saw George suddenly lean back and fall. Keane's shot was too fast and too close for his eyes to keep up. But soon he saw the referee look down at the situation, get up and wave to the Forest team's substitutes' bench, motioning for the team doctor to go up.
"What's going on?" He turned to look at the big screen in the Old Trafford stands, where the scene was being replayed.
Keane's powerful shot smashed hard on Wood's nose!
Twain grinned, and even he, the spectator, could not help but feel the pain.
"Keane's shot hit Wood in the face. It looks like Wood's injury is not light. He's lying on the ground and can't get up …" Before the commentator finished speaking, he saw George Wood stagger up from the ground …
Wood could finally hear what the people around him were saying. He froze for a moment when the referee told him to come off the field.
Off? Red card? I'm sent off? How is that possible! I haven't fouled yet … No, I wasn't the one who fouled just now … No, who fouled just now?
He felt his brain was groggy and his thinking was not very clear. So he shook his head hard.
The referee interpreted the movement as a "no". He said to George Wood sternly, "Young man, you have to come off at once!"
"Why?" Wood asked in confusion after he reacted.
"You're injured and have to come off for treatment." Albertini hurriedly explained next to him.
"But I don't think … there's any problem." Wood did not lie. Other than feeling a little dizzy just now, he was fine. Furthermore, the dizziness was fading quickly.
The Forest team's doctor, Fleming, finally rushed into the crowd. He pushed aside the players who were watching from the sidelines and ran to Wood. Then he exclaimed, "Oh my god!"
The referee next to him shook his head. "Even if your body is really strong to the point where there is no problem at all, you still need to go back to the locker room to change your jersey." He pointed at Wood's chest and said, "The rules do not allow a player to continue playing in a shirt with blood on it."
Hearing the referee's words, Wood looked down at his chest. The yellow Forest team away jersey had been stained with blood.
What was going on?
He touched his mouth again. It was wet. Taking his hand away, he saw that his fingers were also dyed red — it was obvious that it was blood.
"Damn it!" Seeing Wood nonchalantly looking down at his chest and touching his lips, Fleming, who was shocked by what he saw at first glance, finally came back to his senses. He shook his head and cursed. "George! What's wrong with you? Did someone splash ketchup on your face? Look at you … What are you still standing there for? "He stepped forward and grabbed Wood's arm. "Come with me!"
"I'm fine. I can still …" Wood struggled.
"Do you really think this red thing is ketchup? It's blood! "Fleming raised his voice to lecture the kid. At the same time, he sighed in his heart. Did this kid not know what pain felt like? Being hit directly in the face by that kind of ball, he actually did not frown in pain.
When the referee repeated the rules to Wood again, he walked to the sidelines with the team doctor, Fleming, to receive treatment to stop the bleeding.
Roy Keane stood outside the crowd and watched Wood walk off the field with his head up at Fleming's request. He had intended to apologize to the kid and explain. But now it seemed that the kid did not need it at all.
※ ※ ※
When Tang En saw the replay on the big screen, he knew that the Forest team would definitely lose players for a while because of this. Therefore, he took advantage of the chaos on the pitch and called Albertini to the sidelines. He asked the Italian to go back and remind the entire team to defend. In the absence of Wood, the team would focus on defense. They must not let Manchester United use this time to beat the Forest team with a numerical disadvantage.
Albertini nodded and ran back again.
After giving this important instruction, Tang En was in the mood to go to the other side of the field. Wood was being treated there by Fleming. Hopefully, it was not a broken nose …
If Wood was injured and could not represent the Forest team in the game … Tang En really did not think about his substitute.
Gunnarsson could, but in Tang En's eyes, this man could not keep up with the pace of the English Premier League. His level could guarantee a place in the main force in the current English Football League Championship and the previous League One. But in the English Premier League, in a Forest team whose goal was not simply to avoid relegation, he could only be a substitute.
※ ※ ※
Wood was receiving treatment to stop the bleeding on the sidelines. Fleming first checked to see if his nose was broken, because that kind of impact could really cause it to be broken. That was not a simple matter of stuffing two paper balls.
He touched it and only breathed a sigh of relief when he found that it was normal. He made a paper ball for Wood.
"Plug it."
Wood obediently plugged it in and took it off.
"I can't breathe," Wood said to the puzzled Fleming.
"Breathe through your mouth …"
Wood shook his head and then raised his head high to look at the sky. He did not answer, but sniffed hard. Occasionally, his throat would sway as if he had swallowed something.
Fleming did not know what Wood was going to do. Soon, the kid lowered his head again and said, "It's done."
"It's done? You stopped? "Fleming was a little surprised." What did you swallow just now? "
"Blood," Wood answered honestly.
Fleming grinned. "You swallowed all the blood from your nose?"
Wood nodded.
"Your … Majesty …" Fleming did not even know what expression he had now.
Wood ignored him and turned to walk to the field, but he was quickly pulled back by Fleming. "Where are you going? Without the referee's permission, you can't go back yet. Have you forgotten? Go back to the locker room and change. "
Wood looked down at the red bloodstains on his jersey. It did not look good.
So, he ran past Manchester United's substitutes' bench and entered the players' tunnel to go to the locker room to change.
Only after watching Wood disappear into the tunnel did Fleming walk to the Forest team's technical area. Tang En asked him, "How's the situation?"
Fleming pursed his lips. "You can tell he's fine just by looking at the way he runs, right?"
"Uh …" Tang En also felt that he had asked a not very smart question.
"Damn it. What did he eat growing up?" Fleming frowned and muttered to himself.
"What's wrong?"
"I stuffed a paper ball into his nostrils to stop the bleeding, but he complained that he couldn't breathe. Then he raised his head and drank all the blood from his nose … "Fleming said with a grin.
Tang En laughed instead when he heard Fleming say so. "It'll be fine once you get used to it, Gary."
When Wood returned to the sidelines from the locker room, Tang En called out to him. "George, how do you feel?"
Wood did not understand why he asked. "What do you feel?"
"The feeling of shooting."
"I … can't put my finger on it." Wood shook his head.
"Hmm … Take your time. Don't rush. Also, don't forget to defend. "Tang En patted Wood on the shoulder and did not say much.
The fourth official walked over and checked Wood's nose. After confirming that there were no bloodstains on his face, neck, or new jersey, he allowed him to stand on the sidelines and wait for the referee's call.
The referee saw George Wood, who had changed into a new jersey, and waved to him as he ran to the Forest team's half of the field. Wood ran up.
※ ※ ※
Because George Wood returned to the locker room to change, Forest had about five minutes with one fewer player than Manchester United.
This was originally a great opportunity for Manchester United to seize the opportunity to break the deadlock early, because Forest was not short of a striker, but a very important defensive midfielder. However, Tang En's early adjustments made Forest completely give up on attacking for these five minutes. It was not that they gave up voluntarily, but that Manchester United's attack was too fierce. Even if they wanted to counterattack, they were powerless.
Compared to Giggs on the left flank, Manchester United's right flank, Cristiano Ronaldo, was much more active. Franck Ribéry, who had performed consistently and well for the past two months, was completely suppressed by the Portuguese to the point that he could not attack.
Fortunately, Albertini was experienced and quickly organized Forest's midfield defense. Other than one time when Piqué did not kick far enough to clear a siege, allowing Rooney to shoot wide when no one was marking him, there were no thrilling scenes.
So, when Wood stepped back onto the field, the score on the big screen and the scoreboard did not change. It was still 0: 0.
Nottingham Forest was far more tenacious than Manchester United thought.
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