Hearing Twain's last words, the fourth official came up. Twain glanced at the other person and then turned back to the technical area. Seeing Twain walk back, the fourth official also turned back to his position and had no intention of delving into the issue. He knew very well what kind of manager Tony Twain was. This had been spread in the refereeing circle. Sometimes it was better to have less trouble than less trouble.
The referee's whistle to stop the game was obviously because of Roy Keane's foul on Wood — lifting his foot too high. A little higher and he would have kicked Wood's chin …
But the Nottingham Forest players were more dissatisfied than the foul party. The Manchester United players seized the time to run back to set up the defense. The Forest team's captain, Demetrio Albertini, stood in front of the referee and questioned his whistle just now. "Sir, that was our attack. According to the principle of advantage, you can't … "
The referee shook his head. "I have my own standards. The Manchester United captain's foul must be punished." At this point, he waved Roy Keane over and raised his hand to give him a yellow card.
Keane did not defend himself and turned to run back. His kick just now was deliberate because he saw the situation around him before. Gary Neville was a little far away and Ronaldo was still near the end line. If he did not receive the ball, it would definitely cause the other side to counterattack. It was better to take the initiative to foul and buy time for the team to return to defend.
A yellow card in exchange for the opponent's quick attack aborted. It was worth it.
Wood also could not understand this kind of penalty. It was reasonable to say that the referee's whistle for the opponent's foul should protect his own interests, but why was the other side's interests protected in the end? He pointed to his arm and said to Albertini, "I'm fine. Why did you whistle to stop it?"
Albertini looked at Wood and smiled wryly. "Because we are away. You did a good job, George. "
※ ※ ※
The television was replaying the scene of the foul just now. Wood jumped up facing Keane. It was impossible for him not to see Keane's swinging leg, but he did not dodge. Instead, he raised his head and headed the ball out. Similarly, Keane did not stop his leg and stopped his right foot in the air, waiting for Wood to hit.
"Keane lifted his foot too high! He has no intention of stopping at all … "The commentator shook his head. This was Roy Keane's style.
After the game resumed, because the Manchester United team had all retreated to defend, the Forest team's offense in the backfield was not a threat. The Forest team had fewer methods when they fell into a positional battle because they lacked a pure organizing midfielder. After all, Albertini was only a defensive midfielder. Sometimes, he could not completely replace an attacking midfielder.
The Forest team's attack came to an end.
Twenty minutes ago, the Forest team was still able to contend with Manchester United, but with Keane's goal, the initiative of the game completely fell into the hands of Manchester United. Their offense was like a tide, suppressing the Forest team's offense. Nottingham Forest could only defend for a long period of time. The occasional sneak attack did not pose much of a threat to the rear defensive line led by Rio Ferdinand.
Ribéry, who had been a consistent and outstanding performer for the past two months, almost disappeared in the attack because he was struggling with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese felt good about himself today because the opponent in front of him was really not very good and he could break through at will.
This time was no exception.
Ribéry was not good at defense. He was just entangled with Ronaldo with his unyielding spirit. But defense was not something that could be done with just a burst of energy.
Ribéry learned his lesson this time. When Ronaldo kept making feints, he did not rush to kick, but followed the other's pace and retreated. He only looked at Ronaldo and forgot that he had retreated to the line of the penalty area.
Ronaldo, who dribbled the ball, found that Ribéry still had all his attention on the ball at his feet. He smiled again. He lifted his foot and feinted the ball, looking like he wanted to poke the football to the end line and then force a breakthrough or pass from the outside.
In terms of speed, Ribéry was not afraid of the Portuguese at all. He immediately started, hoping to get ahead of Ronaldo to kick the football out.
Ronaldo made a pass, and Ribéry stretched out his leg to block. He completely blocked Ronaldo's pass route at the cost of losing his center of gravity.
The Portuguese kid was waiting for the moment when Ribéry lost his patience. He watched Ribéry fly out to block his pass. He flicked his ankle, changed the pass into a spike, and hooked the ball from behind Ribéry.
He thought he had deceived Ribéry, but he did not expect to be deceived by Ribéry!
It looked like Ribéry had thrown his center of gravity out and should have no way to face this ball. He did not expect Ronaldo to find that Ribéry still had a leg dragging behind after he hooked the football over! The football hit his foot and deviated from his expected route. He could no longer control the ball at his feet.
Damn it!
Ronaldo saw Ribéry's leg and did not hesitate. He changed direction, turned around, broke through … He hooked his leg up, then rushed forward and fell into the penalty area!
The referee's whistle sounded amid the loud boos and cheers at Old Trafford. He ran to the penalty area and pointed to the penalty spot!
"Penalty! Ribéry has tripped Ronaldo! "
When Ribéry heard the referee's whistle, his first thought was that Ronaldo had dived. However, when he turned around and saw the referee pointing at the penalty spot, he jumped up from the ground and rushed towards the referee. Fortunately, Matthew Upson was quick to stop the impulsive guy. Otherwise, he would not have been able to escape a yellow card at the very least.
Not everyone was as calm as Upson. Ashley Young rushed in front of the referee and loudly questioned him about the penalty. He thought Ronaldo had dived and should have given Ronaldo a yellow card. What did he get in the end? A yellow card.
Albertini pushed out all his teammates who had intended to "argue" with the referee. It was up to him, the captain, to argue with the referee. Although he did not see it clearly just now, based on his experience, he thought Ronaldo's fall was a little exaggerated.
The referee shook his head and insisted on his decision. He stood next to the penalty spot and raised his right arm, motioning for Manchester United to take the penalty.
Ronaldo and his teammates hugged to celebrate the penalty.
Ribéry bit his lip and stared at the jubilant Portuguese.
※ ※ ※
On the sidelines, Tang En was also very dissatisfied with the penalty. He roared angrily at the fourth official, "First, you ignore the principle of offensive advantage, and now you give a penalty for diving!"
"Mr. Tang En, please calm down." The fourth official kept a straight face, unafraid of Tang En's spittle.
"I'm very calm!" Tang En knew that the result could not be changed, but he could not accept the reality of being 0: 2 behind Manchester United in the first half.
He turned and walked back angrily. Standing on the sidelines, he watched van Nistelrooy take the penalty into the goal guarded by Darren Ward. Then the Old Trafford stadium once again burst into loud cheers.
"What a bastard!" He cursed in a low voice, very dissatisfied with the current situation. Two goals behind, and it was an away game. Was the Forest team going to win two consecutive defeats?
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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