Ronaldo made what he thought was the most realistic move. He faked a pass and beautifully bypassed George Wood, who was defending against him. Wood flew directly out of the frame on the television camera. The camera's focus was firmly locked on the Portuguese genius, Cristiano Ronaldo. All the Manchester United fans who saw this scene could not help but sigh: This is another beautiful pass!
The television commentator had already raised his hands, ready to cheer for Ronaldo's breakthrough.
At this moment, a leg suddenly appeared on the screen, followed by a person rushing out in an instant. Ronaldo had just raised his leg when the football in front of him disappeared …
"Ronaldo, Ronaldo! Ronaldo … Woooow! What is this?! George Wood! Where did he come from? "
Seeing Wood fly back into the field from outside the field and intercept Ronaldo's ball, Tang En, who was on the sidelines, acted as if his team had scored a goal. He raised his fists and smashed them down hard.
"Beautiful defense!" The commentator continued to marvel. He even used the famous words of the former British commentator, Kenneth Wolstrom. "Just when everyone thought it was all over … George Wood is back!"
Albertini, who had rushed back after Wood kicked the football out, gave him a strong hug. "Well done!" There were no other superfluous words, but it was enough to express Albertini's inner feelings.
If it were not for Wood's desperate pursuit and not giving up even when he was swung out of the end line, the Forest team would now be trailing by three goals. If the away game was scored 0: 3 by the home team, the game could basically be declared over early.
But now Wood had left a chance for the Forest team. Maybe it was not big … But the game was not over. Who knew? Maybe this defense would be a turning point …
Van Nistelrooy was complaining that Ronaldo did not pass the ball in time. The Portuguese ignored it and just stared at Wood's back in a daze. He still did not understand how Wood had rushed in from outside the field. If it was a human's reaction speed, it was too fast …
Beautiful goals were not the only thing that boosted morale. There was also a defense that seemed impossible to complete.
Wood was such a person. He rarely used words to motivate his teammates. Of course, he did not know how to say something like Tony Twain that could make everyone's blood boil. He didn't even know what "boosting morale" was … He only knew that he had to complete the task he was supposed to complete. Even if the task seemed "impossible", he would try his best to complete it. He did not think about how his actions would affect the team. In fact, his actions just happened to give everyone some hope.
This time, Ronaldo's long drive was comparable to the goalkeeper's save of the opponent's penalty kick at 0: 2.
Manchester United's chance to score was inconceivably snuffed out by George Wood. Their people were ready to stand up and cheer Ronaldo's amazing shot, but Wood stuffed their cheers back into their throats.
"George Wood. It's hard to believe that he's only been playing football for two years … Where did Tony Twain find such a genius? Even though his shooting is disgustingly bad, he is a real genius defensively! "
Along with the commentator's praise, the camera lens gave a big close-up of Wood. His face was expressionless and as cold as an iceberg. Behind him was Cristiano Ronaldo, who was a little absent-minded. From this picture, it was clear that Ronaldo was still looking at Wood, as if to completely see through him.
Twain waved his fist hard, then turned to the equally happy Kerslake and said, "Look, David. When I brought him to you, none of us expected to see a scene like this today. "
Kerslake nodded. "Yes, we picked up a big bargain!"
※ ※ ※
The Forest team's morale soared because of Wood's defense, because they all saw the hope of withdrawing from this game.
On the field, they were gradually able to compete with Manchester United.
Piqué performed well in his new position as the defensive midfielder. Roy Keane's number of forward assists decreased. Manchester United seemed to have the intention of shifting the focus of the game to defense.
Ronaldo received the pass again, and it was still George Wood who was defending him. This time, Ronaldo learned his lesson. He did not wait for Wood to come up and pushed the ball forward. He wanted to quickly break through along the sideline and not give Wood a chance to get close. This time, Wood's defense was more straightforward. He came up with a fierce tackle and knocked Ronaldo out of the sideline along with the ball.
Amid the loud boos from the stands at Old Trafford, the referee's whistle rang. Yellow card.
Wood ignored the referee's yellow card warning. He did not pull up Ronaldo, who was lying on the ground and grimacing in pain. He got up, dusted off his buttocks, and turned to run.
He was never friendly to his opponents because Twain had told him a long time ago that all his opponents on the field were his enemies. To be friendly to the enemy was to be cruel to oneself … He firmly remembered these words in his heart.
Ronaldo lay on the ground and did not get up. The referee glanced at him and waved for Manchester United's team doctor to come over. It looked like he had to receive a simple treatment …
By the time Ronaldo returned to the field, he was clearly a lot more well-behaved.
Ferguson saw this scene from below, so he made a gesture on the sidelines, asking Ronaldo and Giggs to switch positions on the two sides. The arrogant Portuguese did not object to the decision. Wood's collision had left him with a dull pain in his ribs. Deep down, he also felt that it was a better way to avoid that barbaric kid …
Seeing Ronaldo and Giggs switch positions, the Portuguese went to the left side, while the Welsh veteran went to the right side. Twain knew this was an adjustment to deal with Wood. So, he also waved his hand and switched Wood to the Forest team's right side. Leighton Baines returned to the left back position, while Chimbonda retreated into the penalty area and handed over the task of defending against Ronaldo on the right side to Wood. He just did not let the Portuguese kid feel comfortable.
With the pressure on the defense reduced a lot, the Forest team could also consider trying to fight back. Albertini moved forward more and more. He was patiently looking for opportunities, looking for opportunities for Manchester United to reveal a flaw …
This guy, Wood, has done everything he can. Now it's time for us to make our due contribution!
When the Forest team controlled the ball, Albertini did not kick the football to the front field in search of Viduka's head, as he had done before. That kind of offensive mode was too simple, allowing Rio Ferdinand to defend calmly.
This time, after Albertini made a feint to pass the ball, he suddenly sped up and charged forward with the ball after leaving a gap!
Scholes did not expect Albertini to break through with the ball himself. He could not defend in time and could only watch as the opponent ran past him.
Roy Keane came up to defend against Albertini, and the Italian cleverly passed the ball to Ribéry. Gary Neville came up to block the position, but Ribéry had no intention of breaking through. He moved the ball to the other side with a big foot, and Ashley Young received the ball.
When Ashley Young received the ball, the Forest team's right back, Chimbondagan, plugged forward to receive according to the offensive routine that he had practiced in training.
This was supposed to be a very common full back's assist mode, but Chimbonda had only done it once before the game because Manchester United's two flanks were pressing too hard. He could not even take care of the defense. How could he talk about offense?
Now he did not have to worry about plugging in to assist and that the gap behind him would be taken advantage of by the Manchester United players. Because he had George Wood behind him. He was a guy who usually spoke little but always made people feel at ease …
Chimbonda plugged in so resolutely and quickly that it attracted Ronaldo to return to defend and even took away Heinze's attention. When he saw Chimbonda run up, he took a few steps back, ready to imitate Ashley Young to pass the ball to the Forest team's full back who came up to assist.
Ashley Young seized the space of these few steps. He did not pass the ball, but took the opportunity to suddenly knock the ball inwards. A breakthrough!
He wanted to go straight into the penalty area!
Rio Ferdinand saw Ashley Young's move and hurriedly came up to cover the defense, intending to prevent his opponent from entering the penalty area.
But just as he rushed up, he saw Ashley Young, who was dribbling the ball with his head down, divert the ball from his feet. The target was his original position!
Viduka received Ashley Young's diagonal pass. Because Rio Ferdinand had been pulled out, there was not a single Manchester United player around him. It was a beautiful assist!
Manchester United's goalkeeper for the game was the American, Tim Howard. His performance last season could be said to be perfect, squeezing out the French national goalkeeper, Barthez's main position. However, his performance this season was very inconsistent. If it were not for the fact that he could not find a better and more stable goalkeeper, Ferguson would not have used him.
Viduka stopped the ball, looked up at Howard's position, and then lifted his leg to shoot!
The football drew an arc in the air and drilled into the back corner of the goal when no one expected it!
Howard didn't even make a save. He didn't expect Viduka to be undefended and shoot so calmly …
The goal came so suddenly that the television audience had yet to react. The Forest fans even thought the ball did not go in because there were no cheers from the stadium. It was only when they saw Viduka raise his arms and run towards Ashley Young, who had passed the ball to him, that they dared to confirm it was a goal.
"The ball … the ball went in!" Not only the television audience, but even the commentator himself did not expect it. Forest had been suppressed by Manchester United and had not had any good chances. He did not expect this attack to actually lead to a goal. He appeared a little unprepared. "Rio Ferdinand made a mistake. He missed his target. Nottingham Forest has pulled a goal back! There are still 17 minutes to the end of the game. A dramatic scene has appeared in what was originally a one-sided game. Can we see a completely different ending? "
"Of course!" The Nottingham Forest fans watching the game in front of the television roared.
※ ※ ※
Seeing Viduka score, Tang En was not as excited as people imagined. He stood on the sidelines and applauded the players in the field. He did not even raise his arms to cheer. To him, there was no difference between 1: 2 and 0: 2. He had already seen the scene he wanted to see the most — George Wood's growth.
Instead, it was his assistant, Kerslake, who said excitedly, "Tony! We have hope! "
"Of course." Tang En nodded. "But it depends on how fast Ferguson's reaction is. It's impossible for him not to adjust, David. "
Kerslake calmed down. What Tang En said made sense. Losing another goal with more than ten minutes to the end of the game was impossible for Ferguson to remain indifferent. He glanced at Manchester United's manager, Sven. Sure enough, the red-faced old Scotsman stood up from his seat.
Just a minute after the Forest team scored, Manchester United made a substitution.
Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch with a dark expression. He was replaced by the Brazilian Kleberson, who played as a defensive midfielder. Ferguson wanted to hold on to the one-goal advantage.
Coming off the field, Ronaldo did not go to the home team's substitutes' bench. Instead, he walked straight back to the locker room. Even a fool could see that he was unhappy about being substituted. Perhaps he felt that the others did not do as well as he did. Why not replace someone else and replace him? For example, Rooney's form in today's game was very average. There were very few threatening shots. Why not replace him?
Other than the cameras, no one paid attention to the plaintive Ronaldo. After all, the game was still going on. Having scored a goal, Forest's morale was high. They surrounded Manchester United's goal and bombarded it indiscriminately for five consecutive minutes.
If Ferguson did not adjust in time, the goal guarded by Howard would really be in danger.
Currently, Manchester United was hoarding a large number of players in front of the penalty area. They were determined not to let Forest have a chance to hit the ball into their penalty area. Even if they allowed the ball to pass back and forth 30 meters away, it would be fine.
(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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