The game fell into a stalemate. The Forest team desperately counterattacked, wanting to equalize the score before the end of the game. It was better to get a point than not to get a point.
Manchester United stood firm in defense and waited for the opportunity to counterattack. They always maintained pressure on the Forest team's rear defensive line and did not give the Forest team a chance to press on. For example, although Ronaldo was off, George Wood had to stay behind because he still had to face the attacks of van Nistelrooy, Scholes, Rooney and Giggs.
The difference between now and the previous few minutes was that the Forest team could let the two full backs boldly assist and did not have to worry that the space behind them would be taken advantage of by Manchester United.
Roy Keane's withdrawal to defend also reduced the pressure on Wood. He no longer had to face two Manchester United players at the same time. He could roam the entire backfield and act as Albertini's bodyguard.
In the 80th minute of the match, Tang En made a substitution. He replaced the center back Matthew Epperson with the striker Peter Crouch and continued to strengthen the attack. The Forest team became 343, but in fact when they pressed out to attack, there were only three players in the backfield, Piqué, Wood and the goalkeeper Darren Ward.
Forest's players gave it their all, and so did Tang En. Saying "I won't feel angry even if we lose" was something to say after the match. Right now, as long as there was a sliver of hope that we wouldn't lose the match, we couldn't give up.
"Time is running out and the Forest players don't seem to be able to run anymore. Manchester United still has no intention of giving up the counterattack. George Wood is very busy in the backfield. You can see him throughout the entire half of the field. Doesn't this kid know how to be tired? "
The commentator was right. By the time the game was almost over, the most eye-catching player on the field was not Manchester United or Forest's attacking players, but George Wood.
Manchester United did not give up on the counterattack under Ferguson's signal. As long as there was a chance, they would resolutely move forward.
Therefore, Wood had no choice but to cover for his teammates who rushed up to assist. He appeared in the right-back position for a while, and then became a left-back in the next moment. Then, he would play as the center-back and head the ball to clear the siege …
The Forest team's offense was slow to break open in the face of Manchester United's defense. Ferdinand was much more careful than when he lost the ball. When Wood was defending from the back, he would also pay attention to the situation in the front field. Seeing that the score hadn't changed for a long time, he couldn't help but feel anxious.
The game time was running out, and the Forest players could not run anymore. Even a player like Ribéry could not rush up. Most of the time, the team could only find Crouch and Viduka in front through long passes. It was a very simple play, but it was not very effective against Manchester United.
When the fourth official raised the four-minute stoppage sign on the sidelines, Tang En turned around. It looked like he had to accept this result.
Now whether the Forest team or Manchester United team had the ball, there would be boos over Old Trafford. They were not booing a team or a player, but the four minutes of injury stoppage time. For Manchester United, who only had a one-goal advantage, four minutes of stoppage time was clearly too long.
What can happen in four minutes on the football field? An attack, a counterattack, or a meaningless back-and-forth …
Manchester United controlled the ball and were not in a hurry to pass it forward. They wanted to use the opportunity to slowly run out the time. In terms of ball control, the Forest team could not compare to Manchester United. Eastwood, Viduk, and Crouch were all desperately trying to snatch the ball in the front field, but they were powerless. Instead, they were fooled by Manchester United's passes.
Time flew by in seconds.
The entire Forest team seemed to be at their wits' end.
The game was like this. Although the Forest team worked very hard for a period of time, their efforts were too late. Even this one-goal gap had become a moat at this time.
Ferguson walked down from the technical area and stood on the sidelines, ready to shake hands with Tang En after the game. No matter the outcome of the quarrel with Tang En before the game, he was the winner of the game. Although Tang En was still not considered a famous manager with a prestigious status in English football, defeating such an unruly opponent was clearly more fulfilling than defeating Kevin Keegan.
Queiroz stood next to his boss and waited to shake hands with him. They had the posture of a winner. Manchester United had the ball in their hands. How could it be easy to intercept it?
Three minutes of injury stoppage time had passed, and there was only one minute left before the end of the game. The Forest players were ready to give up. Anyway, the ball was at the opponent's feet. If they passed the ball back and forth from the back, it was still possible to prevent them from grabbing it.
Not only would it be a waste of energy to rush up, but they would also be played like clowns.
After Rio Ferdinand took control of the ball, he found that even Crouch, the Forest team's latest-playing player, did not come up to snatch it. He knew the game was over. All that was left was to wait for the referee to blow the whistle to end the game in advance.
He looked up at the referee in front of him, who was looking at his watch. Very good …
Wait!
What is that?!
A dark shadow suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
"God!" Even the commentator cried out. "This is … Where did he rush out from?! George Wood! "
Ferdinand's brain was a little overwhelmed at this moment. He was startled by the yellow figure that suddenly rushed in front of him.
No one knew how Wood rushed up. Even the Forest team's own people did not know. Only Piqué saw it. When Manchester United began to pass the ball back in the backfield, the Forest players did not have the energy to go up to snatch it. Wood wanted to rush up several times.
But this time, he was more determined than the previous times. He went up and did not think about returning to defend.
At the 93rd minute, George Wood was as full of energy as if he had just been on the field for 93 seconds. His running speed did not change at all from when he was chasing Cristiano Ronaldo. He swept across the field like the wind. He passed Albertini, Scholes, Eastwood, Roy Keane, Kleberson, Viduka, and then suddenly rushed out from behind Crouch!
Ferdinand was paying attention to the referee's actions at that time. He did not expect that there would be a Forest player who could rush up to snatch the ball in front of his penalty area!
Tang En had just turned around and was about to return to the technical area to pack up the tactical board and shake hands with Ferguson when he heard Kerslake yell beside him, "Wait! Tony! Wait … Oh my god, it's Wood! He went up! "
Tang En turned around abruptly. He just happened to see Wood rush up to Ferdinand. Just like when he was defending in front of his own penalty area, he extended his leg to poke at the football.
The stands at Old Trafford let out the loudest boos at that moment.
"Ferdinand lost the ball!! He didn't see Wood rushing up at all! "
The biggest problem with England's most expensive center back was that he would occasionally lose concentration on the field. Now, he was caught by the never-giving Wood. He only felt his feet stumble. The ball was gone!
Wood poked at the football, and the boos went up another level.
There was no one in front of him. There was only a goal and Manchester United's goalkeeper, Tim Howard. He also had no teammates who could come up to support him. It was impossible for him to pass the ball out.
Seeing this situation, Tang En suddenly thought of Wood's shot not long after the start of the first half. It was in a similar position, but Wood had shot the ball into the sky. His shooting practice results in his usual training were not that great. Was it okay to pin all of Forest's hopes on such a person?
Why was the one who intercepted the ball not Viduka, not Eastwood, not Crouch, not Albertini, not even Chimbonda? And it just had to be George Wood, who had the worst shot!
He suddenly regretted that he should have let Wood practice shooting more during training.
But he still blurted out, "Shoot!!!"
Wood looked at the football rolling under his feet. He held his breath and rushed up. The interception was successful. But what was he going to do next? Pass the ball? There was no one to pass it to. Shoot?
Shoot …
He thought of what Albertini had said to him before the game. "Sometimes, you need to rush to the front of the opponent's penalty area for a powerful long shot!"
Wasn't that the time now?
A voice suddenly rang out from the sidelines and reached his ears. "Shoot!!"
His eyes sharpened. He lowered his head and swung his right leg.
I have no choice but to shoot.
Straightening his leg, pointing his toes down, waving his hand hard, twisting his waist and swinging his leg … Shoot!
The yellow Nike 90 football transformed into a shooting star under the bright lights of the Theatre of Dreams. It penetrated Howard's ten fingers and slammed into the net!
Ferdinand had just turned around when he saw the football fly into the goal. His body turned halfway before he suddenly lost his momentum and sat on the ground.
Roy Keane, who had returned to defend, stopped in his tracks. He opened his mouth wide and panted heavily as he looked at the flustered goalkeeper, Howard.
Tang En smashed his fist on the ground.
The smile on Ferguson's face froze. His hand, which had reached out to Queiroz, stopped in mid-air as if it had been frozen.
The hissing stopped.
From the TV and radio, a voice was shouting, "This is unbelievable! It was unbelievable! Ninety-three minutes and forty-seven seconds! 2: 2! The defensive midfielder, George Wood, sprinted across half of the field, intercepted Ferdinand's careless control of the ball, and then shot … He succeeded! Tonight, the protagonist of the Theatre of Dreams makes a grand entrance at the moment when the curtain is about to fall! "
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM. More chapters. Support the author. Support the original reading!)
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