When the Forest team launched this attack, Aston Villa's manager, O 'Reilly, was about to drink water. Because he was concerned about the changes in the situation on the field, he put the bottle to his mouth and did not move. When he saw the football being headed into the goal by Eastwood, his first action was to angrily smash the bottle in his hand on the ground. He did not even bother to drink water as he turned around and cursed. His opponent, Tony Twain, rushed to the sidelines with his arms raised, waving his fists at the full away team stands across from him.
The fans who had been unscrupulously celebrating a moment ago were now all mute.
"… Freddy Eastwood has used his actions to tell the Aston Villa fans that a two-goal lead is not secure!" The commentator, Martin Taylor, voiced out Twain's thoughts.
In the second half, they switched sides to fight again. Both sides deployed their players, especially Aston Villa's manager, David O 'Reilly. He must have made a perfect defensive arrangement to counter Eastwood during the halftime interval. The Romani team did not get another chance like they did in the first half.
At the same time, the Forest team's rear defensive line, led by the veteran Hierro, was as stable as a mountain. It did not give Villa's Colombian striker, Juan Pablo Angel, or the famous Peruvian Nolberto Solano a chance to stir up trouble. Although he was old and his turning speed was too slow, Hierro's experience and ability to block his position in advance still neutralized several Aston Villa's attacks.
He was also Twain's most trusted center back. Unfortunately, he could not play the entire season due to his health. Perhaps by bringing in Hierro a year late, Twain and the greatest center back in the history of the Spanish national team and Real Madrid were destined to only have this short year of fate. Hierro had signed a one-year contract with the Forest team, and the Spanish veteran had no intention of renewing his contract. But what could he do? A year ago, the Forest team was still struggling in League One. At that time, Nottingham Forest could not attract the attention of people like Hierro.
The game fell into a stalemate. The score was fixed at 2: 2 and did not move for a long time.
Twain began to make adjustments. He replaced the physically exhausted Albertini. The Spaniard, Mikel Arteta, who had been transferred in during the winter transfer period, finally appeared in the league for the Forest team.
This was definitely not a warm-up to allow the new player to adapt to the game atmosphere. This was a victory or defeat that needed him to go up and help the team break the deadlock. Arteta knew very well what Tang En meant by making a substitution. He had high hopes placed on him, but wasn't professional players always like that? He did not care about the pressure of these expectations because he knew he would not let the coach down.
I'm not a young boy who needs to prove himself. I've already proven myself in Glasgow, Scotland. Now, I just need to contribute my strength. That's enough.
From the first time Arteta touched the ball on the field, that familiar feeling returned to him. It was a feeling he could not find after spending half a season at Real Sociedad. He understood the style of football here, he was familiar with the pace of the game here, he knew what he should do every minute and every second on the field here … Perhaps, years of drifting abroad, from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, from France to Scotland, had made him feel unfamiliar with Spanish football, and a sense of familiarity with the faster pace of English football?
Because Arteta was playing as a substitute for Albertini, he naturally had to shoulder the responsibility of organizing the entire team's offense, so more of the ball was passed to his feet.
After a brief warm-up to familiarize himself with the game, Arteta began to pass the ball forward and actively participated in organizing the offense.
After a few good passes in a row, his confidence quickly recovered. The Forest Team's offense began to pick up. Unlike Albertini, Arteta's dribbling and passing were more imaginative. He would always send out wonderful passes from places that others would not expect, and most of them were short passes. Once the ball reached his feet, the Forest Team's offensive routine would be more varied. They did not have to blindly split the sides and go down the field. They could try to coordinate and enter from the middle.
With ten minutes left in the game, Arteta and Ribéry's coordination successfully deceived Aston Villa's entire rear defensive line. At the front of the penalty area, Arteta did not immediately pass the ball after getting it. It was as though he was waiting for someone. At that moment, Ribéry cut forward at high speed from the left flank. His action attracted the attention of Aston Villa's right back, De la Cruz. He had no choice but to retreat to prevent Ribéry from breaking through from his side.
But Arteta did not pass the ball to Ribéry. Instead …
"Arteta! Direct pass! No, it's not Ribéry. It's … Eastwood! "
Arteta faced Ribéry but passed the ball to Eastwood, who was diagonally behind him!
The Romani Gypsy was originally in an offside position because Aston Villa's defenders had all moved forward. However, Ribéry's sudden forward cut forced De la Cruz to retreat. As a result, Eastwood was no longer in an offside position. Arteta seized this moment in time and passed the ball to Eastwood, who was behind the two center backs.
Faced with such an opportunity, Eastwood, who was in perfect condition for the game, could not possibly waste it. He turned around and lifted his leg to shoot!
“Its_GOOOOOAL！！ The third goal! This is Eastwood's first hat-trick of the season! So beautiful! Freddy Eastwood alone defeated Aston Villa. He's the best player in this game. He's fully deserving of the title of the best! "Tang En jumped up from his seat.
Tang En jumped up from his seat. The goal had made him so excited not just because they had turned defeat into victory, but because he had seen Arteta's flash of inspiration and Eastwood's eruption. Who would be happy if he was not happy with such a bountiful harvest from a game?
※ ※ ※
After the game ended, Eastwood became the focus of the media's coverage. Compared to George Wood, the Romani Gypsy's story was equally as legendary. Furthermore, the media quickly discovered that there was a story between Eastwood and George Wood. This greatly stimulated the gossipy hearts of England's tabloids.
Eastwood became a popular figure in Fleet Street, and Forest Team once again appeared on the sports pages of numerous media outlets.
Now, Tony Twain's team had accumulated 43 points and was still closely following Liverpool in front of them. They were tied on a few points. It was just a matter of who would be the first to succumb to the pressure and fall.
Forest Team had already begun to pick up speed. They were going to challenge the strong players ranked above them one by one.
(To be continued, if you wish to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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