(Sorry, I forgot to publish it on time.)
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The second half had just begun. While the Beşiktaş fans were still thinking about how to create more noise and pressure on the Forest team, Nottingham Forest had already given them a welcome gift.
Beşiktaş kicked off in the first half, and it was the Forest team's turn in the second half. The Nottingham Forest players seized the opportunity to launch an attack. This time, they showed the strength of the defending champions and let the home fans see how big the difference in strength between the two teams was.
The football was always under the feet of the Forest players. No matter how hard the Beşiktaş players defended, there was no way to intercept the Forest team's ball. They dribbled the ball and passed it all the way to the front of the Beşiktaş goal. Then Petrov, who plugged in from behind, completed the shot. This time it hit within the goalpost, but it was slightly on target and was pounced on by the Beşiktaş goalkeeper, Rüştü.
Although they did not score a goal, Twain happily said to the people around him, "That's right. That's more like it. This is our real level!"
In this attack, it did not matter whether they scored a goal or not. The key was to let everyone see the Forest team's real energy. Otherwise, the Beşiktaş fans would really think that Nottingham Forest was a pushover that could be pinched at will. In fact, just as Beşiktaş 'strength was inflated because of their fanatical fans, Nottingham Forest's strength seemed to have shrunk a lot due to the fanaticism of these fans.
This attack should have sounded the alarm for Beşiktaş and told them that Nottingham Forest was not so easy to deal with. But Sağlam, who was carried away by the fanatical home atmosphere, did not take it seriously. The Forest team also had such an attack in the first half, which brushed past the goal. Didn't they let us play under pressure at other times?
It was not a big deal. With such fanatical home support, the opponent could forget about performing well here. "Hell's home ground" was not just a gimmick.
He waved his arms on the sidelines and used exaggerated body language to tell his players to continue to press forward and attack. One goal was not enough. They had to score another goal and take a two-goal lead to be safe.
Beşiktaş pressed forward like a tide.
It was just as Tang En had said during the halftime interval. Although their offense looked very imposing, the actual effect was pitifully small. A large group of people surged forward, but they could only circle around outside, unable to break into the penalty area.
In the end, Ayala stopped Beşiktaş 'attack. The fans booed as loudly as in the first half, but there were fewer and fewer Forest players affected by these factors. As long as one could see the essence through the phenomenon, one would find that Beşiktaş was really weak!
Nottingham Forest organized the attack again. Ayala handed the football to Van der Vaart.
The Dutchman did not dribble the ball, nor did he stop the ball to observe. He directly lifted his leg for a long pass and hit the ball to the front field.
The Beşiktaş players were returning to defend. If the Forest team wanted to attack, they could not give them a chance to return to defend.
Van Nistelrooy and the opposing center back, Gokhan Zan, fought for this landing point in the front field. Both of them jumped at the same time, but no one managed to head it!
Zan interfered with van Nistelrooy, and van Nistelrooy did not let go of Zan. The two of them were entangled together, which gave Petrov, who cut in at high speed, a chance.
He swept past the two men like the wind and stretched out his foot to steadily unload the falling football.
The stop of the ball won the commentator's applause. His skills were evident for him to stop a high ball so beautifully while running at high speed.
Petrov, who stopped the ball, slowed down a little. Another Turkish center back, Toraman, appeared in front of him. He was the only defensive force other than the goalkeeper, Rüştü. Beşiktaş 'offensive style of using the defenders to press up finally made them suffer.
Getting rid of the entanglement with van Nistelrooy, Zan got up from the ground and pounced on Petrov, intending to double team up to intercept the football.
Petrov poked the football through the gap between the two men before they completed the encirclement.
"Van Nistelrooy! He's unmarked! "
Beşiktaş 'only two defenders went to double team up on Petrov. Van Nistelrooy, who had also just gotten up from the ground, was certainly unmarked. Petrov did not see van Nistelrooy, but when he found that Zan also came up to defend against him, he knew it must be van Nistelrooy's chance, so he chose to pass the ball out.
Sure enough, when he was surrounded by the two men, he saw van Nistelrooy appear behind the two Turkish defenders and receive his pass. Since he plugged in from the back, he was not offside!
Now there was only Rüştü in front of the Dutch striker.
Twain was no stranger to the Beşiktaş goalkeeper. Five years ago, the 2002 World Cup in Korea and South Korea was the game that made the veteran famous. His performance in that tournament was perfect. Turkey was able to clinch a historic third place, and he was credited with it. In the end, when he competed with Marx for the best goalkeeper in that tournament, he only lost to the team's honor: the third place was not as dazzling as the champion.
He then transferred to Barcelona with such an aura. Barcelona had always been troubled by the team's goalkeepers' lack of standards and their inconsistent performance. They hoped that the arrival of Rüştü could change the situation so that Barcelona also had a goalkeeper who could be compared to Real Madrid's goalkeeper, Casillas. They did not expect …
Rüştü's performance in Barcelona was disastrous. Now that he was retiring in Turkey, he was not the main goalkeeper even in Beşiktaş. At the age of thirty-four, he was no longer as brave as he was in the past. He only got the chance to start in the game because the main goalkeeper, Arıkan, was injured.
Rüştü faced the biggest test since the start of the game. Could he successfully block van Nistelrooy's shot?
Loud boos rang out in the stadium. They put pressure on van Nistelrooy, who was alone.
Faced with Rüştü's attack, van Nistelrooy chose to directly push the shot. He pushed the football to the left. Rüştü misjudged the direction … But after he fell to the ground, his foot blocked the ball!
The football collided with Rüştü's foot and then flew to the left.
The boos in the stands turned into cheers for İNönü.
"He pounced!" The Turkish commentator exclaimed.
Just before the Turks had time to rejoice, the Forest team's third wave of offense had arrived.
Gokhan Zan chased van Nistelrooy, Toraman collided with Petrov, Rüştü fell to the ground, and Üzülmez was still desperately trying to return to defend. They were relieved to see that the football did not fly into the goal, and their footsteps in pursuit unknowingly slowed down.
At that moment, Gareth Bale appeared in the Beşiktaş penalty area, and the football was flying to where he was.
As if directed, the Beşiktaş fans instantly turned their cheers into boos, and the ear-piercing boos assaulted the young Bale.
Rüştü was still lying on the ground. As soon as he turned his head, he saw Bale turn sideways and swing his left foot. He hurriedly got up from the ground and dove back to the goal to block the opponent's shooting angle.
How could Bale give him another chance to be a hero? The loud boos from the fans did not disturb him in the slightest. Despite his young age, Bale did not lose to anyone in terms of mental strength.
Setting up his stance, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow. He aimed at the flying football and slightly adjusted his center of gravity. Starting from the ankle of his supporting foot, he exerted force from the bottom up, and the power passed to his waist and abdomen to explode, driving his body to twist. His raised left leg was like a whip that accurately hit the football!
With a bang, the football paused in the air and then changed direction to fly toward the goal!
Rüştü struggled to throw his body out. It was hard for him to do such a difficult move at the age of thirty-four. He stretched his hands as far as possible to expand his defensive area in an attempt to block the football.
But his flying height was still not enough. The football flew over him and hit the lower edge of the crossbar before bouncing straight down and smashing inside the goal line!
"What a great GOOOOAL!!" The British commentator had held back for most of the game and could finally roar out the words. "Nottingham Forest has equalized the score, 1: 1! Gareth Bale! A beautiful volley shot! "
After the goal, Bale did not run around excitedly. Instead, he put his index finger to his mouth and ran to the stands where the Turkish fans were the most concentrated.
No matter how his teammates hugged him, he kept his posture. He didn't care about the things that were thrown down from the stands. He just wanted to vent the anger in his heart.
The Beşiktaş fans in the stands did not obediently shut up. Instead, they booed louder, mixed with all kinds of insults. Bale ignored them and turned to hug his teammates.
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"Zan and Toraman surrounded Petrov and thought the Forest team's attack was over. They did not expect Petrov to poke the football through the gaps of the crowd to van Nistelrooy. Rüştü blocked van Nistelrooy and was determined to advance. Everyone thought the Forest team's attack was finally over. Things were over … But! Gareth Bale appeared in front of everyone's eyes. He scored the equalizing goal! It's a very beautiful goal that boosts morale! "
The commentator was retelling the process of the goal in an endless stream.
Tang En high-fived the people in the technical area off the field in celebration. What did it mean to bloom from multiple points, advance layer by layer, and be like a tide at the same time? Beşiktaş 'little bastards, watch carefully. This is the real deal!
Sağlam was furious about the goal concede because his players relaxed themselves at the last moment and lost their marking target, causing Bale to be completely undefended when he appeared in the danger zone.
He angrily kicked a bottle of water on the sidelines. As a former Beşiktaş striker, his footwork was still there, and it landed precisely at the feet of the fourth official.
The fourth official looked down at the water that rolled to his feet before stopping, and then looked up at Sağlam. The angry Beşiktaş manager clearly did not have the leisure to care about these small details. He was waving his arms on the sidelines and yelling discontentedly at the players inside.
The fourth official picked up the water bottle, thought about it, and put it aside. He did not pick on Sağlam.
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The game continued.
Nottingham Forest was in high spirits after the equalizing score. Even if the Beşiktaş fans went crazy in the stands and made all kinds of noise, there was no way to disturb the Forest players. Because through the goal, they discovered that Beşiktaş was really just borrowing the momentum of the fans to intimidate others.
Once this layer of paper was pierced, Nottingham Forest returned to the Champions League champion who swept the European powerhouses and eventually reached the top.
Beşiktaş 'oppressive play had no effect on the Forest team. Instead, it allowed the Forest team to seize the opportunity when their rear defense was empty to frequently counterattack and disturb Beşiktaş' rear defensive line.
Sağlam paced back and forth irritably in the technical area. He sadly found that the home atmosphere had gradually become uncontrollable for Nottingham Forest. The goal seemed to have woken them all up.
Next, the Forest team gradually seized the initiative on the field. They used their more outstanding skills to play Beşiktaş in circles.
No matter how loudly the home fans booed, they could not help the Beşiktaş players snatch the ball. No matter how terrifying the fans were, they could not come up and grab the ball themselves.
When George Wood once again used a fierce shovel to snatch the ball from Delgado's feet, the referee did not say anything. Dissatisfied boos from the home fans rang out in the stands. The Beşiktaş manager, Sağlam, flew into a rage off the field and angrily scolded the referee.
He scolded in Turkish, which Twain could not understand. But he saw the referee suddenly blow a whistle to stop the game. It was not because of the home pressure to give Wood a yellow card, but because he ran straight to the Turkish technical area. Then, in front of the fans in the stadium and against the thunderous boos, he flashed a red card at Sağlam, who was still swearing.
The Beşiktaş substitutes' bench and the people in the technical area were dumbfounded as they stared blankly at the referee's gesture toward the tunnel. It took a few seconds before someone came up to defend their manager.
Twain, on the other hand, added fuel to the fire. After he saw Sağlam was sent off, he made a gesture used to celebrate a goal — he clenched his fist and waved it a few times.
His provocative action attracted more debris from the stands behind him. Twain returned to the technical area. No matter how much debris rained down outside, he was still applauding.
No matter how Beşiktaş explained or protested, it was a fact that the agitated Sağlam had insulted the referee on duty. According to the rules, the referee had the right to send him to the stands. The referee stood in front of a group of agitated Turkish coaches and players, his arm pointing to the exit. He did not put it down and his face was taut. His meaning was obvious.
Please get out!
What made the Turkish fans gnash their teeth was that Twain was still applauding in his seat.
In the end, Sağlam did not give up. He left the technical area and walked to the stands while swearing. Twain stepped forward at the right time and watched his opponent leave the field with a smile on his face.
Sağlam, of course, saw Twain. Twain deliberately wanted him to see it. He turned his head to glance at Twain and was still muttering. It was probably not something good. But Twain did not understand anyway. He just smiled and saw him off, as if they had met at halftime.
Poor Sağlam. He was sent off midway and did not have the chance to have the last laugh.
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The manager's sending off was a very heavy blow to Beşiktaş. The cheers of the fans in the stadium became noises that made them more impatient.
Then the Forest team rallied and scored two goals in a row with twenty minutes to go. They defeated the Turkish powerhouse by a score of 3: 1 and won their first victory in the Champions League.
After the game, the entire Forest team was able to leave the stadium safely under the protection of the riot police's raised shields. They celebrated for an hour in the locker room and waited for the fanatical Turkish fans outside to disperse before they left the stadium by bus and returned to the hotel.
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