"Welcome back to Old Trafford for the second half of the match between the two sides. This is the final round of the 07-08 English Premier League season, and the champion will be decided on this field. At present, the home team, Manchester United, has the advantage. They are two goals ahead of Nottingham Forest. Tony Twain's team basically did not get any decent chances in the first half. As long as Manchester United plays as usual, this two-goal lead will not be shaken … "
Judging from the situation after the start of the second half, Manchester United could be considered to be "playing as usual." They continued their performance in the first half and continued to put pressure on the Forest team's goal with a full attack.
Nottingham Forest wanted to fight back at first. They planned to suppress the opponent's attack with offense and regain the initiative, as Twain had said during the halftime interval.
As a result, Manchester United almost broke the goal again with two attacks, and the Forest team immediately became impotent again. Because of the pressure of conceding two goals above their heads, the Forest team was always worried that the score gap would be further widened. They could fight for a two-goal gap, but what about three or four goals? They would really lose their fighting spirit.
That was what they thought, and it was not wrong. But they did not think that being timid and afraid to move forward because they were afraid of conceding another goal was no different from losing their fighting spirit.
When Twain saw his players being forced to retreat to their half of the field to defend like they did in the first half, he suddenly stood up from his seat, startling Kerslake next to him.
"These bastards!" Kerslake cursed when he heard Twain stand up.
In front of each technical area was a square area drawn with a white line. This was the command area for the manager to direct the game. Every manager could not step out of this area. Otherwise, they would be warned by the referee, and those who did not learn their lesson might be directly invited to the stands.
Twain stepped on the white line and looked at the field. It just so happened that after the two sides changed sides to fight again in the second half, the Forest team's half of the field was in front of his technical area. He could easily use a roar to direct the game.
Gareth Bale took the ball again and passed it to Ribéry. Ribéry wanted to dribble forward but was interfered with by the opponent and went out of the sideline. And what annoyed Twain was that the ball did not go out of bounds when it touched the Manchester United player's body, but he brought it out himself.
Twain frowned and did not get angry. He planned to continue observing.
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Ronaldo received the out-of-bounds ball that was thrown by his teammate. He and Scholes did a wall pass and then dribbled the ball forward. Bale wanted to stop him, but Ronaldo used his dazzling footwork to shake him out of position, and Ronaldo once again charged into the penalty area. This time, George Wood did not hesitate to come up and shovel Ronaldo's ball away. He also knocked Ronaldo over.
The stands were filled with boos once again, accusing George Wood of giving up this time as a "rough foul".
The referee did not fulfill the wishes of this group of people this time by whistling for another penalty kick. He only indicated that it was a corner kick.
The referee and assistant referee were very perceptive. Although it looked fierce this time, in fact, Idu just shoveled the ball and could not stop his momentum. He hit Ronaldo, who also could not stop, or rather, Ronaldo did not want to stop at all.
Although it was only a corner kick, Tang En was very dissatisfied. Because Manchester United's attack exposed the problems in the Forest team's rear defensive line. If Manchester United continued to attack like this, even an iron wall could collapse.
The corner kick was sent out. Vidic grabbed the ball with a header, but under Pepe's interference, it was sent flying.
Taking advantage of Edwin van der Sar lowering his head to set up the ball, Tang En opened fire off the field.
He tore open the tie at his collar, then took a deep breath and shouted at the field, "Gareth Bale! If you're not in form, I can replace you now! "
Coincidentally, as the Forest team was preparing for the goal kick, the Old Trafford stadium was slightly quieter. Tang En's roar was accurately heard by the players on the field. All the Forest players, including Bale, turned their heads to look at Tang En, who was waving his arms and roaring on the sidelines.
"You've forgotten what I said at halftime so quickly? Are you cowering in the backfield like tortoises? You don't want to be champions anymore, do you? You want to have a season with regrets? All of you f * cking press forward! I don't care what methods you use. In short, I don't want to see us pressed in front of the goal and beaten! Don't you find it embarrassing?! "
Tang En beat his chest and stamped his feet. He was just short of rushing onto the field to grab the players' collars and shake them hard. As he shook them, he opened his bloody mouth and roared in their ears, spewing vulgarities and spittle into their ears.
"Think of a way to cut forward on the two flanks. Don't always cower in the back! George! Be more ruthless in the midfield. Harden up. Don't let Manchester United control the midfield so easily. What's your task? Whose territory is the midfield?! What are you doing? You're George Wood! Not the f * cking softy Wood! Harden up! Harden up! You're my waist! A man's waist is the most important! "
After a series of roars and curses, Tang En waved his arms frantically on the sidelines, urging the players to move forward and ignore Manchester United's frightening offensive. Because if they were always afraid that this kind of offensive would score, then they could only cower in the back for the rest of their lives until the end of the game. Manchester United was happy to see this scene. They were leading by two goals anyway. But Nottingham Forest could not accept it. They had to find a way to change the situation, and they had to take a risk. They could not always worry about losing the ball and be afraid to act. It was impossible to expect to reap the results they wanted without paying any price.
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Tang En's curses on the sidelines attracted everyone's attention. His "glorious image" was instantly spread throughout England and the world through the live broadcast on television.
Ferguson's attention was attracted by Tang En's sudden outburst on the sidelines. He turned his head to look and saw that Tang En was still roaring relentlessly. It looked like he was really forced into a corner.
If he lost his cool because of this, then it would be Manchester United's chance. When the time came, Manchester United would seize the gap in the Forest team's pressing to score another goal, and the game could be declared completely over. At that time, no matter how furious Tang En was, he might not be able to do anything.
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Tony Twain's oversized hairdryer still had some effect. Nottingham Forest relaunched their offensive, no longer afraid of Manchester United's all-out attack. They also seemed to have cast aside the fear of losing the ball again.
The counterattack, of course, had to start from the midfield. George Wood intercepted the ball from under Scholes' feet. Carrick wanted to come up and intercept it, but he hit an iron plate. George Wood leaned behind him, not letting him touch the ball, and then passed the football to van der Vaart.
When van der Vaart dribbled the ball, O 'Shea wanted to come up and snatch it. Manchester United's idea was simple. It was to not let the Forest team easily pass through the midfield. If the Forest team was forced to use long passes to organize the attack, Manchester United's defensive pressure would be much lighter.
Van der Vaart did not want to be entangled with O 'Shea here. He turned and passed the ball to Beckham. After Beckham took the ball, he directly swung his leg for a diagonal long pass and passed the football to Ribéry's feet on the left side of the field.
At this time, whether it was van der Vaart, George Wood, Rafinha, or Gareth Bale, they were all very determined to plug forward into Manchester United's half of the field.
It was like a different team from the Nottingham Forest team that was previously timid and afraid to continue to lose the ball.
Faced with multiple attack points at once, Manchester United suddenly did not know how to deal with it. Nottingham Forest had been suppressed by them for most of the game, so much so that they had forgotten how fierce Nottingham Forest originally was.
Ribéry dribbled the ball on the flank and suddenly cut inside. After the Manchester United defenders pressed up, he passed the ball to van der Vaart, who had already followed up.
Van Nistelrooy and Arshavin were lying in ambush in the opponent's penalty area, ready to receive van der Vaart's through ball.
However, van der Vaart chose to do a long shot himself. He swung his leg and suddenly swung his leg for a long shot. The football flew along the turf toward the Manchester United goal. Ben Foster pounced hard but did not touch the football. Unfortunately, the football did not roll within the goal range. It brushed against the goalpost and rolled out of the end line.
The attack made the Manchester United fans' hearts leap to their throats.
Fortunately, Nottingham Forest did not score, which gave them a chance to push the Forest team back again. If they really thought so, they were gravely mistaken.
Manchester United's attack was once again cut off in the midfield. The Forest team's midfield suddenly hardened a lot, leaving Manchester United at a loss.
In fact, it was not that the Forest team was not tough in the past, but that they were pressed back to the front of the penalty area by Manchester United. Even if they intercepted the ball, there was no way to send it out directly. They faced wave after wave of Manchester United's offense.
Now it was different. The Forest team's midfield launched a fierce robbery near the center circle. Do not underestimate the method of advancing the range of the robbery by twenty meters. Such a small change suddenly changed the Forest team's situation. The place where the ball was intercepted was closer to Manchester United's thirty-meter zone, and the success rate of the attack increased. Manchester United could immediately feel the pressure this change brought to them.
After van der Vaart made a long shot, Ribéry followed suit with a long shot. This time, it hit within the range of the goal frame and created a corner kick.
Tang En watched the team's offense pick up, but he did not turn back to sit in the technical area with peace of mind. Instead, he continued to dance on the sidelines to supervise the battle. This period of time was actually the most crucial. The Forest team took advantage of the momentum to attack. If Manchester United held on and slowly recovered the disadvantage on the field, then as time went on, there would not be much left. The gap of two goals would become a natural moat in front of Nottingham Forest. Even if Tony Twain wanted to defy the natural order, he could only hope that he was possessed by God.
So, at this juncture, no matter what, they had to score a goal. He did not care what the players on the field did. It did not matter whether it was a dive to get a penalty kick, or a fair and square goal. He only wanted the result — a goal!
He roared on the sidelines like a madman, "Score! I need to score!! " Completely disregarding his identity, he was even more impatient than the most loyal Nottingham Forest fans in the stands.
His tie had long been thrown to the ground by him, and the collar of his shirt was open. The sweat on his chest glowed a slightly dazzling white under the afternoon sun, and his black hair was messy from his scratching. Coupled with his extremely exaggerated body language, it was hard to believe. How was this like a manager? It was more like a gambler who had lost and was eager to make a comeback …
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Ronaldo tried to rely on his own strength to dribble the ball and regain possession for Manchester United. He raised his hand for the ball. When Hargreaves really passed the ball to him, the ball in front of him was intercepted by George Wood who circled around from behind. He did not expect George Wood to be so fast!
Wood's use of this move to go around the front to defend became more and more pure. In fact, there was no secret. He just relied on his abnormally strong physical fitness to bring out the characteristics of this move to the limit — fast!
After intercepting Ronaldo's ball, Wood was not in a hurry to pass the ball. Although van der Vaart was the team's current offensive planner, he was also obliged to share the work for van der Vaart.
He decided to do it himself.
Ronaldo constantly harassed from behind in an attempt to counterattack. As a defensive player, Wood's level of ball protection was world-class. It was basically impossible for Ronaldo to intercept the ball from behind without fouling, especially when Wood was bent on protecting the ball.
After Wood protected the ball, he observed the situation for a while and suddenly accelerated to dribble the ball forward.
His dribble was very sudden. He saw the gap between the two Manchester United players did not coordinate well and drilled over until he was twenty-eight meters away from the goal before he was stopped by O 'Shea with a foul. George Wood won a free kick for the Forest team.
Gareth Bale wanted to go up to take the penalty. Because in most cases, he was the team's number one free kick penalty taker. Moreover …
Bale glanced at the red stands around him. This was Old Trafford. How would David face this opponent? At least until now, Beckham had been silent with almost no smile on his face.
He felt it was better not to bother Beckham with such an embarrassing matter.
He picked up the football from the ground and walked to the spot where O 'Shea had fouled. He was just about to put the ball down when a hand pressed on it.
"I'll do it." Beckham smiled and said to the somewhat surprised Bale. "I know you're the first choice, but … today, I want to take all the free kicks in the front field. Is that okay?"
He spoke so sincerely and did not put on any airs at all. Could Bale refuse?
He handed the football to Beckham and walked back and forth.
The television commentator who saw the scene above became excited. "This is an exciting scene! We waited for most of the game and finally waited for Nottingham Forest's first free kick in the front field. It looks like the person who is going to take this kick is … David Beckham! "
For the first time, the stands at Old Trafford were split into two factions. One group of people frantically attacked this Judas, while the other group hesitated whether to be silent or applaud Beckham's return to Old Trafford.
"I didn't arrange for him to take the penalty." Tang En finally got out of his frenzied state and explained to the people around him.
Ferguson sat in his chair and looked grimly at the man on the field. He was once his proud disciple.
Beckham set up the football and Manchester United's human wall was also lined up, not daring to relax. Five people crossed in front of him, ready to take the shot.
The referee whistled. Without any extra action, Beckham ran up and raised his leg to shoot!
The football hit the human wall. Cheers and sighs rang out in the stands at the same time.
The referee's whistle also rang out.
"The human wall moved early. Heavy penalty for the free kick!"
Beckham set up the football again and ran up to shoot.
This time, the football bypassed the human wall. But when it flew over the human wall, Ronaldo jumped up and bumped his head against it. The football ended up higher than the goal and did not fly into the goal guarded by Ben Foster.
This time, the boos in the stands were a little louder. They were probably gloating over Beckham's two consecutive corner kicks.
"It looks like David can't let go in the face of his old team's goal."
Van Nistelrooy ran up and pressed his hand on Beckham's head. "David, are you okay?"
"What's wrong with me?" Beckham asked.
"Then your two kicks just now …"
Beckham smiled. "Who can guarantee that they can score every free kick?"
Van Nistelrooy thought Beckham was right. It was true. "Uh … I thought facing … Manchester United, you're a little …" He did not continue.
"It's really a wonderful feeling …" Beckham took over his words. "When I played for Real Madrid, I didn't have a chance to play against Manchester United. I didn't expect to meet Manchester United and Real Madrid when I transferred here. Are you worried that I can't let go and affect my form? "
Van Nistelrooy did not nod or shake his head, but he acquiesced.
"I love Manchester United. I love it very much. Maybe some people won't believe me when I say it. But I really love Manchester United. It was Manchester United who trained me and made me a star player. "Beckham said seriously," But it has nothing to do with today's game. Next time there's a free kick chance, I think … I'll try to seize it. "
He patted his friend van Nistelrooy on the head and turned to run back.
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