Although the attack did not result in a goal, it regained the confidence of the Nottingham Forest players. Manchester United's fierce offensive was broken by them, and it would be difficult to trap them again.
Nottingham Forest was a ferocious tiger that could be trapped for a while, but not forever. Ferguson understood that. So when he saw Nottingham Forest's fierce attack, he was a little worried. He did not know if it was an occasional counterattack or a sustained attack … He decided to continue to observe.
※ ※ ※
Van Nistelrooy took the ball with his back and Rio Ferdinand stuck close. He was not sure he would not lose the ball when he turned around. However, it would not be easy for Ferdinand to easily intercept the ball at his feet.
After keeping the ball at his feet for a while, van Nistelrooy decided to turn around and rush inside. Without any suspense, he was knocked down by Ferdinand outside the penalty area.
It was the best result. When van Nistelrooy got the ball, it was not easy to intercept the ball at his feet. The center forward had a superb ability to control the ball. Although he was 1.88 meters tall, his footwork was delicate and practical.
Ferdinand fouled, and Nottingham Forest won another free kick in the front field.
This time it was only twenty-two meters away from the goal. The distance was very close. A free kick was not better when it was closer to the goal. For most free kick takers, twenty-five to thirty meters was probably the best range. If the distance was too close, the football might not be able to bypass the human wall. If the ball was to bypass the human wall, it might fly straight out of the end line.
Beckham walked up again with the football. He wanted to take the penalty himself. Bale also walked up, but he was not going to take the penalty. He was going to cover for Beckham.
"David Beckham once again took the initiative to take the penalty. He did not score with his previous two free kicks. Manchester United's human wall knows his free kicks very well — five people are blocking the front of the goal. "
When Beckham bent over to place the football, he became the focus of attention in the stadium. There were still boos and applause in the stands. The Manchester United fans loved and hated the man and had mixed feelings about him.
He left for Madrid in the summer of 2003, and they were separated from each other ever since. Whenever he was unhappy at Real Madrid, there would be rumors that he wanted to return to Manchester United, but they were always denied by both him and Ferguson. It was not that Beckham did not want to return to Manchester United, but he knew very well that as long as his wife, Victoria, was still with him, and as long as Ferguson was still coaching at Manchester United, he would never return to Manchester United. Ferguson would not be interested in a player who was over 30 years old. Unfortunately, he was already 33 years old this year.
He felt that he would never have the chance to wear Manchester United's red jersey again in his career. If he could still play football after his contract with Nottingham Forest ended, it was likely that he would go to the United States to play for another two years before announcing his retirement. Ferguson said that if Beckham had not followed Victoria, he might have achieved even more than he did now. But Beckham did not know what was a higher achievement. Apart from the national team honours, he had already obtained all the honours a club player could obtain.
However … he did not gain the recognition and respect of more people. When everyone mentioned David Beckham's name, they would first think of the flashy star player who only knew how to do commercial runway shows. That was why he chose to join Nottingham Forest.
A season was about to pass in the blink of an eye, and he had a good time at Nottingham Forest. Apart from injuries, he got plenty of playing time most of the time. The most talked about this season was not what commercial activities he attended, but his performance at Nottingham Forest.
It was a good idea to use the game against Manchester United to sum up the season.
I love Manchester United, but now I play for Nottingham Forest.
After setting up the football, Beckham got up and retreated.
The Manchester United team in front of him was very unfamiliar. There was only one old friend, Scholes, in the five-man human wall. Ryan Giggs sat on the bench, and Gary Neville also sat on the bench.
This might ease a little of Beckham's psychological burden.
He stood in front of the football and waited for the referee to blow the whistle.
The referee felt that the human wall stood too far forward, so he stepped forward and asked the human wall to move back to his designated position. Manchester United's human wall moved back slowly, and Ronaldo moved the slowest in the crowd. He played a trick and waited for the referee to turn around before he moved half a step forward. With small steps, he moved a lot forward. The Nottingham Forest players reported to the referee and expressed their dissatisfaction. The referee had to turn around and signal Ronaldo to move back, or he would be given a yellow card.
Ronaldo once again dawdled back into the human wall.
This was actually a kind of psychological warfare, using this kind of repeated behavior to put a certain amount of psychological pressure on the player who took the free kick, causing him to play poorly.
But his method did not seem to work on Beckham.
Beckham was Manchester United's former number 7, and Ronaldo happened to take over Beckham's mantle. After Ronaldo came to Old Trafford, he quickly conquered the Manchester United fans with his skills. They put up the slogan "There's only one Ronaldo," which could still be found in the stands at Old Trafford.
This was a showdown between Manchester United's new and old number 7.
The referee retreated this time. Under his watchful eyes, Ronaldo did not make any unusual movements.
After the whistle, Gareth Bale began to run up. He did not kick the ball, but just stepped over the football. Everyone knew he was a cover, and Manchester United's human wall did not move at all.
Then, Beckham ran up and started to kick!
The familiar posture appeared again in the Old Trafford stadium: the body leaned to the left parallel to the ground, his arms stretched out, his left foot, which was used as a support foot, twisted and almost broke, and his right foot quickly hit the middle and lower part of the football like a whip.
The football soared into the air, bringing with it a piece of grass. The human wall jumped up at the same time. Ronaldo was tall but did not touch the football. The football that Beckham kicked out bypassed the human wall!
The football did not fly high. After bypassing the human wall, it drilled into the upper left corner of the goal at a very fast speed. Ben Foster struggled to leap into the air. Although his palm hit the football, the power of Beckham's shot was stronger than he thought. It was not that he could not hit the football. The football only changed direction slightly and crashed into the net …
The Old Trafford stadium was quiet for about a second before it finally burst into a hubbub of cheers and boos.
"The ball's in! David Beckham! We haven't seen him perform at the Old Trafford stadium for five years. Now he's back, but as an enemy of Manchester United, he shot a vengeful bullet into Manchester United's heart! When he personally expelled him from Manchester United, Ferguson should have guessed that one day … one day, he would see this scene!! "
The commentator roared wildly, and the Nottingham Forest players also rushed to Beckham excitedly.
But Beckham himself did not have a smile on his face. He did not celebrate the goal in any way, and did not even raise his hand. When he saw the football enter the goal, he turned and walked back. Although he was now a Nottingham Forest player and had to go all out for Nottingham Forest's goal of winning the league title, it did not mean that he had to be ecstatic in front of tens of thousands of Manchester United fans after the goal. He scored because he was a Nottingham Forest player. He chose not to celebrate after the goal because he loved Manchester United and did not want to give those people any misunderstandings.
The Nottingham Forest teammates did not care what Beckham was thinking at the moment. They rushed up to surround him and celebrated loudly.
Even Tang En waved his fists vigorously off the field and cheered for Beckham's crucial goal.
Beckham, who was surrounded by the crowd, still did not celebrate. His face was still calm without a smile. When the celebrating crowd dispersed, only van Nistelrooy hooked his arm around his neck and whispered in his ear.
No one knew what they were talking about, but it was only at this time that a slight smile appeared on Beckham's face.
The two men ran back side by side. The Manchester United people had placed the football in the center circle and were ready to kick off.
"David Beckham used his iconic free kick to penetrate the goal of his old team, Manchester United, on his first return to Old Trafford. It was an exciting scene! Manchester United's new number 7 scored two goals, and his predecessor did not show weakness! Nottingham Forest temporarily trailed Manchester United by 1: 2 because of this goal, but this goal gave them hope of equalizing the score. Judging from the overall trend of the game, the significance of Beckham's goal was not just to help the team pull back a goal … "
The extreme Manchester United fans were still booing Beckham, while those who were not extreme Manchester United fans had extremely complicated feelings at the moment. Should they applaud him? But he scored a goal for Manchester United, and the goal helped the Forest team get out of trouble. The importance was self-evident. Should they boo him? They could not open their mouths. After all, when he was at Manchester United, he brought them countless happy times. As Keane said in his open letter to leave Manchester United: it was he who made the world like Manchester United.
It was sad to see him and van Nistelrooy running side by side — they were all once members of Manchester United, but now they were Manchester United's number one enemy to win the title.
Van Nistelrooy raised his hand and waved to the stands where the Forest fans gathered. Beckham, next to him, hesitated for a moment and also raised his hand to wave.
Ferguson sat in the technical area. He did not even lift his butt when Beckham scored. Was he mentally prepared? Or was he simply indifferent? No one knew what the stubborn old man was thinking. He certainly would not admit that he was wrong to let Beckham and van Nistelrooy go, because he had personally driven away many people when he coached Manchester United. As a result, some of those people did well and some did badly. Manchester United was still Manchester United. Eighteen championship trophies stood quietly in the honor room, representing the club's unshakable status.
※ ※ ※
The game continued. Beckham saved the team's future with a goal when the team needed it most. Now that the morale of the Nottingham Forest players had been boosted, it was completely impossible for Manchester United to use the full offense to suppress the Forest team.
Ferguson was also well aware of this, so he let the team withdraw and no longer gave the Forest team an easy gap to exploit. The two sides entangled in the midfield, attacking and defending each other. It looked like Nottingham Forest had regained the rhythm of the game, but in fact, the initiative was still on Manchester United's side. Because for the current Nottingham Forest, no matter how much advantage they regained on the field, falling behind in the score was still an undeniable reality. As soon as Manchester United withdrew, the offensive opportunities that the Forest team could take advantage of would plummet. As long as they dealt with Nottingham Forest like this and dragged it out to the end of the game, a 2: 1 victory would guarantee Manchester United the league title this season.
Twain carefully observed for a while and discovered Ferguson's intentions.
Manchester United withdrew not because they were afraid of their own attack, nor did it mean that Nottingham Forest's offense had improved much, but because Ferguson wanted to completely cut off the Forest team's offensive route, forcing Nottingham Forest and Manchester United to confront head-on, to play positional warfare and a war of attrition. As the two sides pulled at each other, time quietly passed …
This would not do. If the game really dragged to this point, Nottingham Forest would be in a very dangerous position. There were still nearly 20 minutes before the end of the game. In another ten minutes, if the score was still the same, the Nottingham Forest players would inevitably become anxious. At that time, the game on the field would be out of his control as a manager and head into an unpredictable abyss.
What should he do? He could only continue to urge the players to step up their offense. At the same time, he prepared a backup plan. He called Lennon and Bendtner up from the bench to warm up.
If it really did not work, he would just attack and go all out.
To win the title, Nottingham Forest had to keep their goal from conceding in the final moments and then score two goals from Manchester United. It was simply an impossible task.
Compared to the tense atmosphere on Nottingham Forest's bench, the atmosphere on Manchester United's bench was slightly more relaxed. After all, even if the game was a draw, the title still belonged to Manchester United. The conditions that Nottingham Forest had to meet to win the title were too harsh. As Manchester United players, they had confidence in their team. A team like Manchester United would definitely not be amused if they were to allow their opponents to score two goals in a row in the final moments!
※ ※ ※
Beckham bumped into Carrick when he defended against him. It looked like it was just a slight collision. Carrick immediately fell to the ground, clutching his ankle and rolling around with a pained look on his face. Manchester United's team doctor ran up to diagnose Carrick after waiting for the referee's signal.
Beckham went up to pat Carrick in a friendly gesture and then told the referee that it was not intentional.
In fact, everyone knew that the Manchester United players would frequently fall to the ground at this time and use all available factors to delay the game time. The visiting Nottingham Forest players had no other choice but to remind the referee. Manchester United would not receive overwhelming boos for doing so because it was their home ground. Fifty thousand out of sixty thousand people supported Manchester United to win the title.
Taking advantage of this time, George Wood gathered everyone together.
"We have to find a way to score goals." Without any nonsense, he went straight to the point. "How about more through balls?"
Van der Vaart glanced at him and said, "That will increase the error rate …"
"It can't be passed around outside all the time." Gareth Bale was on Wood's side.
"Frequent errors will also affect morale." Ribéry agreed with van der Vaart.
Wood did not want to see the team split into two factions so quickly. He was just about to speak when Beckham spoke, "You can play more through balls to draw their defensive attention to defending against the through ball, and then open up space on the right flank for me. Pass the ball to me at the right time. I'll find a way to send the ball into the penalty area."
"Pass the ball?"
"Yes. Pass the ball. "
"But their two center backs are very …"
"So we need to get them to focus on the through ball."
Wood thought about it and thought it was worth a try. He nodded and said, "I think we can try."
This simple tactical meeting ended quickly, because Carrick had already walked out of the field accompanied by the team doctor, and the game resumed.
Manchester United's free kick eventually fell at the feet of the Forest players.
Pepe took advantage of the gap when Manchester United's defensive focus was on van der Vaart, Ribéry, George Wood and the others to suddenly dribble the ball forward. After a forced breakthrough, he was knocked to the ground by Scholes. He advanced fifteen meters and was awarded a free kick.
In the stalemate between the two sides, Nottingham Forest stepped up their through balls. Even a fool could see that they were intent on finding the gap behind Manchester United's defensive line. Even if they might be intercepted midway, the Forest players insisted on trying to pass the ball.
It was not completely ineffective.
Arshavin received a through ball from van der Vaart and almost scored. Fortunately, Ben Foster was focused and blocked the angle of Arshavin's shot in time. It only startled a group of Manchester United fans to jump out of their seats.
Manchester United quickly responded to the Forest team's tactical adjustment. They strengthened their defense against van der Vaart and Ribéry in front of their penalty area, as well as George Wood's passes.
Under such circumstances, Beckham on the right flank was left empty.
As soon as van der Vaart took the ball, O 'Shea would recklessly rush up to stick to him and interfere with him. He would not give him a chance to observe the gap in Manchester United's defensive line and then send a threatening straight pass.
But this time, van der Vaart did not pass the ball directly. After a feint, he suddenly distributed the ball to the flank.
Beckham received the ball. Rafinha quickly plugged forward and passed by Beckham's side, attracting the attention of the Manchester United defenders. They thought he was going to pass to Rafinha for Rafinha to come down or cut inside. Just as Evra followed and retreated, Beckham passed the ball in place!
Without giving Manchester United's rear defensive line any chance to adjust, Beckham's pass flew over the top of the defenders like a precision-guided missile and then appeared above van Nistelrooy's head!
Van Nistelrooy knew what his old friend wanted to do before he passed the ball. When he saw him receive the ball, he always paid attention to keep parallel to the defenders around him, ready to rush out and grab the ball at the crucial moment.
The moment he had been waiting for had arrived.
Rio Ferdinand was outside helping to encircle van der Vaart and Ribery on the line of the penalty area. Only Vidic was watching him.
And Beckham's pass was too comfortable. Whether it was Vidic or Vidic and Ferdinand beside him, the ball was delivered accurately. When van Nistelrooy took off, it was impeccable. The timing was just right!
Van Nistelrooy jumped in the air. He could feel Vidic behind him interfering with him, but the ball in front of him … Even if it was an interference, it was useless!
Shaking off Vidic's pull, van Nistelrooy, who was in the air, suddenly exerted his strength and swung the header!
Swish!
So easy …
“What_a_GOOOOAL！！ Van Nistelrooy — David Beckham's precise pass allowed him to jump up and flick his head lightly! Some time ago, Nottingham Forest's offense seemed to be attacking the middle, which looked stupid! But this time, Beckham's pass and van Nistelrooy's tacit understanding changed everything! Nottingham Forest forced a 2: 2 draw with Manchester United in the away game! The second half of the game was so dramatic! "
Van Nistelrooy did not celebrate with a cold face like Beckham after the goal. He opened his arms and ran to Beckham, who had passed the ball for him. A joyful smile also appeared on Beckham's face. The two good friends hugged each other and were quickly drowned by the other teammates.
Tang En was so excited that he somersaulted on the field. When Manchester United was leading by two goals, who would have thought that Nottingham Forest could now catch up? Were those Manchester United fans going to start celebrating in advance? I'll show you now!
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