As the whistle sounded, a conspicuous and eye-catching banner appeared in the stands behind Nottingham Forest's goal.
It was the mysterious thing that John and Bill had made for them. Now everyone knew what it was.
They saw a line of words written in red paint on the white cloth:
At least two goals? Come and try if you have the guts!!
The banner attracted the attention of the entire stadium as soon as it appeared. Some fans even spontaneously applauded for the slogan. There were even fans who changed their insults against Bendtner to "Come and try if you have the guts!"
For a moment, everyone's attention was on the banner. Even Tang En could not help but laugh when he saw it, "It must be the fatty's doing again."
Martin Taylor even laughed when the television cameras were focused on the slogan, "It's very much in line with Nottingham Forest's personality. The fans are just like the team … Alright, let's see if Bendtner has the guts. "
Whether Bendtner had the guts would obviously depend on the goal. He also noticed the slogan, but he was expressionless. He only glanced at it and put all his energy into the game.
At the start of the game, Manchester City took advantage of the kick-off to control the ball at their feet and launched a fierce attack on Nottingham Forest's hinterland.
Even as an away team, they did not have the slightest awareness of being a guest. After competing against each other in the same league for so many years, there was no need to "test the waters first". Manchester City went straight for the hinterland!
When the ball was in the hands of the other Manchester City players, the atmosphere in the stadium was normal. The sporadic boos were still acceptable, and more people were cheering for Forest. But once the Manchester City players passed the ball to Nicklas Bendtner, the loud boos that could suffocate a person with a weak heart suddenly rang out without warning.
Nottingham Forest fans rarely booed a person in such a collective manner. In the past, it was more often a certain team that was booed. It was indeed too difficult to maintain a normal state of mind and continue playing in such a harsh environment.
That was why Taylor took the time to say that Mark Hughes should have confirmed that Bendtner's mental fortitude was indeed outstanding.
Amidst the overwhelming boos, he did not immediately pass the ball out. Instead, he continued to control the ball at his feet and waited for his teammates to support him.
Amidst such boos, he persisted for ten seconds before passing the ball. There was no hint of panic in his feet, and his expression was calm and composed.
Manchester City's offense was just as Dunn had analyzed in yesterday's tactical meeting. They mainly attacked from the flanks. On one hand, they wanted to suppress Forest's flanks, and on the other hand, they wanted to make use of the gaps left by Nottingham Forest's full-backs to frequently plug in and assist to counterattack.
It was just that the game had just begun and Nottingham Forest's full backs had not had a chance to plug in and attack yet. The Manchester City players could only patiently look for opportunities.
Generally speaking, if Nottingham Forest did not have the right to kick off, then in the first five minutes of the match, Tang En would request for the team to stabilize their defense before making any other plans.
It was the same for this match.
Manchester City seized this period of time to launch a fierce attack on Forest's goal.
The core of Hughes' tactics was to attack the Forest team's two flanks and counterattack. But they could also threaten the Forest team's goal without relying on counterattacks.
Because they now had a powerful center forward in front of the goal …
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"Nicklas Bendtner!!" Andy Gray shouted. "Oh, what a pity! It's a little too high … "
Ashley Young did not choose to go one-on-one with Bale after receiving the ball on the right flank. Instead, he directly passed the ball to the center. The change in rhythm caught Pepe off guard. Bendtner plugged in and appeared behind him, then leaped high and headed the ball into the goal when no one was defending.
Edwin van der Sar only made a symbolic gesture — raising his hand. He could not do anything about the attack at such a close distance. Fortunately, the ball went over the crossbar in the end and flew directly towards that banner.
Although there was no goal, it shocked the entire stadium and caused a slight pause in the boos.
"Just like they promised before the transfer, Mark Hughes used Bendtner as the core of the offense in this match. Against Nottingham Forest's strong defensive line, a player like Robinho might be at a disadvantage, but Bendtner is very suitable, "Taylor said. "I think Hughes is gambling, but from the looks of this attack at the start of the match, he made the right bet."
Bendtner gave a thumbs up to Ashley Young who passed the ball to him. The two of them could not be more familiar with Forest's defensive system. Ashley Young knew that Bale would wait in front to prevent him from breaking through, so he deliberately did not dribble the ball. Instead, he raised his leg to pass the ball to the center. And Bendtner also knew that Bale went to the flank, and Pepe would move a little closer to prevent Young from breaking through the penalty area, leaving the back to Kompany. So he did not get into position immediately. Instead, he dragged a little behind, and only suddenly plugged in when he saw Ashley Young get the ball. The two of them had a tacit understanding. He had just started to plug in when Ashley Young passed the ball.
The timing was perfect. Bendtner completed his first shot of the match in a situation where there was almost no defense.
"Just as Tony Twain said before the match, he does have the ability to score at least two goals. I wonder if Twain regrets letting such an outstanding striker go at this moment? "
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Did Twain regret it?
No.
If he had some reluctance when he let Bendtner go, after more than half a month, he had already forgotten that feeling. Now, even if Bendtner became the league's top striker, he would not feel any regret or regret about it. He was not the kind of person who would always dwell on things that had already become the past.
What he was a little troubled about now was that Bendtner and Ashley Young were too familiar with their defensive line. They had almost never changed players since they were established, and their tactical system was still the same as before. The two veterans of the Forest team always easily knew where they could make use of.
He was not worried about the defense in the midfield. George Wood and Tiago were separated by the central axis, with one in charge of the left and the other in charge of the right. Ashley Young did not break through earlier, but passed the ball directly. Other than the fact that he understood the habits of Forest's defensive line, there was another reason, and that was that George Wood was watching from the side. If he wanted to break through, he had to be mentally prepared to face a pincer attack from both Wood and Bale.
Manchester City's Elano was more like a distributor in the middle. His main task in this match was to create opportunities for the two flanks. With Bendtner on the field, the playing style of the flanks was indeed more suitable for the current Manchester City.
After thinking about it repeatedly, Tang En felt that to restrict Bendtner's performance, he could only start by restricting Manchester City's flanks. So, he stood up and walked to the side of the field. He waved his hands and shouted loudly, indicating for Wood and Tiago to move a little closer to the flanks, completely helping the two full backs defend the flanks and completely freezing Ashley Young and Robinho.
As for the defense in the middle? He did not think that much. In any case, Elano would either shoot from long range or pass to Bendtner. Even if Bendtner received the ball, he would still have to face the defense of the rear defensive line. It would be fine as long as he did not turn around …
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Nottingham Forest began to fight back during the attack. During the attack, George Wood and Tiago were still held on the two flanks, with no intention of shrinking back to the center. At the same time, Ribéry and Lennon shrunk back to the middle. Then … Gareth Bale and Rafinha plugged in from the back!
When van der Vaart passed the ball to Lennon, Lennon cleverly let the ball go to Rafinha's feet.
Rafinha pushed the ball to the outside and forced his way past. Manchester City's starting left back, Michael Bale, lost to Rafinha's footwork. He watched as Rafinha skillfully deceived him and cut inside the penalty area.
Loud cheers rang out in the City Ground stadium.
Manchester City's captain, Dunn, quickly rushed over to block Rafinha's continued breakthrough.
At this time, the Brazilian passed the ball to van der Vaart, who was waiting in the flank. Van der Vaart did not stop the ball because he saw Manchester City's midfielder, Stephen Ireland, had already pounced over. He chose to shoot directly!
This powerful volley was saved by Joe Hart with all his might.
Van Nistelrooy wanted to follow up with a follow-up shot, but Richards used his physical advantage to block his position and kicked the ball out of the sidelines.
"Oh oh — Nottingham Forest's offense is also very high quality. This series of wonderful coordination is simply pleasing to the eye. The full backs' bold assists have brought great pressure to Manchester City's rear defensive line. "
The atmosphere in the City Ground stadium was lifted by this wave of attack. The fans shouted the names of the players triumphantly, clapping and stamping their feet in the stands to create a wave of noise.
Seeing van der Vaart shoot, Tang En, who was standing at the side of the field, almost jumped up. In the end, the ball did not go in, which made him a little resentful.
"They're in a good situation. We still have a chance." He walked back to the technical area. Kerslake comforted him.
"If we had bought Richards in the summer, the ball would have gone in now."
Kerslake smiled.
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Elano suddenly found the world in front of him widening. George Wood and Tiago were about ten meters away from him. In the midfield, he could directly see Pepe and Kompany, as well as Bendtner, who was at the forefront alone.
And more importantly, he realized that if they followed manager Mark Hughes's strategy, then Manchester City's offense would definitely hit a thick and solid wall.
Originally, Hughes wanted to take advantage of the opportunity when Forest's full backs plugged in to attack from behind. But now, the situation had changed. Tang En did not play according to the script that Hughes had written. When the two full backs plugged in to assist, he asked the two defensive midfielders to stay at the two flanks to be in charge of defense, just in case …
In this way, if Manchester City still insisted on playing on the flanks, the outcome should be predictable …
But Elano was not the manager, so he decided to follow his instructions for the time being. At the same time, he wanted to test whether Forest's defense was a solid iron plate …
Forest's throw-ins were usually thrown by the defenders on the other side of the field, even if the throw-ins were very close to the opponent's end line. Bale went up to throw the throw-ins, while Rafinha stayed slightly behind, near the halfway line. He still did not return to his defensive position. This distance was suitable for him to sprint and plug in again.
After Bale threw the ball to Ribéry, he did not return to defend. Instead, he waited for Ribéry to pass the ball to him, and the two tried to coordinate on the flanks.
Unfortunately, the distance between them was too close. Ribéry's pass was too powerful, and Bale did not stop well. The ball was intercepted by Richards, who was playing as the right back in this match. Next, he passed the ball to Elano, and Manchester City launched a counterattack!
Elano tried to pass the ball to Ashley Young on the right flank. Although Bale was still trying his best to return to defend, Ashley Young lost fairly cleanly in a one-on-one with George Wood. Bale had only run halfway when he saw Wood pass the ball to him again, and he turned around to dive into the offense …
Seeing this scene, Elano shook his head. He was sure that it was almost the same on the other side. Although Robinho's individual ability was slightly better than Ashley Young's, and Tiago's defensive standards were not as good as Wood's. But as if considering these factors, the distance between Rafinha and Tiago was not far. If he passed the ball to Robinho, as long as Tiago delayed a little, Rafinha would be able to quickly return to defend and form a pincer attack on Robinho. When that happened, the defense on this side would not be a problem anymore …
Elano realized that the problem was with the two defensive midfielders. Initially, Hughes had thought that Forest would still use a single defensive midfielder, so there would be an opportunity to attack behind the two full backs, because a single defensive midfielder would not be able to take care of two flanks. It was not that Manchester City did not consider what to do if the opponent had two defensive midfielders. But it was only briefly mentioned before it was rejected, because from the previous matches where Twain used two defensive midfielders, this arrangement was not good for Forest.
They just did not expect Twain to use two defensive midfielders in this way …
But there was no such thing as a foolproof strategy in this world, and Elano still found a place where he could make use of it.
※ ※ ※
Once again, Manchester City intercepted the ball from the backfield and counterattacked. The ball was handed over to Ireland, and Elano raised his hand to ask for it. Ireland had wanted to pass the ball directly to the flanks, but seeing Elano's persistent request, he changed his mind at the last minute and passed the ball to Elano in the middle.
At this moment, when Elano received the ball, Wood and Tiago were still close to the flanks, covering for the gap left by the two full backs. When they saw Elano, they only leaned slightly towards the middle and did not immediately pounce over to intercept the ball. They were obviously observing.
Elano would not give them the time to observe his movements. He suddenly accelerated and directly broke through the middle!
"The middle! Forest is unlucky, they don't have a single player there now! "
Only then did Wood abandon the flanks and rush over. He did not care that Bale had not returned to defend, and that Ashley Young had already cut in. As a defensive player, the defense in the middle should be higher than the flanks at all times. After all, the middle was the only place where the opponent could directly threaten the goal. The flanks could at most shoot from a small angle.
Pepe leaned towards the flanks, prepared to prevent Elano from passing the ball to Ashley Young after attracting Wood's attention.
Wood was far away after all, and it was Kompany who rushed out at this moment. Since the defensive midfielder was not in his position, it was up to him, the center back, to take over.
However, Elano had been waiting for this opportunity. When he saw Kompany rushing out and Pepe keeping an eye on Ashley Young on the flank, he flicked his ankle and kicked a straight ball.
Bendtner turned his head and saw the ball rolling towards him. This was the perfect opportunity!
He turned his head to look at the linesman, at the same time moving to the side to let the ball pass.
"Sh * t …" Pepe saw this scene from the corner of his eye and turned pale with fright. It was impossible for him to turn around — he was not Superman and could not defy the laws of physics. He could only turn his head stiffly and watch as Bendtner ran into the penalty area after receiving the ball.
Pepe's posture was extremely comical, but none of the Nottingham Forest fans could laugh now.
From the moment Elano passed the ball to Bendtner, Bendtner heard an avalanche of boos coming at him from all directions.
There was a raging fire burning in his heart. The boos were like a bucket of gasoline being poured onto the fire, and the flames shot up into the sky.
Tang En's words rang in his ears.
"Remember, don't be afraid of the noise from the opponents' fans. Why are they booing you? Because they're afraid of you! They're afraid of you! That's why they're trying so hard to make noise to disturb you. It's not a big deal. The louder they boo, the more excited you should be. What you need to do is … turn what they don't want to see into reality! Let the enemies be afraid. We're their nightmares! "
Thank you for your teachings, boss …
Bendtner's eyes flashed. He saw an empty space on Edwin van der Sar's left side. That's it!
He raised his leg and shot with great force!
The ball flew past Edwin van der Sar's side and hit the back goalpost. It made a crisp sound amidst the boos, and then deflected into the goal, wrapping around the net and raising an arc.
Edwin van der Sar half-knelt on the ground and looked back at the ball in the goal. His arms were still in the position of blocking the ball.
Pepe lay on the ground and looked up at the sky. He was vexed. It's over. The extra holiday is gone …
※ ※ ※
"Nicklas Bendtner! Nicklas Bendtner! Nicklas Bendtner! He scored! He really scored! "Gray screamed.
After the goal, the boos stopped temporarily.
Bendtner confirmed that the ball had entered the goal, then ran straight to the back of the goal. He stood under the stands where the banner was and tore at the jersey in a frenzy. His face was ferocious, and he opened his mouth and roared loudly. It was a little frightening to watch … The Forest fans in the stands were silent.
Behind him, the Manchester City players kept surging over, wanting to hug him. But at this moment, Bendtner was like a wounded beast, waving his arms vigorously. No one dared to get close — for fear of being elbowed in the face by the excited Bendtner.
Do you see that? Why aren't you booing anymore? Booing me, booing me, the "traitor"! I scored your goal, and your proudest defense is useless in front of me! I'm your enemy now! Don't you have a clear line between love and hate? Aren't you never soft-hearted to your enemies?
I, your greatest enemy, am standing in front of you, why the f * ck are you all silent? Didn't you tell me to try if I had the guts? I tried! Why don't you have the guts to boo me? Very well, then I'll score another goal. Two goals, I'll do it!!
He roared hysterically in his heart, but no one could hear the voice ringing in his heart.
Under his crazy celebration, the boos rang out again. More and more people in the stands where John and the others were also put their fingers in their mouths. John did not move. He looked coldly at Bendtner, who was baring his fangs and brandishing his claws below. He realized that he could not hate this guy, but he would never like him again.
"F * ck! Poor thing! You only scored one goal, why are you so f * cking arrogant! Try scoring another if you have the guts!! "Bill cursed Bendtner viciously from the side.
※ ※ ※
Kerslake angrily punched the seat after Bendtner's goal. Now, he turned his head to look at the calm Tang En beside him. "Do you think he's working so hard because he wants to prove his ability in front of us?"
"What's the use of proving it?" Tang En asked in a flat tone. "Don't tell me you expect us to buy him back?"
"But to see such an outstanding striker become our enemy … it's such a pity."
"I actually hope that the people who walk out of here are very outstanding," Tang En said. "No matter what, I personally brought him back from Denmark. If his performance is too bad, I won't be able to face it. Do you think I was just brushing off the reporters when I said 'believe he has the ability'? Don't forget, he walked out of Nottingham Forest! " At this point, Tang En still could not suppress the emotions in his heart. His tone became heavier, and the corners of his mouth curled up into a cold smile.
Beside him, Dunn suddenly sighed and recited in Mandarin, "Those who abandon me, yesterday's days cannot be kept; those who disturb my heart, today's days are full of worries."
Tang En turned his head to look at him. "Don't use Tang's poems carelessly."
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Under the banner that was almost as long as the goal area, Bendtner was still celebrating wildly. His teammates gathered behind him and raised their fists to demonstrate to the Nottingham Forest fans.
Behind these people were Edwin van der Sar and Pepe, who had crawled up from the ground, as well as the other Nottingham Forest players who had their heads down in disappointment.
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