During the halftime interval, whether it was in the locker room, the stands of the stadium, the beer stalls outside, the bars, the taxis … Everyone was enthusiastically discussing George Wood's equalizer goal in high spirits.
Even the most loyal Forest fans could not believe that their captain, who never knew how to shoot, could score such an easy goal. If he had scored with a powerful volley, it might not have been as shocking.
Tang En stood at the door of the changing room and did not interfere with the players' discussion of Wood's goal. He was happy to see everyone like this. Because he was also excited about the goal.
George Wood sat in the middle like a criminal, surrounded by three layers of people. The mischievous Ribéry even used a water bottle as a microphone, imitating a reporter's interview about Wood's thoughts on the goal. It amused everyone. Although the score was still 1: 1, it was as if no one thought they would lose this match.
When everyone was almost done, they returned to their positions and waited for Tang En to lay out the tactics for the second half.
Tang En did not waste time with them. There was not much time, so he directly started talking.
While everyone was messing around just now, he had already drawn up the formation of both teams on the tactical board.
Now, he pointed to the tactical board and analyzed for everyone.
"The goal we conceded in the first half was mainly because after the two full backs assisted, the two defensive midfielders needed to help defend the flanks, so they gave up the middle. Although the defensive line is stable after my adjustments, our offensive power is weak. This won't do. Manchester City is the away team. They can be content even if they take a point here. We are the home team. A draw is a loss. So, we still have to think of ways to strengthen our offense in the second half. The full backs still need to assist. But we have to adjust … "
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In Manchester City's changing room, although George Wood's goal was unexpected and the lead became a draw, his teammates still congratulated Bendtner for scoring the goal.
But Bendtner himself was not happy. Not to mention that his limelight was snatched away by George Wood's goal, he was still one goal short of the promised two goals. What was there to congratulate …
He sat on the stool gloomily, listening to Mark Hughes lay out the tactics for the second half absent-mindedly.
Hughes' tactics were no different from the first half. They would either feint to attack the flanks and attack the middle, or feint to attack the middle and attack the flanks. He repeatedly emphasized one word — patience.
"We have to be patient because Nottingham Forest is playing at home. I don't believe Tony Twain wants this match to end in a draw. As time passed, they would definitely come out to attack. That will be our chance. Previously, you just needed to be patient and wait for them to make their own mistakes. Taking a step back … even a draw is not an unacceptable result … "
Bendtner frowned. The manager thought that a draw was acceptable, but he absolutely could not accept it. He had only completed one of the two goals. He had boasted before the game and everyone who was hyped up by the media knew about it. If he only scored one goal in the end, he didn't know how those people would laugh at him. Furthermore, if Tony Twain did not accept a draw, would he accept it?
Bendtner spent the fifteen minutes of the halftime break with a lot on his mind.
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At the start of the second half of the match, Manchester City assumed a defensive stance, hoping that Nottingham Forest would attack. If the Forest team did not attack, their attack would have no gaps to exploit.
Nottingham Forest attacked on a large scale as they had hoped.
Mark Hughes saw the Forest team's full backs join in the attack. Unfortunately, he was not happy for long, because he realized that Twain had made very detailed arrangements and arrangements on how to defend.
In the first half, Nottingham Forest's full backs assisted from the left and right side at the same time. It looked powerful and layered, which was quite threatening. But at the same time, there were large gaps on both sides that could be exploited, so the two defensive midfielders needed to defend one side each. The middle was empty.
In the second half, Twain changed. The full backs still actively assisted, but did not allow two full backs to attack at the same time. When Bale went up to assist, Rafinha must be at the back, so that Tiago would defend in the middle, and George Wood would replace Bale's position. Rafinha went up to assist, Bale retreated, Wood defended in the middle, and Tiago temporarily played as a full back.
No matter which side he went to, the back line would not be short of players, and there were no obvious gaps.
Hughes, who understood, scolded Twain in his heart. His mind was full of defense, defense …
But what could he do?
This move did block all of Manchester City's attack routes. It was almost impossible to score a quick counterattack from behind. Now Manchester City had two choices. One was to defend until the end of the game, not allowing Forest to score, and both sides would shake hands at 1: 1. The other was to go out and fight head-on with Forest, relying on positional play to slowly find opportunities.
Mark Hughes was leaning towards the former. He was afraid that Forest's counterattack would find an opening …
But Bendtner clearly did not see it that way on the field.
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Bendtner wanted to score. He kept raising his hands in front to signal his teammates to pass the ball over.
But most of the time, he was like a lone island in the vast sea, without any support from his teammates around him. Nottingham Forest's attack was fierce, and Manchester City's players had to retreat to defend. Bendtner could only stay on the field because Hughes had specially asked him to do so during the halftime interval — Hughes had originally wanted to fight against Forest's counterattack.
Bendtner was a center forward. He needed strong support from the midfield, otherwise his role would be very limited. And once he retreated to the midfield, he could basically only pass the ball when he was too far away from the goal.
Twain had brought Bendtner for four seasons. How could he not be familiar with Bendtner's technical characteristics and playing style? He used his offense to suppress Manchester City, which was equivalent to cutting off all contact between Bendtner and the team. Bendtner could either continue to wait for the ball in front with his hands raised, or he could run back to receive the ball himself and then plot an attack. Regardless of which method he chose, his threat to Forest's goal was pitifully small.
Twain sat in the manager's seat and watched Bendtner run around in front of the field alone and helpless, but he could not receive the ball. He crossed his legs again.
After scoring the goal, George Wood did not get carried away and go all out to attack just because he scored a beautiful goal. He was still faithfully carrying out the new task Twain gave him during the halftime interval — defense.
Bendtner received the ball after much difficulty, but it was intercepted by Wood. He immediately fell to the ground in pain when he saw that he lost the ball, wanting to give Wood another yellow card.
Boos rang out in the stadium again. Everyone felt disdain for his actions.
Wood saw his performance on the ground and ignored it. He dribbled the ball to launch a counterattack. According to the unwritten rules of football, if a player was injured and fell to the ground, everyone should take the initiative to kick the ball out of bounds so that the player could receive treatment.
However, Wood had no intention of doing so. Not only did he dribble past Elano, who was lax in defense because he had raised his hand to signal for Wood to kick the ball out of bounds, he also took the opportunity to rush past Ireland, who had pounced too hard.
After that, Ireland flew into a rage and knocked Wood over from behind. The referee's whistle finally rang out amidst the deafening boos. He gave Ireland a yellow card. The players from both sides quickly rushed together, and it looked like a fight was about to break out. The referee and a few calmer players tried their best to push the two sides apart to prevent them from getting entangled.
And the main culprit who caused all this, Bendtner, had already climbed up from the ground resentfully after seeing Wood pass Ireland. He did not look injured at all.
A conflict finally did not happen due to the efforts of both sides. However, the boos became louder every time Bendtner received the ball …
Twain shrugged to the people beside him off the field and said, "He asked for it."
"His performance in the second half wasn't as good as the first." Kerslake also saw some clues.
"If he put his mind on the game and not on the senseless idea of revenge, he might really be able to score two goals …"
Twain shook his head and spread his hands. "But now, there's nothing to fear."
"What does that mean?" Kerslake did not understand Twain's last sentence in Mandarin.
"It means' there's nothing to be afraid of. '" Dunn translated for him.
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There was nothing much to say about the rest of the game. Manchester City had no way to attack and could only retreat to defend. Bendtner also had no choice but to return to the back half of the field to participate in the defense under Hughes's roar. Amid the loud cheers from Forest's fans.
In the 70th minute, Twain replaced van Nistelrooy with the 2.02 meters tall Žigić and replaced Lennon with Beckham. Then they began their aerial bombardment tactics.
Beckham and Rafinha complemented each other on the right flank and cooperated very well. The two of them took turns to pass the ball to Žigić, using his height and strong body to create chaos in front of the goal.
If they could score, they would score. If they could not, they could still create opportunities for their teammates.
For a moment, the air defense alarm in front of Manchester City's goal sounded frequently. Dunn and the others were flustered and Joe Hart's heart was already in his throat.
Finally, on the 82nd minute, his heart was at ease …
"Nikola Žigić —!! A beautiful header! A heavy bomber! He left Manchester City's defenders at their wits' end! "
Žigić ran towards Beckham who passed the ball to him with open arms. The two of them hugged to celebrate his first Premier League goal.
Twain also excitedly clenched his fist and waved it. Žigić scoring was what he wanted to see the most!
If Bendtner left, then so be it. We have a better aerial dominance!
When Žigić leaped high in the crowd and opened his arms, a huge shadow was projected on Joe Hart. He seemed to see a B52 bomber. Dunn almost hugged Žigić with both hands below, but still could not stop him from running up to the top. The ball and the player arrived and the football went into the net.
Did you see that? This is what you call dominance in the penalty area!
"2.02m tall … That's terrifying …" Gray exclaimed. Even if Žigić did not jump, he would still give people a sense of dizziness in front of Manchester City's goal. The 1.88m Dunn and 1.93m Kolluka were like children in front of Žigić.
Most importantly, the 2.02m tall Žigić's jump was not weak. As long as he jumped with all his might, it would not be an exaggeration to describe him as a "crane among chickens".
"It's not without reason that Twain especially favors this kind of tall and strong center forward. Sometimes they are really useful … "
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Later, van der Vaart took advantage of Manchester City's huge pressure to equalize the score during the injury stoppage time and instigated a counterattack. In the end, he completed it himself and scored a goal that completely destroyed Manchester City.
The game ended with Nottingham Forest winning 3: 1 at home. Bendtner played the entire game, but he did not fulfill his promise of scoring at least two goals. At the end of the game, while the Forest fans were happy for the team's victory, they did not forget to mock the "traitor" who hung his head low and could not see his face.
When the whistle for the end of the game rang, Bendtner, who had been running non-stop on the field for ninety minutes, was like a puppet that had finished its clockwork. He stood rooted to the ground. For a moment, he could not accept such an ending.
At this time, van Nistelrooy walked over. He took off his jersey and handed it to Bendtner.
Bendtner stared blankly at his former rival.
"Actually, you don't have to do this …" Van Nistelrooy smiled. "I'm often injured now, and my stamina is running out."
Bendtner lowered his head and took off his jersey. The two shook hands as they exchanged jerseys.
"Good luck, Nicky."
Van Nistelrooy put on Bendtner's number 9 jersey and turned to leave, joining the team celebrating the victory.
Bendtner looked at the "former teammates" who were wearing the red Forest jerseys and together thanking the fans. An indescribable feeling welled up in his heart.
Twain rushed into the crowd. His left hand hugged George Wood, who had scored the first goal, and his right hand hugged Žigić, who had scored the second goal. Due to the difference in height between the two, his actions were somewhat comical, but it did not affect the smile on his face.
Do you like to win? Do you like to be a champion? Come to Nottingham Forest!
— — Then you can use that trick of yours to win the championship!
I've chosen my path. Even if this path now looks full of thorns, I'll still walk on it. Regret is useless, so I won't regret it.
Bendtner put on the jersey given by van Nistelrooy and slowly walked off the field with his head down. This was the last time he appeared in front of everyone wearing the red Nottingham Forest jersey.
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In the post-match interview, Twain was asked what he thought of Bendtner. He refused to comment on Bendtner's performance in the game. He simply said, "Personally, I wish him good luck." Then he changed the topic. "I'd rather talk to you about the two players who scored in this game. George Wood scored a great goal, and Žigić also played his best 20 minutes since coming to the Forest team. I believe both of them have very bright futures. "
The reporters saw that Twain refused to answer Bendtner's question and were somewhat dissatisfied. Only Pierce Brosnan fully understood Twain's thoughts. The past was the past. What was the point of talking about the past? No matter how outstanding the people who left were, they could not bring Twain even a single victory or championship trophy. Therefore, focusing on the present was the right path. Compared to the people who had left him for various reasons, valuing and cherishing the people around him was what he should and was most willing to do now.
Twain was still praising his team's performance on the stage today. As for his opponents, whether it was Mark Hughes, Manchester City, or Bendtner, he did not make any comments.
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