At the start of the second half, just as Twain had analyzed during the halftime interval, Arsenal first tested Pepe on this point. They wanted to see if Pepe had not adjusted.
This was not only a concern for Arsenal, but also a concern for the live television commentator.
"Tony Twain did not make a substitution. Pepe, who clashed with Akinfeev in the first half, remained on the field. It looks like he is still angry. I really can't understand … such a serious conflict, why did Tony Twain, who has always been known for his strict discipline, not say anything? If they successfully resolved this conflict during the halftime interval … why do I feel that Pepe is still playing with anger? As a center back, he never interacts with the goalkeeper during the game. He doesn't even want to take a look at him. As for Akinfeev … when he was directing the game, he called out the names of Bale, Rafinha and Woodgate. He only did not look at Pepe … That's strange … "
The commentator could not understand. The Arsenal players did not care so much. They only knew that there was a gap in Nottingham Forest's defense.
Everyone still remembered how Arsenal put Forest in danger in front of their goal before the end of the first half. Pepe played the last few minutes absent-mindedly. If not for Wood coming to fill the position in time, and if not for Akinfeev's dedication, they believed that Arsenal would have entered the locker room with a score of 2: 0 at the end of the first half.
Now, after 15 minutes of rest, it looked like the conflict between Pepe and Akinfeev had not been resolved. For the Arsenal players, this was really good news.
Wenger thought so too. He stood on the sidelines and gestured to the players to continue attacking. 1: 0 was not very safe. He needed to score another goal.
Fàbregas controlled the ball in the midfield. Wood was pressing hard and he had to quickly pass the ball out. Against an opponent like Wood, letting the ball stay at his feet for a second longer was equivalent to an extra second of danger.
Wood pressed hard, but for Fàbregas, the situation was different from before. In the past, when Wood pressed him like this, he needed to deal with Wood while looking for a target and route to pass the ball. Multitasking made it easy for him to lose the ball at his feet.
Now, he did not need to think about where to pass the ball. He knew Pepe's position, and so did his teammates. He just needed to pass the ball there …
Therefore, in a situation where he lost his center of gravity, Fàbregas poked the ball into Pepe's defensive zone.
Now came Pepe's test.
How could he ensure that his performance was clumsy enough to convince Arsenal, and at the same time not cause real trouble for Akinfeev behind him?
He stumbled slightly and was a step too late. Vela beat him to the ball. It seemed like Pepe had not recovered yet.
However, just as Bella was about to move inwards, her body was wrapped around by a stronger body. Peppa caught up with him in one long stride. He pushed Bella out of the way. He couldn't push too hard. He had to make Bella think his defensive rhythm was out of whack, so he alternated between hard and soft steps. Vela was made very uncomfortable by him. Seeing that his position was getting further and further away, he could only pass the ball out. He passed to the back and Walcott appeared where Pepe was supposed to be and shot!
Akinfeev had already made a diving motion, but a leg flew across the air. The football hit the leg and bounced out of the end line.
It was Woodgate who came to the rescue. After seeing Pepe go with Bella, he paid attention to fill in the gap left by Pepe. Because he knew Arsenal would focus on attacking here, it was not a difficult task.
※ ※ ※
Tang En, who saw the scene off the field, heaved a sigh of relief. He was clearly very nervous.
"Your method is really thrilling …" Kerslake smacked his lips at the side. His heart had been in suspense just now.
"Heh heh." Tang En laughed. "Riches are found in danger."
Seeing that the team's goal was temporarily out of danger, Kerslake also had the leisure to chat with Tang En for a while. He could not forget Tang En's performance in the locker room and was full of praise for him. "Hey, Tony, how did you come up with that method to stir up the team?"
Tang En was focused on the field and did not quite understand. "What?"
"First, you deliberately looked down on them, then let them burst out with fighting spirit … That was a great move!"
Tang En turned to look at the excited Kerslake with an amused expression. "That was from the bottom of my heart."
"What?" This time, it was Kerslake who did not understand.
"You think I said that to deliberately motivate them?" Seeing Kerslake nod somewhat stiffly, Tang En laughed. "What I said was from the bottom of my heart. I really wanted my team to give up. The pressure was so great that it could cause my own family to clash face to face in a game. I can't pretend that it did not happen and forget it. If that kind of pressure is harmful to the team, there is no need for me to continue to persevere. It's just that the players' performance exceeded my expectations, so I changed my mind at the last minute. "
"But your performance tells me that it's not like that. You seem to have a card up your sleeve, as if everything is within your calculations …"
"Of course, I can't let you see through me at a glance. I can't let them think that as a manager, I really want to give up. That would be a blow to their morale. So, I have to let you think that I'm deliberately pretending. See, didn't you fall for it? If the players think the same as you, a bad thing can become a good thing. " Tang En smiled as he explained to Kerslake. Kerslake only wanted to give Tang En a punch — he lied to everyone.
"Then why are you telling me this now?"
"They can't hear it anyway." Tang En pointed to the players on the field and shrugged.
※ ※ ※
The Forest players on the field could indeed not hear the conversation between the boss and the assistant manager. All their thoughts were on the game, only thinking about how to score one goal after another to win the game.
Arsenal's corner kick did not pose any threat to the Forest goal. Fàbregas's corner kick did not even cross the first point and was headed out by Wood in front of the goal.
※ ※ ※
After Tang En finished chatting with Kerslake in the technical area, he felt that it was not very good for him to sit in the technical area. If he was not satisfied with Pepe's performance, if his team fell into an unseen crisis, shouldn't he, as the manager, get up from his seat and walk around the field anxiously, shouting from time to time?
Thinking of this, he left the technical area and walked to the side of the field, shouting, "Counterattack, counterattack!"
He was really afraid that the players would forget to counterattack.
Nottingham Forest must cherish every opportunity to attack, because they knew there were not many opportunities like this.
After Wood headed the ball out, the one who received the ball was Sagna, who came up to assist from the side. He intended to pass the ball, but he was entangled by Fernández and could not get away for a while. Then Wood rushed up and attacked Fernández in a pincer attack to intercept his ball!
This was the chance Nottingham Forest had waited for a long time!
After Wood intercepted the ball, he looked up. He did not follow up with a long pass to kick the ball forward. Instead, he feinted and dribbled the ball out along the side.
Sagna hurriedly returned to defend, intending to intercept Wood halfway. Just as he caught up with Wood, Wood made a sudden stop and turned, passing the ball to Gago, who had already plugged in.
At the same time, Fernández, who was entangled with Sagna near the end line, and Bentley on the other side, as well as Şahin and Ibišević, who was defending the corner kick in front of the goal, all rushed up. By the time Arsenal reacted, their vanguard had already crossed the center line.
"Return to defend!" Fàbregas shouted for his teammates to run back.
"This is Nottingham Forest's counterattack! It's rare to see such a scene in this game! "
After Gago received the ball in the middle, Fàbregas was the first to rush up. The best defense was to end their attack now!
Gago did not go head-to-head with Fàbregas. He passed the ball back to Wood. Wood did not stop the ball and directly diverted the ball to the side. Bale, who plugged in from the back, received the ball and ran wildly along the side!
Nottingham Forest's attack was like Arsenal's previous performance — fast. But they were more concise and direct than Arsenal. If Arsenal's attack was like a classical symphony, then Nottingham Forest was more like rock music.
The former could make neutral fans stand up and applaud, while the latter would make their supporters jump out of their seats and wave their arms and shout along with them.
Bale dribbled the ball along the sideline, and Arsenal's defensive focus tilted to his side. He did not force his way in and passed the ball to Wood.
Wood then moved horizontally to Gago.
At the same time, Fernández and Bentley suddenly withdrew from the sideline to the flank, causing Arsenal's defenders to adjust accordingly.
In this moment of opportunity, Gago saw a gap in the middle of the two sides that could be passed and received. He did not hesitate to divert the ball to the right side.
Arsenal's full back followed Bentley to the flank, and the side was temporarily empty. Rafinha took advantage of the gap to enter and receive the ball.
"Rafinha is completely unguarded! Arsenal made a mistake! "The commentator exclaimed.
Clichy hurriedly left Bentley and ran to the side to defend against Rafinha. The flank was handed over to Walcott, who returned to defend.
The Forest team's attack was fast, and Arsenal's defense was also fast. If Rafinha wanted to force a pass, Ibišević was not absolutely sure that he could get the ball. Then, the Forest team's attack would be wasted. This was not what Tang En wanted to see.
So, Rafinha hooked the ball and passed it back.
Gago ran over to receive him, and Wood moved to the middle. Şahin cruised in the flank, looking for opportunities. Ibišević was at the forefront, trying to attract the opponent's attention.
Gago seemed to feel that the effect of passing forward was not good, and he intended to pass back. At this time, he heard Tang En roar on the sideline, "Don't pass back, Gago! Forward! Forward! Attack! "
Gago could only pass the ball to Wood in front of him. Fàbregas immediately rushed up, trying to intercept the ball under Wood's feet.
But Wood did a very good job of protecting the ball, and he could not find a chance to make a move.
Wood continued to transfer the ball.
The football ran to the left flank again. Fernández took the ball in the flank, and Bale plugged in from behind him at high speed, attracting Sagna's attention. He retreated a little, and Fernández suddenly cut inside and inserted into the penalty area!
Just now, Nottingham Forest was just passing the ball back and forth outside. It looked like the pace had slowed down and there was no threat. Now, in a flash, they showed off their abilities and showed a ferocious smile to Arsenal.
Sagna panicked and rushed back to defend, but Fernández poked the football to Bale on the flank in time.
Bale did not pass, but slipped into the penalty area along the end line!
"Breakthrough! Beautiful coordination! "
Seeing Bale break in, there was chaos in front of Arsenal's goal.
Ibišević ignored Senderos' pull from behind and struggled to squeeze forward, ready to grab the ball.
And Arsenal's defenders also rushed toward Bale, intending to stop him before he passed the ball or shot, and use their bodies to block the ball out of the end line.
Bale saw their intentions, and he was not stupid enough to give them that chance. While the encirclement had not closed, he swept the football with his left foot to the middle!
Ibišević crossed in front of Senderos, but did not grab the ball, and the goalkeeper, Almunia, who was interfered with by him, fell to the ground and did not touch the ball. None of the other Arsenal defenders touched the ball.
The football just slipped past them, and then Gago rushed up and met the ball with a shot!
The football flew into Arsenal's empty goal without any suspense … Almunia was still lying on the ground at the moment and had not gotten up.
“GOOOAL！ Nottingham Forest equalized the score! The second half started less than ten minutes ago! Gago scored his fifth goal of the season! This is a crucial goal! "
After the goal, Gago was very excited. He turned around and ran to Bale, who passed the ball to him, and the two men hugged each other tightly.
Off the field, Twain also clenched his fist and waved it with all his might.
He had finally waited for the goal!
"This goal pulled Nottingham Forest back from the edge of the cliff! They have temporarily avoided the misfortune of defeat! There are still three and a half games left on the road to the Premier League title, and this is the strongest opponent. This is also the best chance for Forest to close the gap! Tony Twain will definitely not allow his team to lose to Arsenal. Even if it is an away game against a strong opponent, he will ask the team to only aim for victory! Now, it seems that Gago has done it! "
After the goal, the Forest players were very excited. They rushed toward Gago, pressed him under their bodies, and cheered to their hearts' content.
The commentator was not exaggerating at all. This goal was too important for them. The deception tactics that the boss set up in the midfield were too risky, leaving them with pitifully few chances. If the goal did not go in, then no one knew where the game would go next. With the goal scored, everyone's hearts were lifted.
The Arsenal players stood in place, feeling a little helpless. They did not feel anything special about this goal concede. It was just like any other goal concede in a normal game.
But if anyone among them listened carefully to what the Forest players were roaring about, perhaps their hearts would not be able to calm down.
The Nottingham Forest players in yellow away jerseys kept shouting:
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
