262 The Lead of the Theatre of Dreams Part 1 (2/2)

Wood has already done his utmost. Now it's our turn to make a contribution!

When Forest was in possession, Albertini did not kick the ball forward in search of Viduka's head as he had done previously. That mode of attack was much too simple and would be easily defended by Rio Ferdinand.

This time, Albertini chose to fake a pass, creating space for him to move. He then accelerated suddenly and cut forward with the ball.

Scholes failed to defend in time, not expecting Albertini himself to breakthrough with a dribble. He could only watch as his opponent ran past him.

Roy Keane came up to defend against Albertini, but the intelligent Italian had already given the ball up to Ribéry. Although Gary Neville approached Ribéry to box him out, he had no intention of making a break. Instead, he took a kick that sent the ball flying to the other wing, where Ashley Young took over.

As soon as Young got the ball, Forest's right back Chimbonda followed the routine attack pattern they practiced in training, cutting forward in response.

This was originally a very basic mode of assist for the full backs. However, Chimbonda only managed to do it once within the duration of the match. Manchester United's pressure on the flanks was much too strong; this caused him to struggle with just defense alone, not to mention taking part in the offense.

But now, he did not worry that the space he had left behind upon cutting forward for assists would be made use of by a Manchester player; he had George Wood behind him. Even though Wood did not talk much, he was truly dependable.

Chimbonda's advancement was so resolute and rapid that it attracted Ronaldo to return for defense and distract Heinze at the same time. Seeing Chimbonda run up to help, Heize retreated a few steps in preparation to prevent Ashley Young from passing the ball over to the full back.

The gap from those few steps was fully seized by Ashley Young; he did not pass but took the chance to suddenly nudge the ball inwards; a breakthrough!

He was heading straight for the penalty area!

Rio Ferdinand hastily moved forward to fill in the gap for defense once he caught onto Ashley Young's movements. He planned to stop his opponent from even entering the penalty area.

But just as Ferdinand dashed forward, he saw Ashley Young glance down at the ball he was dribbling and pass it out to exactly where Ferdinand had originally stood.

Viduka received Ashley Young's diagonal pass. Thanks to Ferdinand being pulled outwards, there was not a single Manchester United player near him; it was a beautiful assist.

The goalkeeper for Manchester United in the match was the American Tim Howard. Last season, his performance could be said to be perfect, and he had taken the main position from Fabien Barthez, the goalkeeper for the French national team. However, his performance in the current season was extremely unstable. Ferguson would not have fielded Howard if he had been able to find a more stable candidate.

Viduka killed the ball and looked up at where Howard stood. Staying where he was, he followed it up with a chip shot.

The football drew an arc in the air and, at an unexpected moment, dove straight into the corner of the goal!

Howard did not even attempt to save the ball. He had not expected Viduka to be left unguarded, and to score so easily.

The goal came so suddenly, the audience in front of the television could not react in time. In fact, because of the lack of cheering from where it had happened, Forest's fans thought the ball did not go in. Only when they saw Viduka running with raised arms towards Ashley Young, who had given him the pass, did they know for certain that Forest had scored.

”The ball… the ball went in!” Not only the audience, but even the commentator himself was taken aback. Forest was constantly suppressed by Manchester United and did not have many good opportunities. But this single attempt at offense had unexpectedly resulted in a goal. The commentator seemed unprepared for it. ”Rio Ferdinand made a mistake! He lost his own target… and Nottingham Forest wins back a point! There are still 17 minutes before the end of the match. What a dramatic moment in an originally one-sided match! Might we be able to see a completely different end to this?”

”Yes!” the Nottingham Forest's fans in front of the television screamed.

※※※

Tang En was not as excited as people expected him to be as he watched Viduka make his goal. He stood on the sidelines and clapped for the players in the field but did not raise his arms to cheer for them. To him, there was no difference between a score of 1:2 or 0:2. He had already seen what he had most wanted: George Wood's growth.

Instead, it was his assistant beside him who exclaimed, ”Tony! There's hope!”

”Of course.” Tang En nodded. ”But it depends on if Ferguson will react in time. It will be impossible for him not to make any adjustments, David.”

Kerslake calmed down. Tony was right. With barely over ten minutes left before the match ended and the loss of a ball, Ferguson would not stand by and do nothing. Kerslake looked over at Manchester United's technical area; the hale and healthy Scot had indeed stood up.

Just a minute after Forest scored the goal, Manchester United made a substitution.

Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the field with a disgruntled look. Substituting for him was a Brazilian defending midfielder, Kleberson. Ferguson intended to keep the one ball advantage they had.

Ronaldo, who had gotten changed out, did not go to the home team's substitution bench. Instead, he walked straight back toward the locker room. Even a fool could tell that he was upset by the substitution. Maybe he thought the others did not perform as well as he did and questioned why it was he who got substituted and not someone else. Take Rooney, for example. His performance in the match was average, and he had made few threats to the opponent's goal. Why not substitute him?

Other than the cameras, no one cared about the disgruntled Ronaldo. The match was still going on, after all. Forest was high in morale. For a whole, unbroken five minutes, they bombarded Manchester United's goal.

If Ferguson did not adjust in time, the goal guarded by Howard would truly be in danger.

Now, Manchester United amassed their players before the penalty area, resolutely eliminating any opportunity for Forest team to bring the ball into their penalty area. They could not care less about the ball being passed around within 30 meters outside. But they would not even let Forest dream of entering it.