285 A Win-Win at the FA Cup Part 2 (2/2)

Twain sat motionless in the technical area. He knew that he had no good way to deal with the situation. He had incited too much anger in his team, and it had lost its cool head. Plus, Ferguson had studied his team very carefully, and every tactic was targeted.

He considered the February schedule in his mind and decided to give up on the game. The team itself was competing on two fronts: The Premier League and the UEFA Europa League. There was no need to add another FA Cup now.

The goal of the Forest team this season was not to win a domestic cup title. From a long-term perspective, it was essential to play well in the Premier League.

The Forest team made adjustments in the second half. Gunnarsson was brought on to replace Albertini. Crouch substituted Viduka, and lastly, Aaron Lennon replaced Ashley Young.

On the surface, it looked like they had given up the game by replacing three players in one go. Even though they actually were, the produced effect was that the players who had been brought on played as if their lives depended on it, which created a lot of trouble for Manchester United.

The score on the electronic scoreboard was fixed at 1:1 for about twenty minutes. It was a deadlock for both sides. It seemed like Twain would reap an unexpected benefit. But then, at the 21st minute, Manchester United scored again.

This time, Ryan Giggs had scored the goal. It was a direct free kick. Edwin van der Sar could not save it in time, and the football slammed into the net.

Since Beckham had left, Manchester United's first choice for free kicks had become Ryan Giggs. This was not the first time he had scored a direct free kick.

Seeing Manchester United players celebrating their goal in their own stadium, Twain and David Kerslake shot a glance at each other without saying anything and shrugged.

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Soon after, the Forest team launched a counterattack. But under the tight defense of Manchester United, Carroll was not tested too much. Roy Keane, who had returned to the City Ground stadium, was surprisingly good. He alone could guard the front line of the penalty area during his defense. Since Twain had changed to purely defensive play in the midfield, the Forest team also did not have a lot of approaches in their offense. They could only shoot long passes and let their two flanks take turns to attack. The lack of delicate front field coordination and imaginative passing made it extremely difficult to defeat Manchester United in this game.

The 90-minute game was soon over. Nottingham Forest lost 1:2 to Manchester United at their home ground. They were eliminated from the FA Cup.

At the post-match press conference, Twain did not look annoyed or frustrated. Instead, he looked relieved.

”Now, we can put more effort into the Premier League and the UEFA Europa League. Congratulations to Manchester United.”

Ferguson praised his opponent with a smile and said that the Forest team had been hard to beat. After all, Ferguson had seen how strong Chelsea had been in this season, and now the gap between Manchester United and Chelsea in the league standings was eleven points. It was almost impossible to reverse it. It was also nice to get an FA Cup title rather than ending up empty handed at the end of the season. His good mood was justified.

At the end of the press conference, Ferguson invited Twain to have a drink, and Twain did not refuse.

This was supposed to be an invitation from the home manager. And now, with Ferguson taking the initiative, it suggested that his good mood at the press conference was genuine.

Looking at the two beaming managers, the reporters really did not know what to say about the game's significance to both teams. Was this really a win-win situation?