311 When the Dust Settled Part 1 (2/2)

After seeing Benítez off, David Kerslake came up quickly and said to Twain, ”Everton had a draw again.”

Twain turned to look at Kerslake.

His assistant manager nodded. ”I just heard from Goodison Park stadium. The game ended at 1:1. They tied with Birmingham City. They almost lost the game. Five minutes into the game, Heskey from Birmingham scored a goal. Duncan Ferguson from Everton only equalized the score at the 86th minute.

After listening to Kerslake, Twain shook his head. ”That's too bad. If they had lost, I could have gotten a good night's sleep tonight. But this is quite good too, David. Moyes and Everton can't hold on any longer.”

Kerslake gave a firm nod.

Twain was right. After the end of this match, they were still short one game. The Forest team had fifty-nine points and was ranked fourth. After consecutive draws, Everton scored fifty-six points and was ranked fifth. They had two points more than the sixth-ranked Liverpool, and three points less than the fourth-ranked Forest team. Even if they shared the same score as the Forest team, they would still be ranked below the Forest team because of the goal difference. As a result, these three points were not just a difference in the outcome of a game.

After fighting for a season and now being in the final hurdle, Everton was just one of the many who could not withstand the constant pressure.

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On April 26, in the 33rd round of the league tournament, the Forest team challenged Chelsea in an away match. This might be the chance for Everton. As long as the Forest team lost to Chelsea and Everton defeated Arsenal in its away game, they would achieve the same score and still have a chance to compete for a spot in the final three rounds. However, while it was possible for the Forest team to lose to Chelsea in the away game and the probability of it was not low, it was somewhat difficult for Everton, in its current state, to try to defeat Arsenal in the away game.

Tony Twain obviously knew that.

He did not expect to beat Chelsea, which was in a good shape. Besides, his team had beaten Mourinho at their home game in the previous half of the season. The manager certainly wanted to get them back when they returned to Stamford Bridge. Therefore, the aim of the Forest team in the game was not to win, but just to not concede any goals. To compete on patience with Chelsea, Twain was not afraid that they would not score any goals and was also not afraid of a draw. He wanted a draw. By the time Chelsea was worn down and became irritated by his rogue tactics, this game would be a cinch.

What about Mourinho? Perhaps he would feel that he earned it if he tied with Arsenal at a home game. But he would not be happy if the home game was a draw with Nottingham Forest.

It was Twain's principle to enjoy doing things that were not to his opponents' liking. He was not a nice person who would be thoughtful of his opponents.

In this away game, the Forest team played more conservatively than Chelsea had played against Arsenal in the previous match, which was to concentrate the players in its own half of the field. Twain's purpose was very clear: holding on to one point.

Chelsea naturally was unwilling to let go of this opportunity to settle the score. Right from the beginning of the game, they continuously launched attacks on the Forest team's interior. The Forest team used Wood's extensive running and tough physique to disrupt Chelsea's midfield arrangement.

Chelsea's ace, Robben, was the type of player who needed space to sprint and make all kinds of feints. And the aim of the Forest team's concentrated forces in its backfield was to restrict such space for Robben and Duff. Without space, the threats that Robben and Duff posed would be minimized to the lowest level. They could not break through in both flanks and face intensive defense in the middle. Under such circumstances, they would require not only strength but also a lot of luck if they want to score goals.

Unfortunately, luck was not on Chelsea's side that day.

The score displayed on the big screen at Stamford Bridge had not changed since the start of the game: it was still 0:0.