355 Who Had the Red Card? Part 1 (1/2)

Losing a Champions League group match did not affect the morale of the Forest team. When they returned to the Premier League competition, the Forest team defeated Portsmouth in the City Ground stadium by 2:0. In five rounds of the league competition, other than the postponement of the third round, the Forest team had won thrice and conceded once, which gave them a score of nine points. They were still within the first block.

The most surprising team this season so far was no longer the Forest team. It was not remarkable at this point if Twain's team performed well because everyone knew that the Forest team had the ability.

It was Charlton's performance that many people had not expected. After the five rounds of competition, Charlton won four out of four games with one more game to make up. They had twelve points and were placed second in the league, at the heels of the top-ranked Chelsea.

Liverpool and Arsenal also shocked people with their performances. The two traditionally strong teams had been ranked outside of the top eight after five rounds of the new season. Short of one game, Arsenal had two victories and two defeats with six points in the ninth spot. Two games behind, Liverpool had one victory and two draws. They only had five points and ranked 11th.

The impact of the Champions League matches on those teams competing in multiple tournaments had become increasingly apparent. Twain also needed to learn to cope with the challenge.

The Forest team was fortunate. After they had just lost to Real Madrid, they would face a weak team in the league competition, which gave them a breather. Otherwise, the upcoming intensive schedule would certainly make the Forest team suffer.

On August 19 was the fifth round in the Premier League competition.

In the sixth round of the league competition on August 22, the Forest team played against Everton at home. Moyes' team was in a bad state, and Twain had no qualms about striking them when they were down this time.

Next, on August 25th, the league's seventh round, the Forest team would challenge Arsenal in an away match. This was also the highlight round of the league.

※※※

Twain noticed that recently Anelka had been very enthusiastic during training. At first, he thought it was strange, but when he saw the competition schedule, he understood.

For example, on August 25, in the seventh round of the league, Nottingham Forest would play against Arsenal in an away game.

Twain did not know what Arsenal represented to Anelka in his career. But he knew it must have left a deep impression on him.

Watching Anelka exerting his utmost strength on the training ground, Twain snickered inwardly. Money is not the only driving force for you to play…

Unsurprisingly, the gossipy English media would not give up the hype on that topic. What will happen when the former number 9 striker returns to Highbury? The mingling of gratitude and enmity between the mentor and protégé, the fans' mixed emotions... And what would Anelka do to Arsenal? Who was going to avenge whom?

Consequently, a reporter asked that question at the team's weekly regular press conference. Twain's answer was, ”I certainly want Anelka to score. Which manager doesn't want his striker to score? Of course, I know that Arsenal holds a special significance for Anelka. He wants to score goals in this game, and I want that too. But I want to focus on the opponent we're facing right now, which is Everton.”

The reporters did not listen to Twain. They revolved around the wildly speculated grievances between Arsenal and Anelka as if the Forest team's rival was not Everton in the next round, but Arsenal.

On August 22nd, the Forest team ushered in their sixth round opponents, Everton, in the City Ground stadium as scheduled.

No one could be blamed for ignoring Everton either. After the start of the new season, Everton had been unable to get into a groove. The impact of losing the Champions League qualification last season at the last minute had proved too great for them. A large number of newly purchased players had brought a lot of breaking-in problems to the team, which prevented their overall fighting strength from taking shape. Moyes was also powerless and could only helplessly watch the league begin. With only one win and three defeats, Everton ranked in the bottom third and fell into the relegation zone!

That abysmal performance made Forest assume that they would easily win the game without any surprises and sprinkle another handful of salt to Everton's wound.

But in reality, Forest was violently contested by Everton on their home ground.

Perhaps last season's Champions League qualification being robbed by them caused Everton to be particularly spirited when it came to the Forest team. They pressed like crazy throughout the entire game and played using their utmost strength.

This completely exceeded Twain's expectations. He had not expected Everton to be so high-spirited against the Forest Team when they had played so appallingly before.

The Forest players could not adapt properly to Everton's frantic push, and they adjusted even more poorly in their mentality.

They were so flustered by Everton's rushing that their formation was disrupted.

Eleven minutes after the start of the game, Everton seized hold of a Forest player's mistake and scored the first goal!

City Ground stadium quieted down. The fans had not expected this: Everton, which was originally thought to be a pushover, had suddenly flared up! And they were even ahead in this away game! What was going on?

”Moyes is doing this to tell the Forest team, which didn't take them seriously before this game, that Everton is not to be messed with! While everyone was still talking about Arsenal and Anelka, Everton scored a goal to wake everyone up to reality. The Forest team is now one goal behind!”