367 It’s Not Over Yet Part 2 (1/2)

After he pulled back the ball, Robben suddenly accelerated and dribbled it towards the end line!

Baines anticipated Robben doing just that. He guarded against it when he tried to block the inside line. And now he quickly turned around. He brought up the fastest speed he could muster and closely marked Robben. He was still stuck on the inside and did not give the Dutchman the slightest chance of overtaking him. Robben was now ahead of Baines by about a quarter of his body length, but he was not confident of shaking him off.

Seeing that the football was going to be dribbled past the end line, Robben suddenly stepped on the ball at the end line and braked. He and the still running Baines slid out of the field together due to the sudden stop.

However, one of them suddenly stopped on his own accord, and the other one reacted to the sudden halt. Next, Robben had the upper hand with his reaction speed. He turned his body and shook off Baines, who was lying on the ground. He wanted to get the ball back and dribbled it into the penalty area. He was momentarily stunned when he turned: the ball was gone!

The referee blew his whistle. Robben saw the assistant referee raising the flag in his hand and pointing towards the corner arc under his feet.

”Corner kick! Just when he lost his balance, Leighton Baines stabbed out the ball, which Robben had stopped at the end line! Nice defense!”

Enthusiastic applause rang out from the stands.

Baines's chest heaved as he lay on the ground. He knew that the applause was dedicated to him. But he was not happy because he knew that this time he had done his best and yet his opponent was still awarded a corner kick. He did not know what would happen next.

He wanted to get up and go back to the goal to defend but suddenly found that his right foot had no strength. He tried to use force, but instead, a piercing pain came over him. A thought suddenly came to his mind: I'm done...

Lying on the ground, Baines raised both of his hands, extended his index fingers, and slowly circled twice. This was a gesture to indicate to the manager that he could not play in the game any longer and needed to be replaced. After he did that, he covered his face with his hands and stayed still.

”Dammit...” Twain saw Baines's signal and swore under his breath.

Fleming had already run over with the team doctor. Baines had fallen on the sidelines. They did not need the referee's permission to enter.

”Gareth!” Twain shouted without turning his head, ”Go warm up! You only have one corner kick's time!”

Bale sprang from his seat, not looking surprised. Without hesitation, he took off his vest and ran to the sidelines.

Kerslake stood up from his seat and walked over to Twain. ”Baines is done?”

Twain nodded. ”I think it was a sprained ankle. I saw that his angle was a little awkward when he shoveled the ball... He used force to shift his center of gravity while moving really fast.”

”F**k...” Kerslake also swore. Albertini had just recovered from his injury, and now another player on the Forest team was injured. There were almost no major injuries in the previous two seasons. This season, when the Forest team needed to compete in multiple tournaments, there was one injury after another.

The two coaches stood on the sidelines and silently watched the field.

The referee saw Baines make the gesture for substitution and ran over to inquire. Then he routinely followed up with a wave of his hand to let the Forest team doctors come up. After he saw that the Forest team doctors already ran towards here, he returned to the field and signaled for the Chelsea player to reposition the football. Then he ran back into the penalty area.

The game would continue and would not be stopped because of a player's injury. The Forest team could only play with ten players. One less player might be an important factor in breaking the balance for them.

Mourinho also clearly knew that the corner kick was an opportunity that he could make use of. He waved for the entire team to advance, leaving only Paulo Ferreira and the goalkeeper, Petr Čech, in the backfield. The trio of fullbacks, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, and William Gallas all rushed into the Forest team's penalty area.

The atmosphere in front of the Forest team's goal suddenly heated up.

”This is our chance to equalize the score! Don't let go!” Terry shouted to rouse up his teammates.

”Defend! Watch them and mark them closely!” Edwin van der Sar also yelled at his teammates to mark Chelsea's lanky player. ”Push outward, push outward!”

※※※

It seemed so near and yet so far. Nothing could better describe how Baines felt.

The Forest team's crowded goal area was five meters away from him. He could clearly hear the voices of both teams' players while they competed for positions. With his eyes closed, he could imagine what it would be like at this moment in the goal area. It must be chaotic.

But he was unable to do anything. His injury had caused the team to be short a player. Could they withstand the attack? Did they have someone to take over and stand on the right post?

Fleming squeezed his right ankle and asked him if it hurt. He did not even answer.

”It seems that the injury is serious since you can't even feel it.” Fleming took an ice pack from the medical kit and pressed it on Baines' ankle, which he then wrapped in a bandage.

※※※

The rampage in front of the Forest team's goal finally subsided, but everyone knew it was only temporary. Just like the calm before the storm, it was filled with pent-up anxiety and restlessness.

The referee blew the whistle in his mouth as he withdrew from the penalty area.