654 A Dramatic Scene (2/2)
After Ribéry took down the football, he lifted his leg to pass.
The football drew an arc in the air and bypassed Essien on the passing route. Van Nistelrooy got the upper hand in the contest against Makelele and jumped high to send a powerful header shot!
This time Čech did not let the football get past his fingertips. He strove to pounce the ball out.
The football was hastily sent out by Ashley Cole who rushed back. But he did not kick it far. The ball only flew to the top of the arc before it was intercepted by another Nottingham Forest player.
”Aaron Lennon!”
Lennon had observed that Čech had just gotten up and his center of gravity had not stabilized yet, so he did not hesitate to directly kick a long shot!
The football flew straight toward the right side of the goalpost. Čech had just gotten up, but he still managed to make a high-quality save. He threw himself out and leaped to use his fingertips to swipe the football out of the end line!
”A fantastic save from Čech!! What an incredible save! He proved his strength to safeguard the goal!”
At this time, Terry, who ran back, hugged Čech, who had just climbed up from the ground. He patted him hard the back and thanked him for those two crucial saves.
”If Nottingham Forest were to score another goal, this final would be hard for Chelsea to play on. The morale of Nottingham Forest during this time has been quite strong, and the situation has been very favorable to them. The trailing Chelsea team has to press out to figure out how to score. Nottingham Forest, which is good at defensive counterattack, has more room to play at this point in time. Look at this counterattack, it could almost be written into a textbook!”
This counterattack was almost the epitome of the entire first half. Chelsea tried its hardest to equalize, but Nottingham Forest's solid defense and sharp counterattack constrained them. They were unable to do their best, and their offensive effect was greatly diminished.
Instead, Nottingham Forest was completely in control of the pace on the field, leading Chelsea by the nose to run.
The neutral commentators certainly did not want to watch a one-sided game, but they must also admit that this was Nottingham Forest embodying the spirit of a defending champion. ”They are steady and not flustered, as if everything is in their control. By comparison, Chelsea, which lacks the experience of playing in the Champions League finals, is more tender. Tony Twain has injected his own spirit into this team, giving this team a unique soul, and this soul is---they desire any title, any victory.”
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It looked like the first half of the game would end with Nottingham Forest dominating, and Chelsea's offense was of no threat to the Forest team.
At the forty-second minute, Ribéry broke into the penalty area from the flank and then passed a low ball. Van Nistelrooy apparently did not expect Ribéry to choose to pass after his breakthrough, rather than directly shoot. His follow-up was a little slow. Even though he used a technique of shoveling, he still did not touch the football. The football crossed past the goalmouth amid the Chelsea fans' exclamations.
Twain was annoyed that this goal was not scored. He jumped off the field as he held his head in his hands. If we can score two goals, then Chelsea will be out of the game. That was what he thought.
Judging from the first half, Nottingham Forest fully deserved to win the title. Chelsea simply could not pose any threat to Edwin van der Sar's goal. If Chelsea won instead, then it would be a real injustice.
A minute later, Lampard dribbled the ball and charged into Nottingham Forest's thirty-meter zone where he was put to the ground by George Wood. Referee Micheľ awarded Chelsea a direct free kick that elicited a small protest from the Nottingham Forest players and boos from the Forest fans. As this position was too dangerous and about twenty-five meters from the goal, it was a very suitable range. Lampard and Ballack both had a free kick foundation.
The entire Chelsea team got excited. This was a great opportunity for them to equalize. As the first half was coming to an end, they definitely could not go into the locker room while they trailed behind in the score!
Ballack stood in front of the football. He was going to take this free kick.
The Nottingham Forest players lined up in a human wall of five people under the command of the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, while everyone got ready to face the opponent.
After a whistle, Ballack kicked the ball high.
”Judging from the first half, Ballack's form is really underwhelming ...” The commentator sighed.
Twain clapped his hands and laughed off the field.
After they had gotten a hard to come by chance, the whole team's hopes were pinned on one person, only for that person to kick the opportunity away. This was really an essential recipe to strike a blow to the morale...
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Twain got up from his seat and saw that the first half of the game was coming to an end. He began to think about what he was going to do at the halftime interval in his head. Did the tactic need to be adjusted? And how should their mentality be maintained?
At the side, the fourth official came forward with an electronic display board and raised it high. There were four minutes of injury stoppage time in the first half!
Due to the collision between George Wood and Makelele as well as the clash between the players on both sides, the injury stoppage time in the first half was more than three minutes. This somewhat caused resentment among the Nottingham Forest fans. Most people had chosen to use boos to express their views on the incident.
The Chelsea people were overjoyed. This was their last chance in the first half. If they were to go to the locker room with a trailing score, it would be a heavy blow to the morale of the team.
In the forty-sixth minute, Essien, who had been active as the full back, embodied his comprehensive side. After he received Makelele's pass, he suddenly dribbled the ball to plug in ahead and sped through the midfield to directly press on toward George Wood's defensive line.
George Wood certainly could not tolerate the opponent to be rash under his watch. He pounced to try to stop Essien's continued breakthrough.
It was at this time that Essien directly did a long shot!
A long shot was almost the only way Chelsea could threaten the Nottingham Forest goal in the first half. Drogba was firmly clamped down by Piqué and Pepe in the first half, with no room for play at all. He even disappeared at one point. So, whenever Chelsea attacked, the players who most often appeared in the television close-up were Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Joe Cole... and other good long shot players, whereas Drogba could only be a tactical center forward responsible for attracting Nottingham Forest's defensive firepower.
Seeing Essien's long shot, Piqué threw aside Drogba and threw his body to block the long-shot route, hoping for a bit of luck that the football could be blocked out by him.
But this time, things were a little different ...
Essien's shot did hit Piqué's body, but the ball was not directly blocked out. Instead, it changed direction and rebounded in the opposite direction where Edwin van der Sar had pounced to. When he saw that the shot was going to fly into the goal just like this, Pepe extended his legs to block. The football hit him on the knee and deflected again. It did not bounce to Edwin van der Sar's side, but fell directly in an unattended area!
The penalty area was only so big but after the football refracted twice, was it a coincidence that the football had found a drop point that had no one at all?
What was more coincidentally ...
”Frank Lampard-----” The commentator roared with excitement.
Along with his roar, the Chelsea fans as well as the Chelsea manager, Grant, also sprang from their seats.
Without anyone to mark him at all and the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar also lost his balance to fall to the ground, such an opportunity ... such an opportunity ...
Lampard stared at the football leaping in front of his eyes as if there was a blazing flame burning in his eyes.
How can I let go of such an opportunity!!
”Lampard draws his leg back for a vigorous shot--!”
”What a powerful shot----GOOOOAL!!”
”Frank Lampard!!” All the Chelsea fans at the stadium roared loudly.
”He did it! This is the first goal that Chelsea has scored in a Champions League final in its club history! From their steely midfielder, Frank Lampard! He had just lost his mother not long ago... With such a goal, surely he can comfort his mother in the heaven?”
Lampard's face did not have the expression of excitement in creating history after the goal. He pointed his hands to the sky, lifted his head, and let the cold rain hit his face. The water droplets slid down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes. Was it rain or tears?
The rain was cold, but the tears were hot.
Did you create such an opportunity for me, mom?
His Blues teammates rushed up to hold the tearful Lampard and pointed to the sky with him. All the Chelsea players had black armbands fastened to their left arms. As teammates of a team, they mourned Lampard's mother together with him in this way.
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In the face of such a goal concede, everyone at Nottingham Forest could not even get angry. On the one hand, this goal was really bizarre. Who could have thought that after the two refractions, the ball would fall into a dead corner completely without the Forest team defenders? What was even more bizarre was that Lampard appeared in this dead corner! Did anyone see where he was before?
Twain stood dumbly in front of the technical area. All the adjustments he had just thought about just now were all invalidated in that second. The rain was getting heavier. What did it mean to have ”his plans rained on?” This was what ”being rained on” meant!
Turning his head, he looked at Kerslake and Dunn with their equally surprised faces and helplessly shook his head, ”This is football. Lampard is really good, we ...” He wriggled his lips, but he did not burst out with a string of obscenities. He just said, ”.... are just damn unlucky.”