767 1:0 (1/2)

Ferguson felt that everything was within his control, but it was Nottingham Forest who scored a goal first.

Ten minutes after the game started, Nottingham Forest's formation slightly withdrew. Manchester United saw it as a sign that the Forest team gave up playing defensive counterattack in the front field. They began to press on their offensive and seize the initiative.

When they first pressed into the midfield, they encountered more resistance than they could have imagined. Nottingham Forest did not fully return to their half to lay out the defense in one shot. They no longer pressed up to the center line like they did in the first 10 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo's dribbling was caught in a converging attack by Rafinha and Agbonlahor. He had intended to force a breakthrough. When he looked up and caught a glimpse of George Wood standing not far away, he changed his mind at the last minute.

The ball was passed to Carrick in the middle. Ronaldo ran forward and wanted to do a two-over-one pass with Carrick, but Carrick's stance was not very good when he received the ball so he had to slightly adjust to pass the ball to Ronaldo. That was what got him tangled up by Wood.

If he forced a turn to pass the ball, he would be tackled. So, Carrick sent the ball back.

After Ferdinand received the ball, van Nistelrooy worked hard to rush over to make a grab. He wanted to pass the ball forward, but he found that there was no suitable target and almost everyone had the Forest players nearby. He could not hold the ball for long because his space would only be forcibly narrowed by the Forest players and eventually the ball would be intercepted. Helplessly, he passed the ball to his partner, Vidic, next to him.

Vidic also met his match, Eastwood. Unlike Ferguson thought, Nottingham Forest did not directly withdraw. Instead, they launched an aggressive scramble in every corner of the pitch. The Manchester United team really did not expect it.

After a few minutes of careful observation, Ferguson discovered that Nottingham Forest's overall formation did not really retreat but was still in an offensive formation. The old manager hesitated. He was unable to ascertain whether this was Twain's strategy to lure the opponent or something else. He intended to continue his observation.

After another five minutes of observation, Nottingham Forest scored.

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In the 20th minute, Ferdinand received a return pass from his teammates in the backfield. He wanted to pass it to his nearest teammate. Hargreaves had already withdrawn to support, but Nottingham Forest's Şahin also retreated with him. He was unable to pass the ball to a player who was tightly pressed by the opposing player and had his back facing the offensive direction. Consequently, he chose to kick a long pass and let Berbatov and the Forest defenders fight for the ball.

Berbatov managed to get ahead of Woodgate and headed the ball. He had planned to pass the football directly to Tevez in the air, but the football was intercepted by George Wood, who plugged in from the side.

Seeing the captain tackle the ball, Agbonlahor and Lennon, who had just helped defend in the backfield, changed their roles from defense to offense in a flash. They immediately plugged into the opponent's half.

Şahin, who had just followed Hargreaves into the opposing half, also pulled back to support George Wood. After Wood passed the football to him, he did not rush on but stayed where he was. Since they had to attack Manchester United at Old Trafford, only Wood, the defensive midfielder, was in charge of the defense in the midfield. So, the requirement for defense was even higher. Generally, when there were no special requirements, he would not come forward to participate in the attack.

Şahin received the ball and turned around to dribble the ball forward by a couple of steps before he diverted the ball over to Agbonlahor on the right side. Agbonlahor relied on his own speed to break past Evra. The two men entangled in the wing.

Twain stood up in the technical area and shouted Agbonlahor's name to remind him not to hold onto the ball too much. Maybe he heard Twain's shouts, or maybe he simply found it difficult to try to break through Evra with such a crude method, but Agbonlahor passed the ball anyway. He sent the ball straight to the other side of the pitch. Lennon received the ball.

The Forest team did not pass the ball into the penalty area in the crude way that Ferguson thought. If they did not have the right chance, they would rather pass the ball back and forth outside and look for a gap.

Gary Neville's defense was unassailable, and Lennon did not force a breakthrough. He sent the ball back to Leighton Baines's feet. Even Baines, the fullback with very few assists, came up. Where was their stance for defensive counterattack?

Baines came up, but Wood had not come up yet. Baines crossed the ball to Şahin, who came back to support. Şahin looked at the side. Rafinha was on the edge. Manchester United's defensive attention was naturally drawn to the sides when both Baines and Rafinha rushed up. After all, they all knew that Nottingham Forest's flank attack was world-famous.

Şahin turned toward the right side and looked like he was going to pass the ball to Rafinha. Ronaldo had to keep up to prepare for the defense. Several other Manchester United players, including Evra, turned to that side, as if they were sunflowers following the sunlight. Şahin's body only turned halfway and suddenly passed the football directly to Eastwood in front.

Hargreaves pounced over to Eastwood. He felt that the situation was still in his control because Eastwood received the ball with his back toward the offensive direction. As long as he stopped him from turning around, he would have to pass the football back.

Hargreaves pounced over, intending to stick Eastwood from behind. He did not expect Eastwood to not stop the ball at all. He shifted his body sideways and used one hand to hold back Hargreaves. He gave his left ankle a shake, and the football directly moved to van Nistelrooy at the back.

Hargreaves's attention was drawn to the pass. He did not realize Eastwood had turned and moved inside after he completed the pass.

Van Nistelrooy was the striker placed at the forefront. Although he was already old and had suffered serious injuries, he remained a dangerous player in the eyes of his opponents. He was a center forward who could still control the football at his feet under heavy siege. With such an attack fulcrum in the front field, the Forest team's attack had infinite possibilities. He could shoot to the goal on his own, draw the opposing defensive attention, and create chances for his teammates.

Vidic and Rio Ferdinand had already lunged at him at the same time even before he received the ball, with one on the left and the other on the right, trying to catch him. But, van Nistelrooy did not plan to dribble the ball himself and score. He made the same move as Eastwood. His ankle gave a shake to directly cross the ball out.

Eastwood dashed over in time. He lifted his left leg, which was not his dominant leg, and shot a volley directly without stopping. The ball was slightly slanted, but it perfectly fooled Ben Foster. The football scraped inside the goalpost, gave a strange cracking sound, and flew into the goal.

For this shot, which was close at hand but with matchless strength, Ben Foster did not react. He just turned his head and watched the ball go in.

”A beautiful coordination! Nottingham Forest leads Manchester United 1:0 in the away game! Eastwood has the right form!”

The noisy Old Trafford suddenly went quiet, closely followed by thunderous booing.

In the midst of the booing, Eastwood skidded on his knees and charged toward the corner flag. His passionate celebration ignited the enthusiasm of the Nottingham Forest fans. They loudly sang the song composed for Eastwood, ”You have Rooney, we have him too! He's a Romani! He lived in a caravan and rode his horse to warm up. If you look down on him, he'll teach you a lesson! With a goal! With a goal! Our Romani Rooney! Oh-la-la, Oh-la-la!”