Chapter 224: Victory Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Barton's lack of presence as someone who could control the midfield had an enormous impact on Man City; it made their offense seem much more disorganised. Furthermore, with George Wood and Albertini's teamwork getting stronger in the central midfield, MC (Midfielder Center) Reyna and Bosvelt could not find an effective method to breakth rough their defence.
Ribéry, who had gotten frustrated from not getting the ball in the wings, vented all his frustration into this match. He played ruthlessly in the left wing and broke through to completely stop the offense from Wright-Phillips. Right from the beginning of the match, Ribéry's sharp breaks bought the fans' applause, earlier given to Pearce. Even though it was only the fourth round of the league matches, Nottingham's local media was already eagerly reporting Franck Ribéry as Tony Twain's most successful purchase this summer. Originally, Keegan's main mission for Wright-Phillips was to support the Forwards' offense. However, Keegan now had little choice but to stand at the sidelines and shout at Wright-Phillips to also take note of defense. In comparison with Wright-Phillips, Ribéry's breakthroughs appeared sharper, more resolute, and a much more daring use of his speed to run straight at his opponent without slowing down; it was exactly Ribéry's expertise to use a changing mix of his speed and movement direction to throw off his defenders and break through.
On the other side, Ashley Young was making use of his youth to go toe-to-toe with McManaman. However, Tang En was not pinning his hopes on Ashley Young being able to suppress his opponent. After all, that was McManaman, an old snake with much more experience; he was different from Wright-Phillips. Although the focus of Forest's offense started off from Ashley Young's side at the beginning of the match, it was just a deception. It aimed to convince Keegan of Forest's intent to attack through his wing. Then, when Man City's defence began slowly leaning in that direction, the offensive would immediately make a switch to take off from Ribéry's left wing instead. Without hesitation, Ribéry forced a break three times in a row, stirring up a maelstrom of confusion in Man City's defense system.
If Keegan readjusted the focus of their defence, Forest would give the ball to Albertini and let him organise the attack. Watching from a television screen, Forest's midfield appeared to be using a flat back four, but in reality it was a butterfly formation – the two side midfielders were positioned slightly forward while Wood and Albertini lagged a few steps back. That way, both offense and defense could be appropriately enhanced when necessary.
The mission of Forest's midfielders was to use their passing to probe for weaknesses in the opponent's defensive line. There were still many points of weaknesses in Man City's defensive line.
Although Sun Ji Hai belonged to the top tier of players in his nation, he still had some difficulty facing Ribéry. Not to mention, Wright-Phillips was of no help to him at all in terms of defense. In their pre-arranged strategy for the match, Keegan even requested that Sun Ji Hai try to help Wright-Phillips when they went on the offense. Well, now they were completely suppressed at their defensive line without a chance of getting out.
Forest's ferocious attack in the wings quickly reaped rewards. The problematic partnership between the two Center Backs, Dunne and Distin, was caught by Viduka. Faced with Dunne, who had outstanding physical abilities, the Australian bull opted not to go against the stubborn Center Back, and instead made a lob upon receiving the ball!
The timing was perfect. Not only did it neutralise Dunne's presence, it also completely wrecked the rhythm of the goalkeeper, James. He had just lowered his center of gravity to jump for a high ball, only to see it fly past his head and into the net.
"That was a lob! A lob! This is unbelievable… Viduka's lob ball! Look at James's expression! He looks like he just saw an alien! Nottingham Forest takes the lead! That goal was… completely unexpected! I'm not talking about the fact of it, but its method – the way it was scored was so surprising! Forest team has been holding the advantage throughout, so it's only natural for them to take the lead!"
If Man City's fans believed that it was luck that had allowed Viduka's goal, they were lying to themselves; Forest team had had no reason to take the lead so easily. Then, another goal just before the end of the first half struck them dumb.
This time, the scorer was Eastwood.
Ribéry's frequent breakthroughs had shredded Man City's defensive line. On this occasion, Sun Ji Hai was spun completely about by Ribéry's maneuvers and could only sit helplessly as he watched the new French player break out from his and Wright-Phillips' defence, charging into the penalty area…
Just as James thought Ribéry was about to take a shot at the goal, the ball was instead passed to Eastwood, who had managed to advance. What followed created a sea of joy in City Ground.
"2:0! That's the score at the end of the first half. Keegan's face is looking sick; there's been too much bad news about him, even before the match. With such an unstable position, a general stands on shaky grounds with his men. Look at Anelka's performance in this match; it's like he's asleep!"
Falling behind two goals in the away match caused an internal struggle within the team. What Man City still achieve in this state?
As Anelka walked past Keegan at the end of the first half, Keegan simply looked faraway as he turned a blind eye to Anelka, while Anelka held his head up high without acknowledging the manager.
Rumour had it that the untameable French forward did not get along well with Keegan. They had a very poor relationship, and had even quarrelled in trainings before. Now Tang En himself, being a witness to it, could confirm what had previously just been rumours.
This delighted Tang En. Bad news for his opponents was good news to him.
There were no surprises in the second half of the match. Nobody knew what happened in Man City's locker room, but Anelka was immediately substituted for Karl Bermingham at the start of the second half. However, he was too young to threaten Forest, allowing Tang En's team to play much more freely in their offense.
When Viduka scored a second goal in the 71st minute, Man City completely gave up on trying to even the score.
The match ended in Tony Twain's victory.
This was Forest's first victory of the season, with three points in their bag. City Ground's spectators' stand once again rung with the team song of Nottingham Forest, "We got the whole world in our hands."
After the match ended, Keegan, who was in a bad mood, left hurriedly after a brief handshake with Tang En. In contrast, it was Stuart Pearce who took the initiative to make conversation with Tang En while shaking hands. There was not really much fresh content; mostly congratulatory statements to the winner, compliments, and so on.
But right at the end before Pearce left, he said to Tang En, "There's something… I have to thank you for."
"Hm?" Tang En could not react in time.
"Seeing the Forest team so full of hope reminds me of the past. So… I have to thank you. Thank you for giving the boss and I another opportunity to see the Forest in the top league. The Boss would never say something like that to you, of course. He always pretends to care the least in front of the people he likes the most."
At this, Pearce laughed.
"But I felt that someone needed to tell you that. You have really done well. You've done something not many of us could have. So… thank you. And, good luck, Tony. I hope we have an opportunity to meet again in the future."
Having finished what he wanted to say, Pearce turned to leave.
Tang En said to his back, "I think we will have an opportunity soon, Pearce!"
"Crazy" Pearce took Tang En's words as a sort of blessing, and took little heed of them. Smiling, he left the stadium, which was filled with songs and joy. To Stuart Pearce, such a scene had not been seen for too long.
So, even though he was part of the managerial team for Man City and his team had lost the match, he was not even the least bit upset.
This is what you deserved, Forest. Beautiful work!