Despite the fact that Nottingham Forest defeating Manchester United was not considered an upset, the media still expressed some surprise at the result. The general view had been that the Forest team would fall behind under the attacks by the four powerhouse teams. They had not expected them to win against Manchester United instead.
For Twain, the news from the Maine Road stadium was equally as good as they had beaten Manchester United at their home ground. After they squashed Liverpool, Manchester City also leveled Everton. In this way, despite the fact that the 33rd round of the game had not been played, the Forest team completed its reversal to surpass Everton. With fifty-six points they advanced to fourth place, above Everton with its fifty-five points.
In March of this year, Kevin Keegan, who had been unable to lead Manchester City, was dismissed. His successor was the then assistant manager, Stuart Pearce. He became the acting manager of Manchester City as the club continued to look for a new manager. But while they searched, they realized that the right person for the club was right in front of them; Pearce was Manchester City’s best manager. It was not necessary to search externally.
Manchester City scored 15 points in eight games under his leadership, achieving Manchester City’s best Premier League results in a decade. If everything went on without a hitch, Pearce would be April’s best manager.
Led by him, the Manchester City team was revitalized. It was not surprising that they had been able to level two teams from Liverpool.
Pearce was previously trained in Nottingham Forest. Twain had no evidence that Pearce had deliberately helped the Forest team. After all, Manchester City also wanted to survive, as well as to work hard to qualify for a spot in the UEFA Champions League. But he still kept his gratitude to Pearce at the bottom of his heart. He would thank him in person when he had the opportunity to meet him in the future, whether he accepted it or not.
Arsenal tied with Chelsea in the away match. This result basically meant that unless there was a miracle, Chelsea already had the Premier League championship title in the bag for this season.
To end up in this state after such a brilliant start must have been quite upsetting for the Arsenal team. They desperately need a way to release tension like volcanoes.
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On April 23, the Forest team won against another opponent in the City Ground stadium after defeating Manchester United: Liverpool. Twain also put in a lot of effort for this game, even though he knew that Benítez might not put in his full effort. This was because Liverpool still needed to face the UEFA Champions League final. The Champions League final was obviously more important than the Premier League.
However, knowing that clearly did not mean that he would relax his requirements. Twain’s tactics and lineup were exactly the same as they had been for their home victory over Manchester United.
As expected, Liverpool did not send out its main forces for this game, but only half of them. Benítez conserved his forces for the Champions League final.
The Liverpool players’ hearts did not seem to be in the game either. Unsurprisingly, Twain took revenge for their devastating defeat at Anfield in the previous half of the season and won against the distracted Liverpool by 1:0.
At the end of the game, Twain, who benefited from the situation, shook hands with Benítez and even wished him well in the Champions League with a radiant expression.
“I think AC Milan may have underestimated you, Mr. Benítez. You have a great chance of winning the championship.” He winked at Benítez.
Benítez did not understand what Twain meant, but still, he thanked him politely with a smile.
After seeing Benítez off, David Kerslake came up quickly and said to Twain, “Everton had a draw again.”
Twain turned to look at Kerslake.
His assistant manager nodded. “I just heard from Goodison Park stadium. The game ended at 1:1. They tied with Birmingham City. They almost lost the game. Five minutes into the game, Heskey from Birmingham scored a goal. Duncan Ferguson from Everton only equalized the score at the 86th minute.
After listening to Kerslake, Twain shook his head. “That’s too bad. If they had lost, I could have gotten a good night’s sleep tonight. But this is quite good too, David. Moyes and Everton can’t hold on any longer.”
Kerslake gave a firm nod.
Twain was right. After the end of this match, they were still short one game. The Forest team had fifty-nine points and was ranked fourth. After consecutive draws, Everton scored fifty-six points and was ranked fifth. They had two points more than the sixth-ranked Liverpool, and three points less than the fourth-ranked Forest team. Even if they shared the same score as the Forest team, they would still be ranked below the Forest team because of the goal difference. As a result, these three points were not just a difference in the outcome of a game.
After fighting for a season and now being in the final hurdle, Everton was just one of the many who could not withstand the constant pressure.
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On April 26, in the 33rd round of the league tournament, the Forest team challenged Chelsea in an away match. This might be the chance for Everton. As long as the Forest team lost to Chelsea and Everton defeated Arsenal in its away game, they would achieve the same score and still have a chance to compete for a spot in the final three rounds. However, while it was possible for the Forest team to lose to Chelsea in the away game and the probability of it was not low, it was somewhat difficult for Everton, in its current state, to try to defeat Arsenal in the away game.
Tony Twain obviously knew that.
He did not expect to beat Chelsea, which was in a good shape. Besides, his team had beaten Mourinho at their home game in the previous half of the season. The manager certainly wanted to get them back when they returned to Stamford Bridge. Therefore, the aim of the Forest team in the game was not to win, but just to not concede any goals. To compete on patience with Chelsea, Twain was not afraid that they would not score any goals and was also not afraid of a draw. He wanted a draw. By the time Chelsea was worn down and became irritated by his rogue tactics, this game would be a cinch.
What about Mourinho? Perhaps he would feel that he earned it if he tied with Arsenal at a home game. But he would not be happy if the home game was a draw with Nottingham Forest.
It was Twain’s principle to enjoy doing things that were not to his opponents’ liking. He was not a nice person who would be thoughtful of his opponents.
In this away game, the Forest team played more conservatively than Chelsea had played against Arsenal in the previous match, which was to concentrate the players in its own half of the field. Twain’s purpose was very clear: holding on to one point.
Chelsea naturally was unwilling to let go of this opportunity to settle the score. Right from the beginning of the game, they continuously launched attacks on the Forest team’s interior. The Forest team used Wood’s extensive running and tough physique to disrupt Chelsea’s midfield arrangement.
Chelsea’s ace, Robben, was the type of player who needed space to sprint and make all kinds of feints. And the aim of the Forest team’s concentrated forces in its backfield was to restrict such space for Robben and Duff. Without space, the threats that Robben and Duff posed would be minimized to the lowest level. They could not break through in both flanks and face intensive defense in the middle. Under such circumstances, they would require not only strength but also a lot of luck if they want to score goals.
Unfortunately, luck was not on Chelsea’s side that day.
The score displayed on the big screen at Stamford Bridge had not changed since the start of the game: it was still 0:0.