From the very beginning, the game was highly confrontational and fast-paced.
Mourinho’s and Twain’s teams did not feel out the situation first. They just directly exchanged fire.
The Forest team was awarded the right to kick off in the pre-match coin toss. From the moment the referee first blew the kick-off whistle, the Forest team quickly drilled the football towards Chelsea’s goal.
The game’s starting center-forward, Mark Viduka, fought John Terry for the header shot in front of the goal. Finally, he successfully headed the football, but he was also obstructed by Terry and was not be able to head the ball at the right angle. The football skidded past the goal, which scared the Chelsea fans into a cold sweat.
There was a loud collective gasp from the stands.
“The first attack from Nottingham Forest threatened Chelsea! It’s completely different from the team’s challenge against Arsenal in the away game. Neither team intends to hold back in this match.”
“This game is going to be a terrific one to watch.”
“That’s right, it’s very exciting. Both teams’ speeds of transition from defensive to attacking positions are very fast. As we speak, Chelsea’s counterattack has already reached within thirty meters of the Forest team’s area… And Frank Lampard kicks a long shot! And struck the beam! What a pity!”
Lampard held his head. He could not believe that his shot had bypassed Van der Sar’s fingers only to fail in front of the beam. The stands in the City Ground stadium gasped loudly again.
Still feeling unnerved, Edwin van der Sar laid on the ground as he looked at the trembling beam overhead.
He had thought this Chelsea main midfielder would choose to pass the ball, so he was unprepared for the long shot.
Edwin van der Sar was not the only one who was spooked; Twain’s heart almost popped out of his throat on the sidelines. He saw the football fly past the unprepared van der Sar and thought that it was going in.
“In the first two minutes, both sides each had a brilliant attack. I hope the two teams can slow down a little. Otherwise, I won’t have the opportunity to introduce the starting lineup and substitutes for today’s game.”
Next to him, Gary Lineker laughed into the microphone. “I don’t think they’ll do as you wish, John. You’ll have to make use of every second and divide the list into several sections for the introduction!”
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Of course, Motson still found the chance to introduce both teams’ lists of appearances. However, the rate of his speech was faster than usual. Otherwise, he might have missed a wonderful scene.
Chelsea still remained in Mourinho’s traditional 4-3-3 formation with the Czech goalkeeper, Petr Čech, and the four defenders. They were Paulo Ferreira, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, and William Gallas. The three midfielders were Frank Lampard, Tiago Mendes, and Claude Makelele. The three strikers were Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben, and Damien Duff.
The Forest team’s formation was still the traditional 4-4-2 with the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, and the two center backs being Gerard Piqué and Pepe. Both of them had relied on their actual performances to stabilize their positions as the main force in the team. The Forest team had only conceded four goals so far this season. The improvement in their defense was very obvious. Pascal Chimbonda was the starting right back and Leighton Baines was the left back. The parallel positions in the midfield from left to right were Franck Ribéry, George Wood, Mikel Arteta, and Ashley Young. The two strikers were a combination of tall and fast players, the center forward Mark Viduka and the speedy second forward Nicolas Anelka.
Mourinho was very focused on attacks through the flanks. Robben and Duff were both good at breakthroughs at the flanks. While Shaun Wright-Phillipson, still on the bench, was a similar talent. Attacking through the flanks was the guarantee of their victory.
Twain’s Nottingham Forest was also similar to Chelsea. Even though there were no wingers like Robben and Duff, the Forest team’s two side midfielders had garnered much attention since last season. Many teams coveted Ribéry and Ashley Young. Twain had rejected many teams’ offers for the two players that summer. The two extremely fast side midfielders could dribble, break through, pass, and shoot. They could advance to attack and retreat to defend, which made them more useful than wingers.
As a matter of fact, in today’s football world, the line between a winger and a side midfielder was becoming blurred. Ribéry and Ashley Young could be side midfielders as well as the occasional wingers. It was completely dependent on the team’s tactical needs.
In the face of Chelsea’s winger tactics, Twain’s response was to cement the defensive line firmly at the back. The two full backs were not allowed to assist. They must not give Robben and Duff the space to accelerate. When necessary, they could use foul as a tactic. At the same time, Twain did not intend to just focus on defense. To tame Chelsea’s flanks, the simplest way was to let Chelsea’s flanks attack first and then push them back.
Both sides of Ribéry and Ashley Young would be the Forest team’s main attacking corridors. Most attacks would be sent to their feet to be passed on to the forward line.
Unlike Lampard, Arteta would organize the offense more in the middle backfield rather than dribbling the ball to the front to shoot and score goals, even though his own scoring ability was not weak and he was outstanding at place kicks.
The most important part of Chelsea’s defensive system was not the team captain, John Terry, or the world-class goalkeeper, Petr Čech, but the 32-year-old French veteran, Makelele. His blockade in the midfield was the key to Chelsea’s successful defense.
Chelsea had Makelele and Nottingham Forest had George Wood. Makelele’s body was not very strong. His defense relied heavily on experience, whereas George Wood’s defense was based on his supernatural strength. Wood’s importance to the Forest team needed no elaboration. With him around, the entire Forest team, regardless of whether they were the front field players or backfield players, would feel assured.
Chelsea’s three midfielders might appear to be less than the Forest team’s four midfielders. In fact, it could be seen that two out of Chelsea’s three midfielders were the defending midfielders and Lampard was an attacking midfielder. Robben and Duff could be seen as the two wingers. In this way, Chelsea had five midfielders.
However, the number of players did not represent strength.
So far, the game had been going on for twenty minutes, and the Forest team and Chelsea were on par, which was clear from the midfield. At the moment, the game situation was in a delicate balance. Both parties’ attacks were very fierce, and their transition between offense and defense was rapid. It looked like there were plenty of opportunities, but neither could grasp them.
The score was still 0:0.
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“The display on the big screen shows that the game has been going on for twenty minutes…. The twenty minutes went by before you knew it! Time really flies. The fierce competition between both sides made us forget the passage of time. Other than the score, this is a perfect game!”
“But it’s just a matter of time before someone scores a goal in a game like this. It will be an irony if this game ends with a score of 0:0. Let’s see who will break the deadlock first, and whose favor the balance will tip in…”
Just as Gary Lineker ended his speech, Chelsea launched an attack. It was a surprise attack, a direct long pass from the back straight to Robben on the flank. Robben’s first stop was perfect. the ball halted just in front of him not far ahead. He immediately accelerated and dashed past without any hindrance from Chimbonda, who had rushed up to defend against him!
The Forest team’s defense was breached, and Edwin van der Sar’s save was critical!
Robben glanced up at the direction of the goal and then turned to speed up. In the middle, Drogba raised his hand as he followed up. Piqué and Pepe did not dare to slack and closely marked in the front and back. George Wood quickly chased from outside the penalty area. His target was Robben.
Since the angle was very tight, everybody thought that Robben would pass the ball. After all, even if Drogba was closely marked, there was still Lampard outside the penalty area. George Wood chose to return to chase after Robben, which meant that Lampard would be unmarked for a while.
As long as Robben was selfless enough, he could create a chance for the unmarked Lampard to take a big shot. But would Robben pass the ball?
It was a bit difficult for Robben to pass the ball to someone else after he had dribbled to break through to the penalty area when he was unmarked.
Robben looked up again. He was not looking for someone but confirming the goalkeeper’s position and the angle of the shot. He slowed down his pace and adjusted the football at his feet.
George Wood was already close at hand. He already did not care if this was the penalty area. He threw himself forward and slid sideways to tackle the ball!
At the same time, Robben’s calf quickly shot out and fired!
The football tore past Wood’s toes, and drilled past the unprepared van der Sar into the goal!
When the ball went out, Robben jumped and dodged Wood’s lethal tackle.
“What a gooooal! What a gooooal!! Chelsea is the one to break the deadlock! The first team to score is the visiting Chelsea, who now leads against Nottingham Forest by 1:0!”
“The balance is now tilted toward Chelsea!”
“This is an unexpected blow. The Forest team’s two side midfielders are still standing near the center line, and Robben is already celebrating his goal!”
After he saw Robben’s goal, Mourinho ran wildly with his arms wide open along the sidelines for about ten meters. He was so excited that it was as if he was going to hug Robben, the hero who scored the goal. In fact, all the Chelsea players were celebrating on the field. He did this for Twain. He almost rushed across the center line and ran to the front of Nottingham Forest’s technical area.
Twain twisted his head to look at the electronic scoreboard and turned a blind eye to Mourinho.
He knew what Mourinho had mind. He refused to yield.