Chapter 535: Forty-Five Seconds

“Chelsea! Chelsea! Whoa, whoa!” Chelsea fans chanted the name of their team in the stands and in London’s pubs, praising the team for getting the lead so quickly.

“Chelsea took the lead and they tied the total score. With just one more goal, they will be able to completely reverse the situation and cancel out the Forest team’s two away goals. Perhaps even Mourinho didn’t think that the game would get off to such a wonderful start!” The television commentator said as he looked at Mourinho, cheering and celebrating the goal on the sidelines.

“Go to hell Nottingham Forest! We will be the ones going to Athens!”

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“Chelsea’s high-pressure tactics worked. Their frenzied push in the front caused the Forest team able to adapt. In fact, this goal concede was no surprise at all. If Manager Twain does not make any adjustments, the Forest team will continue to concede goals! I’m not being an alarmist.”

The Chelsea players finally finished celebrating the goal. They returned to their respective positions on the field, ready to start the game again.

From the sidelines, Albertini shouted to his teammates on the field, “don’t take it to heart, we still have a lot of time! Show them what we’re capable of!”

Eastwood gave him a thumbs up to show that he did not have to worry. The team was in good shape now.

※※※

The Chelsea fans in the stands were still singing and cheering for the goal. Their voices annoyed the Nottingham Forest fans.

Standing in the front row, Fat John turned around and yelled out to his community of fans, “this is our home ground, guys! Don’t let those f**king Londoners run riot here! We’ll show them who’s the boss. Sing our song!!”

Suddenly, the grandstand broke out in the Forest team song. The singing voices spread and quickly reached the other three stands. The Chelsea fans’ voices could no longer be heard in the City Ground stadium.

“We are the best team in England! We’re invincible and unassailable! We’re fearless! Because we’re the best team — because we’ve got the world in our hands!!”

Amidst the singing, the referee sounded the whistle for the kickoff.

Van Nistelrooy lightly kicked the football out and Eastwood followed up by passing the ball to van der Vaart at the back.

Van der Vaart made a gesture to get both flanks to plug in before he received the ball. Then the football rolled to his feet. Instead of immediately passing the ball, he took control of the ball. While he looked for a more suitable route to get the ball out, he waited for his teammates to align their attacking positions.

This time he was not worried that the ball under his feet would be snatched because he had a shadow behind him.

As soon as the ball was kicked, the Chelsea players pressed on according to Mourinho’s pre-match layout. Makelele directly charged past the center circle from his defensive midfielder position, intending to intercept on the Forest team’s half of the field.

Seeing Makelele ferociously rushed towards him, van der Vaart knocked the football to George Wood behind him with his heel and then ran without the football. He looked up again to find the best passing route.

Makelele froze for a moment when he saw the football abruptly go to Wood and changed his target to pounce on Wood.

Wood once again sent the football back to van der Vaart and ran forward on his own.

The Chelsea players had to remember Wood’s performance in the first leg of the game. His active participation in offense caused Chelsea to suffer. If he were to do the same thing in this game…

Makelele did not hesitate to turn around to keep up with Wood.

Twain told Wood that his task in the game was to defend, to protect van der Vaart, to create time and space for him to control the ball and not to be involved in the offense. Wood, who had been carefully coached by Albertini for a season, had his own ideas.

During the early days, Twain instructed him to protect the others and only allowed him to snatch back the ball that his teammates had lost with his tough defensive ability. Wood’s current scope was different now. He thought that such defense was unconstructive, and it was not always effective in the face of a strong opponent.

To protect, create time and space for his teammates might not necessarily rely solely on defense. Plug-in assists could also work!

Wood used his actions to prove the ideas he had in mind. Makelele was lured away and Essien was also closely watching the sudden insertion of the “dangerous character.” For a moment, there was no Chelsea player around van der Vaart, who had the ball.

Van der Vaart looked up at the situation ahead and knew he did not have much time. Wood’s pretending to plug in would soon be seen through by the seasoned Makelele. If he had not pass the ball, he would be bogged down.

Left or right? Or in the middle?

His eyes quickly scanned around the field. Out of the four points, Lennon, Ribéry, van Nistelrooy and Eastwood, which was the best position to pass the ball to?

This consideration was only a matter of a moment. The situation on the football field was rapidly changing. It was impossible for him to think everything through before passing the ball.

Van der Vaart swung his leg and used a long pass to send the football to Franck Ribéry, who was sprinting on the left flank.

The breakthrough, the pass, the shot… they’re all yours, Franck!

Ribéry looked back with a quick glance and found that the football was flying towards him. He slowed his speed slightly and got ready to receive the ball.

Boulahrouz certainly would not let such an obvious pass get past his defense zone. He jumped in the air and headed the football out to cut off the passing route….

“Boulahrouz’s defense came right on time. The Forest team’s attack this time is… Eastwood!”

The Romani Gypsy got the ball from Boulahrouz’s header and he did not hesitate. He saw Ribéry run behind the Dutch defender and immediately kicked the ball directly towards the penalty box.

Ribéry was disappointed to see Boulahrouz jump in the air and head the football back, but momentum kept him from slowing down. Just when he thought the attack was over, he saw the football appear again diagonally in front of him!

This was a big surprise!

Boulahrouz had circled to the front to defend, leaving behind a large void for Ribéry.

Breaking through with speed was his favorite thing, so he no longer hesitated and immediately accelerated to chase after the ball.

“A gap has appeared in Chelsea’s defense. A chance for Nottingham Forest!”

After Ribéry received the football, he simply charged into the penalty box. Carvalho, who rushed up to defend against him, dared not rush to make a move. He could only follow Ribéry and run together to the end line. He wanted to force him out of bounds.

Dribbling the ball in the penalty area, Ribéry slowed down and made to look like he was going to make a shot. He swung his leg up and put it down again. Carvalho also did a defensive stance, but he was not fooled into losing his balance.

Getting closer to the end line, Carvalho’s defense was succeeding.

A smile slightly surfaced in Carvalho’s heart, and the tempo at his feet slowed down a bit. In case Ribéry realized that he had no hope of a shot and a pass, and deliberately kicked the ball on him to let it bound out of line, he did not want to give the opponent a corner kick at the last minute.

Ribéry could feel that Carvalho was not following as tightly as he had been. He could even see the goal and goalkeeper, Čech. This was the last chance!

Ribéry swung his leg again, and Carvalho thought he was going to make a corner kick. He deliberately leaned back, and his legs, which were used to defend, did not completely block in front of the ball.

This was not a feint. Ribéry directly shot at the goal!

The football flew past Carvalho and over, close to Čech’s head. It struck the lower edge of the crossbar behind Čech and rebounded into the net!

Did the ball go in?

The ball actually went in!

“What a terrific goal! Zero-degree angle! Franck Ribéry’s goal turned Chelsea’s spark of hope into ashes!”

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The cheers over the City Ground stadium reached fever pitch.

After the goal, Ribéry shrugged and glanced at the frustrated Carvalho. He almost did not dare believe that his narrow-angle shot had actually scored. His celebratory action was greater humiliation in Carvalho’s eyes.

Indeed, he did not think that Ribéry would think to shoot under such circumstances and be able to score.

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“Damn it!” Mourinho rushed out of his seat and brandished his fists in anger. He was completely unprepared to concede a goal so soon. Who would be prepared for it?

His team was still immersed in the joy of the equalizer and the unexpected happened.

“Forty-five seconds.” Twain, who had just celebrated the goal, looked up at the time on the big screen. Only forty-five seconds had passed between the first goal concede and scoring again. He laughed. “Forty-five seconds to equalize the score. Chelsea is the one to suffer the heavy blow. Not us.”

“We were in the lead for only forty-five seconds! What was Carvalho doing? How could he let Ribéry make that shot and score at that angle!” Mourinho growled angrily. Everyone around him was afraid to breathe and just watched the boss get angry. “This is a disgrace to the Chelsea defense! **! **!”

A string of obscenities burst forth, which showed how furious Mourinho was. He was towering with rage.

A ray of hope for a promotion had just flashed in front of him and disappeared again. It was a terrible blow to people, and few would be able to stay calm in the face of such a situation.

On the other side, in the Forest team’s technical area, everyone was high-fiving in celebration.

“Well done, Franck!”

“I’ll buy you dinner after the game!”

“Let’s have another one!”

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Inside the VIP box, Evan Doughty recalled what Twain had said when he went to his home for a discussion the other day as he took in the scene.

It really was three parts skills and seven parts luck.

Tony’s luck was really good.

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“Nottingham Forest immediately equalized the score after falling behind. It took Chelsea by surprise. Looking at these close-up shots, confusion was revealed in their eyes… It’s really sad that they were only in the lead for forty-five seconds.”

The Chelsea fans in City Ground were completely silenced. The blow came too fast and too hard. Many people could not accept the reality.

On the other hand, the Forest fans went nuts. They chanted the name of the goalscorer, Ribéry, and returned all the frustration over the goal concede to the Chelsea fans.

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Perhaps the most frustrated party in this goal concede was Čech. He trusted his teammates, but did not expect Carvalho to let the football through. He could not have made the save in time at such a close distance even if he had wanted to. He could only watch the football enter the goal. As a world-class goalkeeper, there was nothing to be said about this goal concede…

He got up and fished the football out of the net. He held it in his hand for a while and then gave it a hard kick back to the center circle. He could only use the action to express his annoyance. He could not yell at Carvalho.

Carvalho himself knew it was his mistake. He bowed his head and said nothing. Everyone had initially thought to redouble their efforts after the equalizer of the overall score. There was a good chance that they could win this game and advance to the final.

He did not think that his negligence had caused all the efforts to come to a naught.

Terry was just as disappointed by this goal concede. However, he was the team captain and needed to consider more things. He came over to pat Carvalho on the shoulder.

“Don’t take this to heart. There’s still time in the game. Who knows what the outcome will be when the game is down to the last minute?”

Carvalho nodded.

“Don’t give them even a little bit of chance. Be especially careful of that group of people.” Terry looked at the Forest players who were still celebrating the goal. “Although I think it’s strange that we have not won a game against them in a few seasons, I have to admit they are strong. Well… when the boss said he wanted to go to Athens, no one would be left behind. But I think if we don’t fight hard in this game, we won’t win.”

Terry smiled at Carvalho.

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The ball was kicked off from the center circle. The atmosphere in the stadium gradually became white-hot. The two goals ignited passions on and off the field.

Chelsea continued to adhere to their high-pressure tactics, which they had to persist with. If they did not, they would be out of the game. On the other hand, the Forest team responded with a coordination of give and go within a narrow range in the midfield.

Both teams fought ferociously in the midfield. The football changed hands many times. No one wanted to hand over the control of the midfield easily.

The first half came to an end under that chaotic standoff.

Chelsea could not accept the score and desperately wanted to score again. The Forest team’s defense was even more vigilant than it was before the goal had been conceded. It was difficult for Chelsea to threaten the goal guarded by Edwin van der Sar even if they intercepted the ball in the front field.

On the other hand, Nottingham Forest focused more energy on being entangled with Chelsea in the midfield. Their offensive was equally ineffective. Even though George Wood was there to protect and share the responsibilities, the midfield iron gate made up of Makelele and Essien still made it hard for van der Vaart.

Nobody had a chance. The score was still 1:1 by the end of the first half.

However, when they left the field, the Forest players looked more relaxed than the Chelsea players. This score was not bad for them. Even if they maintained the same score, they would still be the ones to advance. The Chelsea players were different. Each of them were frowning, their heads down as they moved quickly into the tunnel.

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In the visitors’ locker room, Mourinho looked at Carvalho with a grim look. The Portuguese defender, who had followed his benefactor from Porto to Chelsea, was afraid to take a breath with his head lowered.

Due to Terry, nobody expressed dissatisfaction with the goal concede, but many people were still unhappy. Mourinho glared at Carvalho, and no one came forward to speak on his behalf.

The boss’s tactic was to trade an overdraft of their physical strength to get a lead advantage on the score. They almost succeeded but did not expect that Carvalho’s lapse in defense after forty-five seconds would give their opponent a chance to equalize the score. The result was a waste of forty-five minutes of physical strength with nothing gained in the end.

No one felt good when faced with such a thing.

The fruits of our hard work was so easily given away by you… What you had given away was not just a goal, but an entry ticket to the UEFA Champions League final! Staring at Carvalho for a while, Mourinho sullenly said, “I don’t want to see any more errors from the rear defensive line in the second half.” Although he spoke to the entire team, he looked at Carvalho and continued, “I want you all to understand that maybe Nottingham Forest’s rear defensive line can have one or two mistakes, but we can’t afford half a mistake ourselves! We have no right to make mistakes. There’s no room for negligence and we cannot afford to think that victory is in sight! Buckle up! You’re not allowed to relax ’till you hear the final whistle!”

After he admonished Carvalho, he turned to looked at the captain, Terry. “John, you’d better focus, too. You got a yellow card in the first half, so you need to watch out in the second half.”

Terry nodded. “I’ll pay attention, boss. But…” He hesitated a little.

“But what?”

“But boss, you know, there are some things in the football game that can’t be certain or predicted. In case I need to commit a foul, I will not hesitate either.” Terry stood up.

Mourinho looked at his captain and did not speak. After a while, he turned around. “Then you’d better pray that it doesn’t happen before the end of the game. Twain advanced to the final, but he did not have Wood at that time. They ended up failing. I don’t want the same thing that to repeat itself on my team.”

Terry sat down in silence.

Carvalho, who had his head down, turned his head to look at him and said nothing.