Chapter 453 Volume 3 The King of the Red Forest

"Now Nottingham Forest is attacking. After the start of the second half, they were very proactive and began to threaten Arsenal's goal frequently!"

Wood was not very involved in the offense. In this game, he was placed in a defensive position by Twain. His role was to prevent the opponent from attacking. So there is nothing wrong with him now, he stands behind as if he is watching a play.

Arteta took the ball across the midfield, and here Berry made a move and the two exchanged positions. Franck Ribery is in the middle, and Arteta is running to the side. At whose feet is the football?

No one has the ball.

When Arteta switched positions with Ribery, he passed the football to Ribery, and then when the two crossed positions, Ribery transferred the football directly to the right side of the court, where Ah Shri Young's site.

"Ashley Young, beautiful stop!"

Ashley Cole stepped forward to defend the teenager with the same name, and he didn't dare to neglect.

Zimbunda is getting in from the back, ready to lap. Ashley Cole saw it, Ashley Young must have seen it too, he dribbled in and gave Chimbonda room to run in behind, Ashley Young hesitated , or followed Ashley Young; as for Zimbunda, he left it to his teammates to clean up.

Ashley Young continued to dribble the ball laterally, and Chimbonda told the runner from behind him that he had no intention of passing the ball, nor did he intend to change direction and break into the penalty area. He was dribbling down the middle and the Arsenal defenders formed a wall inside the penalty area, protecting him from sudden through balls and preventing him from shooting.

Franck Ribery was very close to him and the two made a crossover, this time it was Ashley Young who switched to the middle while Ribery went to the right and the football went to Ribery when they switched positions underfoot. Then just when everyone thought Ribery would continue to dribble the ball wide, he suddenly crossed with his right foot!

Viduka leaps high and heads the goal! Lehmann played bravely and lifted this very powerful shot over the bar.

Forest won their first corner of the second half and their second of the game.

Piquet and Pepe both ran up to fight for the top, while George Wood and Leighton Barnes stayed behind to guard against counterattacks.

"Look at them!" Lyman raised his arms and shouted, and there was chaos in front of his own door. "Push it out!"

Arteta stands at the corner flag, ready to kick off.

"It was Nottingham Forest's corner and their chance."

The referee blows his whistle to indicate that a corner kick can be taken.

Arteta runs up and kicks in a cross!

This ball is fast and flat, with a small arc, and flies straight to the point!

When Arsenal's defensive attention in the penalty area was on big men like Pepe, Piqué, and Viduka, Ribery suddenly shot out from a diagonal stab, rushed forward, and then headed the ball!

"GOOOOOOOAL!!"

The city stadium was boiling, and the home team scored a goal!

"Beautiful header! Franck Ribery! His sudden jump, no one around him defending, very powerful header! Nottingham Forest took the lead at home!"

Tang En raised his arms high and stood up from his seat. When he needed to score a goal, the goal arrived as expected. Is there anything more perfect than this?

Corner kicks, free kicks... All set kicks are drilled repeatedly in their usual training, especially before important games. Received results today.

He seemed to have seen the gate of the Stade de France in Paris slowly opening before his eyes.

"2:1! Nottingham Forest leads the total score and has an away goal. They are getting closer and closer to the final!"

There were huge cheers from the stands, and the Nottingham Forest fans were surrounded by great happiness.

Ribery ran to the corner flag and hugged Arteta who passed the ball for him. Scoring in the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup was something that Ribéry could not have imagined two years ago.

On the other side, seeing Wenger who lost the ball sitting on the coach's bench and waving vigorously, he was very annoyed. But he was not in a hurry, because the second half had only started five minutes now, and they still had at least 40 minutes to equalize the score. Nottingham Forest only scored one goal at Highbury Stadium, and now it is good news for Arsenal, so that as long as Arsenal score one goal, they can not only equalize the total score, but also offset Forest's away goal advantage , The two sides returned to the real same starting line.

But now these things are just predictions that exist in Wenger's mind.

He needs players to bring it all to fruition.

Wenger stood up from his seat, without shouting, the Arsenal players on the field knew what to do. Everything was arranged at halftime.

It's just a ball lost, and it's not at the end of the rope.

The Nottingham Forest players celebrated the goal heartily. Ribery hugged everyone, and then ran back to hug the head coach Tony Twain.

Tang En smiled and congratulated him, and then asked them to go to the field to re-match.

"Well done, guys. Get back on the field and defend! Remember, defend! Our next job is to defend, don't let Arsenal take their chances. Don't let us score, hold on to the last second!"

Tang En felt that he was getting a bit long-winded. There was nothing he could do. The closer he was to success, the more nervous he became. He'd love to have a cigarette to relieve the stress if he could, but smoking isn't allowed here.

※ ※ ※

The players returned to the field obediently, and Arsenal's people had already placed the football in the middle circle to prepare for kick-off.

"If Arsenal want to advance to the final, it is the only way to attack with all their strength and try to equalize the total score early. I think... Wenger must have a way."

He does have a way. After the game restarted, Arsenal unexpectedly gave up the wing attack and switched to playing in the middle. This is a practice that violates common sense, and even the narrator finds it incredible. But Tang En, who was sitting on the coaching bench of the home team, scolded Wenger for being cunning in his heart.

Wenger knew about Wood's current situation and what Tang En was most worried about.

Attack the middle, use Wood as a target, concentrate firepower to make Wood lose sight of one another, increase his defensive pressure, and at the same time increase his possibility of fouling.

Wenger must think that Wood will be timid in defense because he is worried about getting a card, and he dare not try his best? In this way, his team will have more chances to break through the defense and thus equalize the score.

If not for the conversation at the last moment of the intermission, Tang En would definitely think so.

But... precisely because he knew that Wood would not change his style of play just because of a yellow card, Arsenal's tactics made Twain even more worried.

Wenger hoped to use Wood as a breakthrough point to score and equalize the score. Twain was only worried that Wood would get a yellow card for a foul in the face of uninterrupted offense.

The Arsenal players deliberately leaned towards Wood, and then looked for breakthrough opportunities from him, and even had some intentions to lure him into being fooled.

Wood didn't flinch, the soldiers came to block, the water came to cover him, and he took all the orders.

It's just that Tang En, who saw this scene off the field, could only bite his lip nervously.

"This bastard..."

Tang En squeezed these words out of his mouth, and David Chris Rucker beside him didn't know whether Tang En was scolding Arsenal's head coach Arsene Wenger, or that George Wood who didn't listen to advice. .

※ ※ ※

When Wood once again stopped Arsenal's attack with a foul, Wenger stood on the sidelines and waved dissatisfiedly into the field. He is very dissatisfied with the referee's delay in showing cards, and he is also using this method to put pressure on the referee, hoping that he will play cards to Wood.

At the same time, there are Arsenal players who are putting pressure on the referee. However, the referee only verbally warned Wood, and did not intend to play a card.

"George!" Van der Sar called from behind, "Don't forget what the boss told you..."

Wood ignored Van der Sar, he turned his back to the goalkeeper and said nothing.

The next time, when Arsenal's army was under pressure, before Wood stepped forward to defend, Arteta tripped Henry first.

The referee's whistle sounded again, and his whistle sounded very frequently during this time. Arsenal attacked fiercely, and the forest team's defensive pressure in the middle was very high.

Wood looked at Arteta with some surprise.

"Don't think I can't defend, George. I'm also a midfielder, don't look down on me." Arteta turned his head and smiled at Wood.

Then, taking advantage of the opportunity to line up the wall, Arteta turned around and shouted to his teammates: "George needs support, guys. Defense is not his job alone! Be conscious if you don't have a card!"

Pepe smiled from behind: "George locked the front door by himself, and we can only head the ball if we want to perform."

"Then you come up, Pepe. Arsenal's goal is clear. They want to use the pressure of George with a yellow card to cause trouble for our defense. Don't give them such a chance! They want to play, we play with them !"

When Arteta said that, George Wood kept looking at his midfield partner.

After finishing the order, Arteta found that Wood was looking at him, and smiled: "You used to protect me, now it's my turn to protect you."

Henry's free kick hit the wall and did not pose any threat to Van der Sar's goal.

After that, Arsenal obviously noticed the changes in Nottingham Forest. They wanted to break out of Wood, but they would always encounter people like Arteta, Ribery, and Pepe. The opponent's firepower. Arsenal's offense once again stalled, Wenger's wishful thinking did not start.

Tang En, who saw this scene off the field, laughed. This is his team, this time it is his Nottingham Forest...

※ ※ ※

The game time passed quickly in the entanglement between the two sides. When people were still immersed in the suspense of whether Arsenal could equalize the score, no one noticed that it was only ten minutes before the end of the game.

George Wood has seldom fouled, because his defensive pressure is distributed to other teammates. Arsenal didn't have a good way to face the Forest team, which was determined to fight back. They can play back and forth on the outside and play beautiful pass and cut cooperation, but Nottingham Forest is not moved. They just stay in their position and don't go out. They let Arsenal pass back and forth outside, and then Try a long shot once in a while.

In order to let Wood be affected by the yellow card, Wenger chose to attack the middle. But in a football game, it is not wise to attack the middle lane, it will only block your own offensive line. In this afternoon, let alone an equalizer for Arsenal, it is possible to lose the game directly.

Wenger knew it couldn't go on like this. Although it is a pity that I can't use Wood to make a fuss, but now the critical moment is to equalize the score. Everything that is bad must be changed and the game will return to Arsenal's familiar track.

Wenger stood up and made a gesture to the field.

※ ※ ※

Twain replaced Viduka, who was not performing well, and replaced him with Eastwood. Unlike the first round, this substitution was not intended to delay the game.

Because Arteta had to help Wood defend, the Forest team's midfield was a bit out of control. Twain replaced Eastwood in order to regain control of the midfield and push Anelka to the front, while Eastwood was mainly responsible for connecting the midfield.

Eastwood had just been replaced, and before he had time to regain control of the midfield, the Forest team suffered a heavy blow.

Henry suddenly exerted strength near the center circle and broke the ball at Ashley Young's feet. Arsenal took advantage of the situation and directly counterattacked in the frontcourt. Forest's defense was caught off guard, and it was very embarrassing to face Henry's breakthrough.

In order to protect George Wood, Arteta was the first to rush forward to intercept, but after all, he was not the person specially selected for this, and was easily passed by Henry.

George Wood came to tackle from the side, this time Henry didn't intend to entice him to foul, he flicked the football to the side, then jumped up to avoid Wood's tackle from the side .

"Nice dodge! This is Henry's level!"

Wood did not give up, he got up from the ground and continued to chase.

The repetition was due to being suffocated for nearly a game, and the depression in Henry's chest exploded at this moment.

Before the game, news of his troubles with the club's contract extension was spread all over the world by the media, and Arsenal fans even doubted his loyalty. And he himself is tired of his time at Arsenal. Overwhelmed by Manchester United in the league and unable to win the European Champions Cup... Is it time to change places? But he is also the captain of Arsenal and the king of Highbury. He doesn't mean that he can walk away.

What he told his agent was to talk about contract renewal after the Champions League is over. The results of the Champions League determine his future...

This is the best result for Arsenal, we have reached the semi-finals for the first time, we must not stop there!

Henry maximized the speed of dribbling the ball. He rushed towards the penalty area of ​​Nottingham Forest, George Wood was chasing behind, and the front was the defense line composed of Pepe and Piqué.

He raised his foot and pretended to shoot, tricked Piqué into losing his center of gravity, then moved the ball out of the way. At the same time, he stuck Wood who was catching up firmly behind him, and broke into the penalty area!

"Henry passed the entire defense of Nottingham Forest alone! He entered the penalty area, and George Wood dared not foul!"

Pepe flashed out from behind Piqué and blocked in front of Henry, who easily dodged the angle of the shot with a change of direction, and then was interfered by Wood. The French striker takes a shot!

The shot was very tricky. Van der Sar tried his best to rush to the far corner, but he missed the ball. He could only watch the football fly into the goal behind him...

"Oh oh oh! Thierry Henry! Fantastic breakthrough! Fantastic goal!! He pulled the team out of the abyss of elimination when Arsenal couldn't start the game for a long time come back!"

No matter how exaggerated the commentator used to praise this goal, it is not an exaggeration. This is indeed a stunning goal.

It is not difficult for Arsenal's Henry to win four players in a row, but this scene happened at the most critical moment of the Champions League semi-final, which is legendary.

"He's the king of Arsenal, he saved the team, he's Thierry Henry—!"

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