Chapter 108: Turning the Tide

“Sir, that was a classic handball, the goal should not stand,” Ancelotti protested to the fourth official.

Before the fourth official could speak, Mourinho said, "That was a good goal, the referee's decision was absolutely correct."

Ancelotti ignored him and continued arguing with the fourth official: "Adriano misjudged the ball with his forehead; it didn't fly forward but fell downward. He raised his arm, touched the ball with his arm, and then swung it forward to send it into the goal. How can that be a valid goal? It should be a red card."

Mourinho continued his tirade from the sidelines: "Some teams are really powerful, they even do the referee's job, no wonder they almost got relegated!"

This is a veiled reference to the "phone call" scandal.

Ancelotti's chest heaved a few times, but he remained composed, not even glancing at Mourinho, and continued to protest to the fourth official: "Sir, this is absolutely a misjudgment. This level of misjudgment should not happen in such a crucial match as the Milan derby."

When Mourinho saw that Ancelotti was ignoring him, he tried to pull on Ancelotti's arm, but Ancelotti shook him off.

Ancelotti finally looked the other person in the eye: "Sir, I was not speaking to you."

Mourinho shrugged and scoffed, "Sir, don't be unreasonable here, and don't disrupt the normal work of the refereeing team."

Ancelotti's breathing became increasingly rapid.

Seeing that things were not going well, the fourth official immediately separated the two men and ordered them to return to their positions.

"I will include Mr. Ancelotti's protest in the post-match report. Now, gentlemen, please return to your positions immediately; the game is about to start."

Milan's assistant coach came over and tugged at Ancelotti, who calmed his breathing and returned to Milan's bench.

Mourinho walked back with a victorious smile.

Perhaps fate intended for Mourinho to enjoy his triumph for a while longer, as Inter Milan took the lead in the 42nd minute.

Muntari sent a long diagonal pass from the left side of midfield to the right flank, where Ibrahimovic and Kaladze once again contested for the header, with Ibrahimovic gaining the upper hand this time.

Ibrahimovic headed the ball into the right side of the penalty area, and Stankovic volleyed it into the bottom right corner of the goal.

Inter Milan lead 2-1 at home.

In the final moments of the first half, Ambrosini and Maicon collided while vying for possession, with Ambrosini knocking Maicon to the ground.

The referee finally took action, issuing Ambrosini the first yellow card of the match.

Fino felt that the referee's whistle in this game was not only a bit lenient, but also a bit biased.

It can't be called a biased refereeing decision. When Adriano scored, the referee's view was somewhat obstructed by Adriano's body, which may have affected his judgment.

However, Ambrosini's yellow card was a bit unfair. There were several fouls before Ambrosini that were more serious than his, but Ambrosini was the one who received the yellow card.

Fino stood with his hands on his hips in front of the referee.

“Sir, this was just a fair challenge. When Ronaldinho was knocked down by Chivu, you didn’t issue a card, did you? Ronaldinho fell in the penalty area, where a shot could have been taken at any moment.”

The referee remained unmoved: "According to the rules, this is a yellow card offense."

Fino unconsciously clenched his little hands as well: "So according to the rules, if Ronaldinho is knocked down in the penalty area, does Chivu not even commit a foul?"

The referee raised an eyebrow and looked at Fino meaningfully: "Are you questioning my decision?"

Fino looked directly into the other person's eyes without flinching.

"If everything is done according to the rules, then I hope that the subsequent rulings will be consistent and strictly in accordance with the rules."

At that moment, Maldini came over, put his hand on Fino's waist, didn't say anything, but just stared intently at the referee.

The referee, feeling a little guilty under her gaze, glanced away and replied, "Of course."

Then he ran off in small steps.

The first half ended not long after the game resumed.

On his way back to the locker room, Fino was blocked by Ibrahimovic again.

"Did you see that scorpion tail swing? Isn't Zlatan cool?"

Fino: ? ? ?

He couldn't understand what had gotten into Ibrahimovic.

What exactly are you trying to say?

Ibrahimovic laughed heartily, "Zlatan admires you; you're a true man. So, Lord Zlatan generously forgives your previous provocation!"

After saying that, Ibrahimovic patted him on the shoulder and jogged back to the locker room.

Fino was stunned. "What do you mean, 'forgive'? Do I need your forgiveness?"

Nesta's die-hard fan is really weird.

At this moment, Pirlo came over, took Fino's hand, and led him to the locker room.

"Fini, what's wrong? Did Ibrahimovic provoke you?"

Fino shook his head: "He said some strange things, which are a bit hard to understand."

"Ignore him. He's a very strange guy. Sandro once said that Ibrahimovic likes to say strange things."

"Um."

...

The second half began with the teams switching sides.

Just two minutes into the game, Samuel tackled Fino from behind.

The referee was nearby when it happened and saw it clearly.

Samuel rushed over to Rafino, but Rafino slapped his hand away, sat on the ground without saying a word, and just stared intently at the referee.

Fino's meaning is clear: it's time to show whether your rulings are consistent.

The referee avoided his gaze and showed Samuel a yellow card.

Fino then got up from the ground.

In the following time, the offense and defense of both sides changed quickly, and conflicts occurred from time to time, but the referee did not issue cards easily. After both teams received a yellow card, his standards began to loosen again.

This left Fino speechless. "Are you a rubber band? Sometimes tight, sometimes loose?"

But at least the sentencing standards were the same for both sides, which is barely acceptable.

In the 62nd minute, Beckham suffered a minor calf muscle strain, and Ancelotti substituted Inzaghi onto the field.

Seedorf dropped back, and Milan switched to a two-striker formation.

After Inzaghi came on, Fino dropped back more often.

In the 74th minute, Adriano broke through Maldini's interception and unleashed a powerful shot inside the penalty area, but Abbiati punched the ball out of the box with both hands.

Fino, who had already retreated to his own half, intercepted the ball and began his solo run.

Muntari, Cambiasso, Santon – one Inter Milan player after another fell to Fino in one-on-one situations. Fino's movements weren't flashy, but they were concise and efficient: sudden stops and accelerations, changes of direction to get past opponents, and in a very short time, Fino dribbled into Inter Milan's backfield.

Samuel and Ziv were on high alert and rushed forward to intercept them.

However, Fino did not continue his breakthrough, but skillfully flicked the ball past Samuel into the penalty area.

Inzaghi appeared at the point where the ball was about to land, and from about 10 meters away from the goal, he volleyed the ball with his left foot from a tight angle, and the ball went into the net just above the crossbar.

Inzaghi had just clenched his fists and roared when the assistant referee raised his flag to indicate that the goal was disallowed and Inzaghi was offside.

Inzaghi's high spirits immediately plummeted. He walked over to Fino and apologized for wasting Fino's pass.

At this moment, Inzaghi looked like a wronged, dejected little dog, a stark contrast to his usual dashing demeanor, and even somewhat adorable.

Fino reached out and ruffled his hair, then patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, Pippo, there's still time, let's try again."

"Oh dear, Inzaghi was offside! What a pity!" the commentator sighed. "Cabrini's long run was beautiful, and his combination with Inzaghi was excellent. It's just a shame he was offside; otherwise, it would have been headline news. Cabrini is so well-rounded—organizing, dribbling, shooting—he excels in everything. These abilities are so dazzling that some of his other strengths are easily overlooked, such as his speed, which is equally impressive!"

After the goal was ruled offside, Milan quickly launched another attack.

Zambrotta made a run down the right flank into Inter's attacking third, received a pass from Seedorf, quickly dribbled down the wing, and then passed the ball back to Ronaldinho in the center.

At this moment, both Fino and Inzaghi were in the penalty area. Fino attracted the attention of the two center-backs on the left side near the goal line, while Inzaghi lurked behind Santon, ready to pounce.

Ronaldinho dodged Zanetti's tackle and chipped the ball into the penalty area.

Inzaghi burst out from behind Santon and headed the ball into the far corner.

In the 79th minute, Inzaghi equalized for Milan.

The score is now 2-2, and both sides are back on equal footing.

Including stoppage time, there were only a dozen minutes left in the game, and neither side showed any sign of giving up.

Ancelotti substituted Senderos for Kaladze, who was recovering from a serious injury; this was a like-for-like substitution.

Mourinho substituted Crespo for the exhausted Adriano and Burdisso for Stankovic to solidify the defense.

The competition officially entered the bayonet-fighting stage.

In the 82nd minute, Maicon cut inside from the right and was brought down by Jankulovski.

In the 84th minute, Seedorf received a cross from Ronaldinho and his shot was saved by Cesar.

In the 87th minute, Ibrahimovic's header was tipped over the crossbar by Abbiati.

...

Time quickly moved into stoppage time, and offensive opportunities became increasingly precious, causing the players to grow increasingly anxious.

With Maldini dispossessing Cambiasso, the two sides switched sides.

Ambrosini played a through ball into Inter's half, where Fino dribbled from the center toward Inter's penalty area. Chivu came out of the box to intercept, and Zanetti was also closing in behind Fino.

Fino glanced at his teammates' positions out of the corner of his eye. Inzaghi was being marked by Burdisso in the penalty area, Ronaldinho was tug-of-war with Maicon on the left wing, and Seedorf was right behind him, not in a good position either.

Suddenly, he noticed that a Milan player was making a run up to Seedorf's right flank—it was Pirlo.

Fino, with his back to Chivu, passed the ball across to Pirlo on the right side of the penalty area.

After controlling the ball, Pirlo made a move to adjust his shooting angle, drawing the attention of two defenders.

Before Santon and Samuel could press forward, Pirlo lofted a high ball back into the penalty area, aiming for Fino in the middle.

At this moment, Fino had already dodged Chivu and entered the penalty area, and headed the falling ball towards the goal with force.

Cesar immediately dived to make a save, but the ball bounced off Cesar, touched the ground, grazed the left post, and went into the goal.

3-2, Fino has put Milan ahead.

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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your support! [cat emoji]