Chapter 123 Turning the Tide
San Siro was in an uproar.
Milan fans chanted Fino's name, cheering and shouting for the brilliant goal.
Fino clenched his fists and waved them a few times towards the stands to thank the fans for their support and praise, then hugged his teammates.
He shouted, "Two goals short, let's try again!"
"That's right, let's do it again!"
"Let's do it again!"
His teammates responded loudly in return.
Maldini celebrated with Zambrotta, Kaladze, Dida, and others in the backfield, and nodded in satisfaction after seeing Fino's performance.
Finney, you're becoming more and more like a qualified leader.
After pulling one back, Milan's confidence soared, and their morale was noticeably different.
Ferguson frowned, directing his team to continue their attack. Milan had gained momentum, and the current score was not secure.
However, Milan's defensive intensity increased to another level, with both defensive lines contracting as a whole, and even Kaká and Fino roaming into Milan's half.
Under intense defense, Manchester United's attacks were repeatedly disrupted, and they only managed two poorly positioned free-kick opportunities.
Both free kicks were taken by Ronaldo, but he didn't continue his good luck. One free kick was caught by Dida, and the other hit the left post and was caught by Dida.
In the 44th minute, Milan got their last attacking opportunity of the first half.
Pirlo launched a long, low pass from Milan's half, sending the ball into Manchester United's half.
Kaka received the ball with his back to goal on the right flank. Anderson, Carrick, and Evra rushed towards Kaka from three directions. After receiving the ball, Kaka immediately passed it back to Zambrotta, who was making a run down the right flank.
Anderson then lunged at Zambrotta, who passed the ball across to Fino in the middle.
Anderson turned around again and lunged at Fino. Fletcher, who was to Fino's left front, and Park Ji-sung, who was chasing from behind, were both closing in on Fino.
Fino, without hesitation, passed the ball to Kaká again from Anderson's right.
Kaka → Zambrotta → Fino → Kaka, the three players completed a triangular pass, successfully drawing Fletcher and Carrick to the left front.
Then Kaká crossed from the right flank, passing the ball to the onrushing Ambrosini, and then he and Fino sprinted towards the Manchester United penalty area.
Ambrosini, Fino, and Kaká quickly positioned themselves almost in a horizontal line, their positions nearly touching the free-throw arc.
O'Shea, Ferdinand, and Vidic immediately rushed to block him in the penalty area, leaving Van der Sar stranded inside the box.
At this moment, Manchester United's left flank was completely exposed, as their defensive efforts were drawn to the center and right flank by Fino and his teammates.
Ambrosini passed the ball to the left wing, where Jankulovski sprinted down the empty left flank, making a high-speed run into Manchester United's backfield and heading straight for the ball's landing point.
Seeing this, O'Shea was furious and immediately turned to run towards the ball's landing point, but Jankulovski was a step ahead of him and slid the ball into the Manchester United penalty area.
At this point, Evra had retreated into the penalty area and was grappling with Inzaghi near the goal line at the far post. Ferguson had already warned Evra about Inzaghi's strengths, and Evra was specifically targeting Inzaghi's unpredictable runs.
But the one who ended this goal wasn't Inzaghi. Fino appeared midway through the ball's flight and volleyed it without stopping it, sending the ball straight into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Van der Sar couldn't make the save, and Milan equalized 2-2 at home.
Van der Sar was extremely annoyed.
Even more frustrated than Van der Sar was Evra. At that moment, besides Van der Sar, he was the only Manchester United player in the penalty area. If he hadn't been too close to the goal line while marking Inzaghi, there would have been a chance to create an offside trap.
The head coach blew his whistle to signal that the goal was valid, and then blew the whistle to end the first half.
"Gooooal! Cabrini scores his second goal, bringing his Champions League tally to 13, leveling the score for Milan at home. Milan has now tied the aggregate score at 3-3! Due to the Champions League home-and-away rules, Manchester United still holds an advantage with one more away goal than Milan, but there is still halftime left in the game. Let's continue watching this exciting match after halftime!"
Fino was tackled to the ground by a ferocious-looking Inzaghi, and his teammates rushed over to celebrate. As the game entered halftime, even Dida and his teammates on the back line ran over to celebrate the goal.
The long-awaited human pyramid made Fino, who was at the bottom, bear an unbearable weight, but at this moment he had no desire to complain. His heart was filled with the joy of tying the score.
When his teammates finally got up one by one, Fino was also helped up by Maldini and Pirlo.
Fino stretched out the back of his hand and shouted, "One more goal needed! Let's try again!"
Maldini was the first to place his hand on Maldini's, and then his teammates gathered around, one by one placing their hands on each other's, waving them down forcefully, and shouting in unison, "Score another goal!"
When the Manchester United players returned to the away dressing room, Ferguson was already waiting there with a cold expression.
After the last Manchester United player entered the dressing room, the assistant coach closed the door, and Ferguson's tirade began.
"Two goals in the first 15 minutes, are you proud of that? Do you think you've already secured the advancement? What's wrong with the defense? Has it all been corrupted by alcohol? Two goals conceded in a row, both made the same mistake, all rushing out of the penalty area and leaving Edwin (Van der Sar) to fend for himself?"
The defense, led by Ferdinand, felt as if their rain-soaked hair was almost dry under Ferguson's powerful hairdryer.
No one dared to object; everyone silently lowered their heads and obediently listened to the reprimand.
"Cheer up in the second half! Keep attacking while maintaining a solid defense. Don't let Milan score again. Do you want to repeat the bitter experience of two years ago? Huh?"
The scene in the home locker room was quite different.
Ancelotti unleashed his praise spree, making every player feel like they were basking in a spring breeze.
"We played very well in the first half. Although we conceded two goals early on, that wasn't our true strength. We were just caught off guard by Manchester United, and their second goal had an element of luck. After we became more alert, Ronaldo missed his next two free kicks, didn't he?"
"Our two goals were different; each one was the result of teamwork, which truly demonstrates a team's strength. In the second half, we need to maintain our current form: efficient attack and solid defense, to turn the game around at home and make Manchester United stumble twice in the same spot..."
The second half began with the teams switching sides.
Milan's momentum grew stronger with each game, while defending champions Manchester United showed no signs of backing down, and the two teams once again engaged in an attacking battle.
In the 51st minute, Park Ji-sung passed the ball to Ronaldo, who, under pressure from Kaladze, gradually dribbled away from the penalty area and took a low shot from outside the box, which was cleared out of bounds by Maldini.
Manchester United were awarded a corner kick.
Anderson took a tactical corner kick, the ball went straight to Ferdinand at the far post, and Ferdinand's header was caught by Dida.
Dida then launched a throw-in, and Milan began their counter-attack, this time targeting the left flank.
Jankulovski received the ball and dribbled forward down the left flank. Before Ronaldo could close in and win the ball back, he passed it along the sideline into Manchester United's half. Ambrosini received the ball and passed it forward again, handing it to Fino on the wing.
Fino continued along the left flank, and before O'Shea could intercept him, Fino and the retreating Kaká made a cross-run, Fino passed the ball to Kaká, and then continued down the left flank, drawing O'Shea away.
Kaka dribbled back a few steps to the right and passed the ball back to Ambrosini before Fletcher could get close. Carrick rushed over from the middle and joined Fletcher in double-teaming Ambrosini.
Ambrosini didn't hold onto the ball; after receiving it, he handed it back to Kaká.
At this moment, due to Carrick's movement, Pirlo in the middle lane was unmarked, and Kaká immediately passed the ball across to Pirlo from the left flank.
Vidic and Ferdinand rushed to intercept, but Pirlo did not engage them directly. Instead, he calmly took a shot from outside the penalty area and lobbed the ball into the left side of the penalty area.
Fino chested the ball down, shaking off O'Shea, and Van der Sar immediately moved to the near post to save Fino's shot.
However, Fino did not choose to shoot directly, but instead made a lateral pass in the penalty area. The ball went over the heads of several defenders and fell to the right side of the penalty area, where Inzaghi made a diving header to put the ball into the empty net.
3-2, Milan took the lead at the San Siro.
"Gooooal! Cabrini chipped a pass into the box, and veteran Inzaghi headed it in to put Milan ahead. Another excellent combination! All three of Milan's goals in this match have come from the seamless teamwork between the players, flowing like water, simply beautiful! Milan are currently leading 4-3 on aggregate, and now the pressure is on Manchester United."
After scoring, Inzaghi raised his hands high, basking in the cheers of the fans, and sprinted along the sideline, freely releasing his passion and joy.
When he ran to the vicinity of the center line, Gattuso came up and hugged him tightly.
Immediately afterwards, all the Milan players gathered around, celebrating this great comeback.
The rain gradually intensified.
Ferguson pushed aside the assistant coach who was holding an umbrella for him, walked to the fourth official, and personally submitted a substitution request.
Manchester United substituted Giggs for Anderson, who had little impact in the game, to strengthen their ability to break down the flanks.
Manchester United's defense was completely torn apart by Milan's midfield and attack today. Faced with Milan's tacit and delicate passing and combination play, Manchester United appeared somewhat rough and didn't even have many opportunities to get close to the goal.
We're already behind in the score, so let's go all out and intensify our attack again.
Ferguson wiped the rain off his face and muttered a curse under his breath. The rain in Milan was even more unsettling than the rain in Manchester.
Before Giggs could even make a move, an accident occurred on the field.
After the restart, Fletcher passed the ball to Carrick, who dribbled forward a few steps and, facing Gattuso's interception, passed the ball from the middle, targeting Evra on the left wing.
Kaká was faster than Evra and intercepted the ball first from the side. Evra slipped while trying to win the ball back and kicked Kaká's ankle. Kaká fell and clutched his ankle, groaning in pain.
The referee immediately stopped the game, showed Evra a yellow card, and signaled for Milan's team doctor to come onto the field.
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Author's Note: Many teachers find the nickname "Loongso" a bit odd and would like to ask for other teachers' opinions. If most teachers also find it strange, while Alonso isn't appearing very frequently right now, we can revise the previous text [Let me see].
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