Chapter 106
The game starts and Manchester United kicks off.
Manchester United, who were preparing for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, were obviously prepared for a draw in this game. Ferguson did not want the players to expend too much energy in this difficult to win game, which would lead to losing to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final a few days later and missing the Champions League final.
Ferguson stood on the sidelines with a very calm mentality, but less than 30 seconds after the start of the game, the relaxed smile on his face could no longer be maintained.
Less than 30 seconds into the game, Manchester United defender Brown made a mistake in his header pass, and the ball flew directly towards his own goal. Van der Sar subconsciously rushed out to block the ball.
Seeing this, Ferguson finally let go of his worries. When Manchester United slowly brought the ball to Chelsea's half, when Brown passed by Ferguson, Ferguson shouted, "Pay attention! Brown! Were you sleepwalking just now?"
If the game hadn't just started, Ferguson would have replaced Brown.
A minute later, Chelsea forward Kalou intercepted the ball on the right and made a direct cross. Essien raised his foot and volleyed the ball. The ball flew towards the Manchester United goal, but was slightly higher than the crossbar and did not go in.
"It's a pity that Essien didn't score this goal."
"Do you think it's because Essien has played as a defender for a long time that he is not used to playing in the midfield?"
Chelsea fans in front of the TV nodded: Yes, that's right! The commentator was right. Their Essien just didn't score because he wasn't used to it. Next time he will be able to score directly, beat Manchester United, win the double championship, and reach the peak of his life hehehehe...
In the third minute of the game, Ashley made a cross from the left. After receiving the ball, Kalou faced three Manchester United players, but still easily broke into the penalty area. When he was about to shoot, Ferdinand stretched his legs and barely poked the ball out.
The football rolled towards the defender, Essien caught up with the football in one step, swung his left foot and volleyed it.
"Essien again!"
"This ball can go in...what a pity!"
On the field, Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar easily confiscated the ball.
"But Essien's shot this time was much better than the last time. The angle was fine this time, but the power was a little weak. After this shot, I believe Essien already knows how to shoot the ball into Manchester United's goal."
Chelsea fans nodded: Yes, yes, yes! I will definitely get in next time!
In the 8th minute, Drogba received a pass from Chelsea's backcourt. He dribbled the ball directly into the penalty area and was intercepted by Manchester United defender Vidic in front of the small penalty area.
At first, no commentator paid much attention to this steal, as it was just an ordinary steal among countless counterattacks. It was not until Vidic raised his head with blood all over his face that the commentators made the sound of screaming chickens and shouted for a replay.
In the replay, Vidic rushed forward to steal the ball, but was hit directly in the face by Drogba's knee, and blood instantly flowed down Vidic's face.
Drogba stood there somewhat at a loss. He is not a weak shooter who can only shoot directly after receiving the pass from his teammates. Before Endrit came to the team, Drogba was the player with the most cards in the entire team because he often rushed towards the opposing players while playing in the frontcourt.
But after Endrit joined the team, the number of times Drogba received cards dropped sharply. The reason was that the pressure on him was not as great as before: before that, Drogba almost carried the entire Chelsea forward, his teammates were frequently injured, and he often gritted his teeth and insisted on playing and scoring goals.
But after Endrit joined, Drogba still played football as before at first, but later, when he finally confirmed how reliable his goalkeeper was, the burden in his heart was instantly lightened: Hey, now I can play freely, if I don’t score this time, there will be next time, even if the opponent breaks through him, what can it matter? You can't score a goal anyway.
If it were in the past, Drogba is sure that he would have deliberately gone with the flow. But now, he really didn't mean to make the scene so bloody on purpose!
The attack was in his favor, and Drogba knew he would not get a card because the opponent had bumped into him. He used to be complacent, but now, looking at the eyes of Manchester United players looking at him, Drogba felt extremely aggrieved: It’s not me, I didn’t, don’t look at me like that!
"Are you all right?"
A hand patted Drogba's shoulder and a slightly heavy breathing sounded next to his ear. Drogba's eyebrows jumped and he turned his head to see Endrit standing beside him and trying to calm his breathing.
"Are you okay? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
Drogba shook his head blankly.
Endritt groaned and waved his hand in front of Drogba's eyes. "What's wrong? Have you messed up your brain? Why are you so stupid?"
Drogba's face darkened - although it was hard to see, his tone completely revealed his anger and humiliation, "Go to hell! You're the stupid one!"
"I'm glad you're okay," Endrit breathed a sigh of relief and leaned forward to look at Vidic who was surrounded by the team doctor. The latter was trying to stand up by himself, but after standing up he swayed and was about to fall down.
The team doctor beside him quickly reached out to help, and Endrit also quickly went over to help.
"It's okay, it's not a big problem. Once you have your wounds cleaned up, you will be a handsome man popular among thousands of boys and girls again."
Vidic was lying on the stretcher, trying to open his eyes, looking through the red to see which teammate had said this. The voice was too gentle, which made him feel uncomfortable. Which teammate... huh? Endrit?
Damn, there must be something wrong with his eyes, he actually mistook his teammate for Endrit! It’s all Rooney’s fault. He has been talking about Endritt these days. This time he was wrong!
Vidic was carried out on a stretcher. In Manchester United's frontcourt, Endrit and Drogba were a bit idle. The other nearby players gathered in front of the referee Willy, trying to ask for an explanation. It would be fine if the opponent got a card, and if that didn't work, a direct free kick would be fine. The other side argued that it was Vidic who bumped into the player himself and that Drogba should not be blamed.
Kalou even directly proved the opposite, "If Drogba did it on purpose, would Vidic still be able to stand up before?"
Endrit had only taken one step forward when he heard Kalou's voice. He stopped, turned his head and patted Drogba on the shoulder, "It's okay, even if the opponent takes a free throw, he won't be able to score."
"I'll withdraw first."
He is now a little far from Chelsea's goal, but compared to the lightning speed when he ran over, it was easier for him to run back.
After Endrit stood in front of the goal, the referee Willy discussed with the nearby linesman and finally made the final decision: the game started again.
There was no penalty and the Manchester United players dispersed immediately. Before they surrounded the referee, they actually had an answer in their hearts, but they had no choice but to go for it. What if the referee was influenced and really gave a card or a penalty?
“Beep, beep, beep…”
The game resumed, Hargreaves was substituted for Vidic who had just been carried off the field, and Brown was replaced to the middle position.
In the 13th minute, Kalou and Drogba made a two-pass wall pass and broke into the penalty area directly. Seeing that he had a chance to score directly against the goalkeeper, Ferdinand appeared in time to steal the ball.
The ball was back in Manchester United's hands, but Manchester United's attack was slow to organize. When the ball was passed to the frontcourt, Essien intercepted the ball in the middle.
In the 15th minute, Essien broke through and stopped the ball outside the penalty area. When he was about to shoot, he was intercepted by Manchester United forward Nani, who immediately launched a quick counterattack: Nani moved at high speed with the ball, flew past Chelsea's front midfielder, broke through to about 22 meters away from the goal, stopped the ball and shot directly.
Endrit stood in front of the goal and stared at the football, moving his feet back and forth, and the football rushed directly to the right side of the goal.
The ball went awfully wide, and Manchester United's first attack was officially declared a failure.
"Shit! Why didn't you pass the ball to me just now!" Rooney, who was near Nani, was very dissatisfied. He had just prepared to receive the ball, but Nani directly raised his foot and shot.
Even though he shot, he didn’t score! So why are you shooting?
"You kicked it so far away and still wanted to shoot? Why don't you just pass it to me..."
Rooney's voice was very loud and his movements were wide when he spoke. His dissatisfaction could be felt through the TV screen. Manchester United fans covered their faces with their hands, not wanting to acknowledge that this was their star striker.
Especially since Rooney was in the same frame with Endrit, the former looked a little inferior when compared to the two.
Nani had a blank expression on his face and ignored Rooney's chattering.
A minute later, Nani passed the ball in the penalty area, but the ball was passed to midfielder Anderson, who was tackled by Carvalho before he had time to move after receiving the ball.
Rooney was so angry that smoke was about to come out of his head, but Nani turned around and returned to defense.
Chelsea got the ball and started a new wave of attack.
In the 21st, 26th and 28th minutes, Cole, Cole and Drogba launched a wave of attacks on the goal in succession. In the 21st minute, Cole shot in the penalty area, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out and did not go in.
In the 26th minute, Kalou made a straight pass and the ball was given to Cole again. The latter broke through Brown and Ferdinand in the penalty area and raised his leg to shoot, but this shot was saved by Van der Sar in time.
In the 28th minute, Kalou passed the ball to Drogba, who broke through to the edge of the penalty area and shot with his left foot. Ferdinand made another effort and blocked the ball out of the bottom line.
The ball passed the home goal three times without going in. Chelsea fans sitting in the stands couldn't help but sigh, which made the Manchester United fans next to them roll their eyes: You didn't score because of your luck. We have no offense at all, this is... a problem of attitude!
Manchester United fans silently tried to save face for their players in their hearts, but coach Ferguson on the sidelines could not maintain his elegance and started yelling.
But perhaps because there were too many people shouting at once, Manchester United's attack still could not be organized. However, the foul was in place: in the 34th minute, Fletcher committed a handball foul on Ballack in the penalty area, and Chelsea received a direct free kick penalty card.
Although Drogba's free throw missed, Ferguson's face was almost darker than Drogba's.
In the 38th minute, Manchester United finally launched a successful attack. Nani dribbled the ball into the penalty area from the right. The Manchester United fans in the stands took a breath together, opened their eyes wide and waited for a miracle to happen.
The next second, a miracle happened to Chelsea. Carvalho made a tackle from the side and stole the ball cleanly.
Chelsea fans in the stands applauded and cheered, and the commentators asked the director to replay the footage.
"That was a beautiful tackle just now!"
"This tackle was so clean and neat, you can't find any fault with it at all!"
Time flew forward, and the originally scheduled end time of the first half soon arrived, but because of the time Vidic had just wasted, five minutes were added to the first half.
Just when everyone, even Chelsea fans thought that the suspense of this game would be left to the second half, in the injury time, Drogba made a cross from the right, and the ball flew directly to Ballack who was at the far point!
"No one is defending!"
"Oh my god! Manchester United didn't even head the ball!" The commentator stood up before he could even finish his sentence, "GOALLLLL!!! The ball goes in!"
Chelsea 1:0 Manchester United!
"Too careless! Just now Ballack was less than ten meters away from the goal! But there was not a single Manchester United player to defend him!"
"They probably thought Drogba would shoot directly? After all, Drogba doesn't usually pass the ball."
"Not passing the ball often doesn't mean Drogba hasn't passed the ball. This is a competitive game and we can't miss any possibility! Manchester United should assign at least one player to keep an eye on Ballack. Even if they can't stop Ballack directly, at least they can buy some reaction time for Van der Sar."
The first half of the game came to an end with the commentators' commentary.
"Okay, dear viewers in front of the TV, please don't leave. We will replay it for you during the halftime break... The camera is on the scene, and we can see that Ronaldinho did not return to the locker room. He is warming up on the court!"
"In the second half of the game, Ronaldinho will play!"
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