Chapter 164
The game kicked off at Manchester United's home stadium.
Old Trafford Stadium.
"I heard that Tottenham has a Croatian midfielder this season." Rooney said to Cristiano in the player tunnel. Behind them were Tottenham players walking by. He lowered his voice and gestured slightly, "Although he looks small, he plays very fiercely and has a hot temper."
Cristiano raised his eyebrows. Croatian midfielder? The only small Croatian midfielder he remembered was his good friend, but he remembered that the other party did not come to England so early?
He turned his head curiously and looked around, and sure enough, he saw a familiar Croatian with her hair tied up with a headband, revealing her forehead.
Cristiano raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.
Ferdinand bumped Cristiano's shoulder, signaling the boy to stop staring at Tottenham. If you didn't know, you would think he was provoking him.
"He must be looking for that Croatian midfielder," Rooney said, covering his mouth with his hands and laughing jokingly. "Ronnie, you'd better remember that face. Don't be fooled by the fact that the guy looks short. I heard that his muscles are very strong. He is like a mound of earth when he bumps into you. You will definitely not be able to beat him."
Cristiano: "...Don't be so exaggerated. I'm not the same person I used to be. It's not that easy to knock me away."
Rooney looked up and down at Cristiano, twitched the corner of his mouth and said nothing, but everything was implied in silence.
He didn't believe Cristiano's bullshit.
Ferdinand pinched Cristiano's neck and said, "Maybe, but try to avoid collisions. I don't want to see your jersey being the dirtiest after a game."
Cristiano's jersey is always dirty and covered with mud and grass. Although other people's jerseys will not be clean either, Cristiano's must be the dirtiest one - if we were to select the most violated player of the month in the Premier League, maybe Cristiano could win the award every month.
Cristiano shrank his neck ticklishly and said to Ferdinand with a smile: "Don't worry, Leo."
The two teams stood on the field, the Manchester United Red Devils, wearing their home jerseys, attacked from left to right, while Tottenham Hotspur counterattacked from right to left.
Tottenham played at a fast pace from the start. Less than 20 minutes into the first half, Tottenham got two corner kick opportunities and launched several shots at the goal guarded by Van der Sar. Even the Croatian midfielder tried a shot from outside the penalty area.
While Van der Sar was shouting at his own defense line to closely monitor the opponent, he rubbed his knee. He felt uncomfortable after the previous save.
Ferguson stared at the goal from the sidelines, and Van der Sar just rubbed it without any other expression.
"Robbie Keane dribbled the ball into the penalty area!! Manchester United made a defensive mistake!"
"Shoot!!!! Tottenham took the lead and are leading by one point!!"
Van der Sar hooked the ball into his arms, but was still a beat too late. He picked up the ball in frustration and threw it away.
And this was not the only goal in the first half.
Forty minutes into the game, another unexpected goal widened Manchester United's lead to zero to two.
This was something that all the Red Devils fans had not expected. They were at their home ground, but were scored two goals by a visiting team in the first half alone!
This is so shameful!
When the halftime came, all of Manchester United's main players had grim looks on their faces, and the fans were blocking the stands on both sides of their aisle, booing them with dissatisfaction.
Keane strode into the dressing room with a sullen face, and without waiting for him to say anything, Ferguson, with a bare face, berated them all.
The entire locker room was filled with Ferguson's roar, while Cristiano sat on the bench, spraying ointment on his face and adjusting his over-the-knee socks, thinking that even if these words of the boss were posted on a forum, they would not survive for long before being automatically censored.
Even after several years, Cristiano still remembers the halftime break vividly and has a new understanding of the power of Ferguson's blower.
The second half of the game begins.
Just over ten minutes into the second half, Ferguson replaced three players at once and made drastic and decisive adjustments to the tactics.
"Ferguson has used up his quota of substitutions! Is Manchester United going to go all out on a new substitution rhythm?!" the commentator said loudly in surprise, "Ferguson is really very...bold and very decisive!"
"At present, Manchester United has gradually found some initiative as a whole, which is a good sign!"
The new player Carrick is a midfielder, which means Cristiano will press forward deeper and play as a winger. After Carrick intercepted the ball, he immediately passed it to Cristiano behind him.
Cristiano started quickly and tore a noticeable gap in the side area of the court with his obvious speed advantage. He paused slightly on the ball, looked forward quickly, and saw Alan on the other side of the frontcourt.
The moment their eyes met, Cristiano decisively passed the ball high to the other side of the field just before the Tottenham full-back was about to approach.
"Ronaldo moved the ball to the right half of the field! Alan has already started from that position!"
Alan dribbled the ball to the right side of the penalty area without hesitation. The defensive players in front of him quickly closed in. After Alan forced a breakthrough, he passed the ball with a back foot!
"Cristiano received the ball outside the penalty area! He shot straight away without any adjustments!"
“What a pity—”
"This ball was pressed beautifully!! The angle and force hit the goal directly!! But the Tottenham goalkeeper made a high-quality save!! He defended his own goal!" The commentator spoke quickly.
Cristiano's shot was fast and powerful enough, but the Tottenham goalkeeper guessed the direction of his shot early and dived to block it with his body, but was immediately kicked away by a Tottenham player.
Manchester United gets a corner kick!
Rooney ran to the penalty area, put his hands on his hips, gestured loudly to his teammates to get into position, and looked for Cristiano and Alan.
The two stood in front of the goal, one in front of the other. Cristiano was soon squeezed to the back post by Tottenham players. When he wanted to move forward, he was blocked and pushed by someone's arm, and he fell to the ground.
Rooney: “…”
Cristiano quickly got up and stood on tiptoe, trying to squeeze into the wall of people in front of him, as if nothing had happened just now.
Rooney thought to himself, he saw it, he would let Cristiano remember how many times the opponent was pushed down in this game. At the same time, he calculated the strength and sent the ball to the front of the penalty area. Alan jumped, but the ball went high over the opponent's head and fell into the back row.
Rooney clicked his tongue and quickly ran to the middle. He really didn't understand how Cristiano always sent the corner kicks to where he wanted.
Seeing this, Cristiano immediately broke into a jog, and the Tottenham players around him also ran and dispersed as the ball was transferred.
Keane quickly got the ball, dribbled it back some distance, and then passed it to Neville, who quickly passed it back to Cristiano's feet.
This time, Cristiano faced the defender in front of him cautiously. He paused on the ball, breathing slightly, raised his eyes and shook his body slightly, made a fake move and quickly returned to his position, observing the opponent's reaction.
The opposing defender was almost shaken off. Cristiano smiled regretfully at him, then suddenly kicked the ball with his toes. The ball bounced flexibly from Cristiano's toes and ricocheted through the opposing defender's mouth!
Cristiano quickly bypassed the defender who had not yet reacted, took the ball back, and jogged forward two steps, looking for the right opportunity while being wary of the two players in front of him who were defending him eagerly.
He slowed down his pace and looked up for Alan.
But before he could do anything, a figure rushed towards him from the corner of his eye.
He hooked his foot and quickly turned his back to protect the ball, but a foot stretched out from behind him and a solid body hit his back. Cristiano lost his balance and fell forward to the ground.
"Modric tackled Ronaldo! He immediately spread his hands to indicate that it was not a foul, but the referee ignored him! Manchester United was given a free kick in the frontcourt!" the commentator exclaimed.
This position is the free kick range where Cristiano scores the most goals, and it is extremely threatening.
"It turns out that Ronaldo is the one taking the penalty!" The commentator became excited. "This position is not so easy for the Tottenham goalkeeper. This is completely within Ronaldo's shooting range. It's dangerous!"
"Ronaldo runs up! Shoot!!"
The ball passed over the wall of people, drew an arc, and almost went into the net, but it was just a tiny bit short, and the ball hit the blind spot of the upper right corner of the goal post and bounced out!
"Hiss—the ball hit the goal post. The angle was just a little off!"
"This goal was really unlucky. It seems that the goddess of victory is not on Ronaldo's side tonight."
The commentator sighed regretfully. Cristiano knelt on the spot, holding his head against the grass, his whole body covered with grass clippings and mud - just one step away!
He wrinkled his nose, got up from the ground with sweat on his face, and his eyelids were red with excitement.
"Ronaldo looks like he's about to cry. This goal was the closest he has ever been to scoring a goal for Manchester United so far in the game!" the commentator immediately said upon seeing this.
The game started again, and Manchester United played much more aggressively and aggressively than in the first half.
Less than three minutes later, the ball was exchanged to Manchester United again. After midfielder Scholes got the ball, he and Giggs tacitly passed each other and brought the ball beautifully across half the court.
"Ronaldo stepped forward to receive the ball! He quickly pressed forward along the sideline by riding a bicycle! Both Tottenham defenders followed closely in front of Ronaldo!"
Cristiano interlaced his footwork, keeping the ball firmly against the sideline, and flexibly and steadily pulled the ball to his side, making the two players in front of him swerve.
The linesman behind them was also jogging and keeping his eyes on the ball. Cristiano was almost running out of the baseline with the ball, but he suddenly stopped and kicked the ball unexpectedly, and the ball went straight to the center line behind the two defenders!
"Ronaldo made a high cross from the baseline! The ball landed directly in front of the goal!" The commentator couldn't help but lean forward slightly, holding the microphone nervously, "Great opportunity!!"
Alan's figure on the screen pushed away the Tottenham defender, suddenly raised his foot high, and kicked the ball passed by Cristiano directly into the goal in front of the goalkeeper!
"Goooooal!! Ronaldo assists! Alan scores with a shot in front of the goal!! Manchester United got back a point in the 16th minute of the second half!! Currently trailing Tottenham by 1-2!"
Cristiano excitedly ran towards Alan from the baseline. He pressed on Alan's neck and excitedly pulled down his head: "Good job, Alan!!"
Alan was pressed so hard that his head was almost covered by the boy's jersey. He grinned and happily pulled Cristiano down, rubbed Cristiano's head hard, and didn't care that his hands were covered with hairspray.
This goal gave everyone hope, and the fans in the stands all sang loudly:
"Glory, Glory, Man United!"
“As the reds go marching on on on!”
“…”
Ferguson clenched his fist and roared on the sidelines, then applauded his players.
With less than thirty minutes left, everything is still possible.
Manchester United almost completely controlled the ball in Tottenham's half of the field.
After Alan intercepted the ball, there were almost opposing players around him, in front, behind, and on both sides. Without hesitation, he immediately passed the ball to Cristiano who was near the right side.
As the ball was passed to Cristiano, the players around Alan immediately moved and surrounded Cristiano.
Cristiano got the ball and quickly passed it forward.
While the other players were still at the far end, the ball easily passed between the two players in front of him. He quickly moved forward into the penalty area and kicked the ball towards the goal!
The ball flew into the net like lightning, just a few seconds after Alan passed the ball!
The goalkeeper stretched out his arms and jumped up to block the ball, but the ball hit the blind spot at the top right corner! It was the same position as the previous free kick, but this time, the ball went in solidly during the open play!
After Cristiano kicked the ball with great force, he lost his balance due to the inertia of rushing forward. He rolled on the ground to release the force, quickly raised his head to look at the goal, and saw the black and white elf rolling quietly in the net.
"The ball goes in!!! It was a lightning-fast goal!!! Alan assisted Ronaldo!!! The two of them scored a goal and assisted Ronaldo respectively to tie the score for Manchester United!!"
The commentator slammed the table and raised his arms excitedly: "Well done, Red Devils!"
Cristiano pounded the grass and yelled happily as if to vent his anger. Before he could stand up to celebrate, his teammates came running over and pressed him down one after another. He didn't know who kissed his neck and head several times by those bastards.
He even heard someone mutter, "Ronnie is spraying perfume again?"
“I just said he smells good.”
"I can pass the ball to him with my eyes closed just by smelling the scent."
Cristiano recognized Neville's voice: "Gary!"
"I'm praising you."
The group celebrated briefly and laughed.
The balance of victory began to gradually tilt towards Manchester United.
In the 35th minute of the game, Cristiano took the ball again and broke into the penalty area. He was like an arrow shot from a bow, with a sharp edge that broke through the air and made people dare not ignore him.
"It's Modric again! Modric shoveled the ball away from behind again! Ronaldo was knocked to the ground!" The commentator almost laughed out loud, "Although Modric is not tall, his physical confrontation ability is indeed very strong."
This time, because Modric tackled the ball, the referee did not give any penalty.
Modric stopped beside Cristiano and gasped to adjust his breathing. He heard the Manchester United No. 7 who fell to the ground whispering: "You hurt my waist."
Modric turned his head and saw the number seven in the red jersey lying on the ground, pointing at his waist, as if complaining to him about something.
Modric thought to himself, he is from Tottenham, it is only natural for him to bump into you.
But he still reached out and pulled No. 7 up, saying in a low voice: "Sorry."
"It's okay." Cristiano immediately smiled cheerfully, squints his eyes, and happily speaks the first words to his old friend.
Tottenham conceded another goal afterwards. Rooney dribbled the ball into the penalty area and a pass was blocked by a Tottenham player's handball, resulting in an immediate penalty kick that was crucial.
Rooney created a penalty and converted it himself, turning the score around to overtake Tottenham.
After being overtaken, Tottenham immediately launched a counterattack. Tottenham striker Kanoute's powerful long-range shot was saved by Van der Sar, shocking the audience behind him so much that they almost stood up.
The ball narrowly missed the net!
Just when everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Van der Sar frowned, showing a trace of pain, and raised his hand to signal Ferguson in the coaching seat on the sidelines.
Ferguson immediately sent the team doctor on the field.
Cristiano and others slowly walked to Van der Sar, moistened their lips with a cup of water, and checked on Van der Sar's injury.
"He can't play anymore," the team doctor said. "He has to come off, otherwise he will be out for the rest of the game."
There is also the Champions League final afterwards. How can Van der Sar, as a goalkeeper of Manchester United, be absent? However, all the substitutions on the field had been used up and Manchester United could not replace the second goalkeeper.
Ferguson finally named O'Shea and asked the great central defender with height advantage, long arms and legs to put on goalkeeper gloves.
O'Shea stood in front of the goal, jumped twice to liven up his body, and grinned at Cristiano who was looking at him: "Wow, I've stood in this position during training, but it feels really different now."
"Come on." Cristiano said dryly. He took a deep breath and suddenly felt that the goal he just scored to overtake the opponent was not enough.
O'Shea said "Hey" and complained to Cristiano: "Give me some confidence, Ronnie!"
Cristiano immediately raised his voice, gave another big fake smile, and waved his arms: "Come on!"
O'Shea: "Okay!"
Rooney rolled his eyes.
The whistle for the resumption of the game was blown, and O'Shea quickly made the sign of the cross on his chest and shouted to his teammates: "Don't let them come to us! Press forward! Press forward!"
Ferdinand rolled his eyes this time too.
Tottenham's counterattack was very fast. Manchester United's defense was missing a man. Under the organization of the midfield, Robben Keane took the ball and launched the final sprint.
"Robben Keane had a one-on-one chance!! This was a powerful threat to Manchester United's score!! O'Shea, who was temporarily pulled in to act as goalkeeper, had to block Robben Keane's one-on-one chance. The difficulty of this was S-level!" The commentator took a breath.
Robben Keane did not give Manchester United's defense a chance to retreat, he broke straight into the penalty area!
"Shoot in the penalty area!!"
O'Shea held his breath. He saw the ball getting closer and closer to him. The moment the opposing striker kicked the ball, his brain went blank and he pounced on it subconsciously!
When he came to his senses again, he was already holding the black and white ball tightly in his arms!
The entire Manchester United bench screamed excitedly, and Van der Sar, who was injured and left the field, jumped up from his seat excitedly: "Well done John! You have talent!!"
"God! O'Shea saved Robben Keane's one-on-one shot! This shot was really accurate! But O'Shea saved it!! Manchester United has a chance to win!"
Manchester United's main players had a false alarm and no one dared to give Tottenham another chance to attack.
They worked in unison and pressed forward towards Tottenham's front court.
Cristiano deftly shook off the opposing player in midfield and immediately passed the ball to Rooney.
The two men passed the ball back and forth patiently, gradually shaking off the opponent's defense.
After revealing a slight gap, Rooney immediately and accurately sent the ball to Alan who was lurking outside the penalty area on the side.
"Alan shot from a small angle outside the penalty area! The ball went in again!!! Alan extended Manchester United's lead to 4-2!"
"There are less than ten minutes left in the game! Who could have thought! Manchester United would catch up in the second half! And score four goals!?"
"Wait a minute, Manchester United's chance is here again!"
On the screen, Cristiano puffed out his chest and unloaded the ball, showing his basic skills. He immediately stepped on the ball and turned around to avoid the Tottenham defender in front of him. His muscles were tense and his body showed an extremely powerful and beautiful curve, as if he was about to shoot.
The commentator took a breath, a little nervous and uncertain: "Ronaldo stopped the ball with his chest and turned around! Is he going to shoot directly?!"
It has to be said that Cristiano's long-range shots have completely become his trademark. No matter who they are, they must admit that they expect and like to see such scenes. Such long-distance goals and unexpected shots in mobile warfare are like a divine kick in the air, like a miracle, which makes people's adrenaline surge.
"Ronaldo shoots! As expected!!!——" The commentator hadn't finished speaking when he was interrupted by the guest next to him in an even more excited manner the next second——
"GOAL!!!! THE BALL IS IN!!!! In the final moments of the game, Ronaldo scores another goal! His second goal!!!"
"Manchester United! 5-2!! Overtake Tottenham by a huge margin!! Win the game!!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo and Alan Smith both scored twice! Congratulations to Manchester United!"
The whistle for the end of the game blew, and the entire Old Trafford was instantly filled with explosive cheers.
"Three consecutive titles!! Manchester United once again achieved an incredible three consecutive titles in the Premier League!! Congratulations to Manchester United!!! Secured the Premier League title three rounds in advance!!"
"League champion, FA Cup champion, Premier League champion! Manchester United has won three trophies this season, realizing the ambition of winning the treble!!!" The guest slammed the table and shouted, "Don't forget, there is still a Champions League final waiting for this Manchester United!"
"Manchester United vs Barcelona! A historic quadruple is possible!"
"Barcelona has Ronaldinho, but Manchester United has Ronaldo! They have the number seven who always turns the game around! This Manchester United team is the one that has the most and inherits the Red Devils spirit! They have unlimited potential to make history!"
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