788 The Chip Sho

At half-time, Twain praised the team's overall performance and asked the team to continue playing like that. Mourinho, on the other hand, was not as relaxed; he was concerned about Quaresma's injury and how to crack Nottingham Forest's defensive counter-attack tactics. Other than improving their offense, what else was there to do?

Inter Milan were quite demoralized. Quaresma had suffered such a serious injury because the situation was disadvantageous — the news from Comby confirmed that Quaresma would miss all of the games this season and it was not clear when he would return.

However, Mourinho had spun this into something to boost the team's morale with. He used Quaresma's broken leg to inspire the players in the team, telling them that there was no way back and that he would have to roll back to Milan if they did not work hard enough. He also said that Quaresma's injury would have been for nothing.

And like Tony Twain, Mourinho was also a demagogue who was able to spur others on. He excelled in these things. Those Inter Milan players who were uninspired were motivated like wolves by his words.

And just like that, they were back on the pitch. Inter Milan's attack was clearly stronger at the start of the second half, and they were putting Akinfeev's goal under siege without thinking about their defense. Nottingham Forest were naturally happy to play defensively and go on the counter-attack when possible.

But César played well. He consecutively blocked two shots from Nottingham Forest. With him at the back protecting the goal, Inter Milan's attacking players were relieved.

Twain was furious that the team had missed two chances. He was acutely aware that the second half was different from the first half. In the first half, it was a mess that only alleviated with Quaresma's injury. There was something ominous about the second half, and they could not help but be wary.

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Ibišević was in the thick of the game and had to take on too many defensive tasks. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough to fight back. Twain decided to replace him immediately and was loath to delay. What if Inter Milan scored in this period of time?

Since they wanted to counterattack, a striker who was speedy would be ideal. One option would be the experienced striker Eastwood and the other the faster Agbonlahor. Eastwood was not slow, but he was certainly not as fast as Agbonlahor. However, he was more capable of grasping opportunities in front of the goalmouth with several different shooting methods. The advantage of Agbonlahor was much simpler: he had speed. He moved like the wind and it was guaranteed that he could break through the defensive line easily and face the goalkeeper directly.

But what then, after facing the goalkeeper? Agbonlahor's shooting was not superb so it was possible to lose in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and César was in good form and might make some incredible saves. If Agbonlahor repeatedly wasted his opportunities, it would only strengthen Inter Milan's confidence and reduce Nottingham Forest's resolve to fight back quickly.

After weighing up his options, Twain opted for the slightly slower but technically better pure striker, Eastwood. After calling Eastwood over to him, Twain looked at him and laughed. "When I need help, you're always the first person I think of, Freddy."

"We need to score goals, Chief."

"You're not going to let me down, are you?"

"I was riding Fina this morning as a warm-up, Chief." Fina was Eastwood's horse. When Fina was younger, Eastwood used to ride it on the road in the eastern suburbs of London as a warm-up. Today, it was very sturdy, and Eastwood's performance for the last two seasons had been outstanding.

"That's reassuring. As you said, go up and score goals." Twain patted him on the shoulder and handed the work to Don, who was responsible for explaining the general tactics to him.

Don asked Eastwood to move more widely on the pitch and ensure he was not confined to the middle of the road. He also told Eastwood not to think too much about the defense and to focus on scoring instead. He also needed to shoot more, no matter where he was, since more shots would mean more chances of scoring.

Eastwood nodded, then the fourth official held up a sign on the sidelines to signal the substitution. Ibišević walked off the pitch to complete the handover with Eastwood, and both of them were applauded by Forest's fans. Although there were no goals, Super Ibe was working very hard in defense, and there are several key headers to clear the ball. His selfless character also helped the team's overall defense.

Eastwood came on, and everyone knew it was Twain's "offensive signal". Eastwood was not good at defending, but he was good at scoring goals, and his physicality did not allow him to sprint back and forth from one penalty area to another in the game, let alone physically confront his opponent.

Eastwood ran on the field with his right hand above his head, drawing a circle and eventually pointing to the front. Keep going with the defensive counterattack. All the Forest players could understand it.

Twain had made a substitution but Mourinho's side was still standing still. First of all, they did not know what effect this adjustment of Twain's would bring, so it was better to observe first. Secondly, due to Quaresma's accidental injury, Mourinho had lost a replacement for no reason, and he only had two cards left which he would need to use at the most crucial moment.

Mourinho just let the players on the backline pay attention to offside. One way to deal with defensive counter-attacks was to create an offside trap, allowing the opposing attacking player to fall into the offside trap frequently, causing the opposing passer to no longer dare to pass the ball straight.

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Nottingham Forest's counter-attacking quality improved after Eastwood came on. He could control the ball under his feet well. He was a well-rounded player and could break through and shoot from afar. Such a striker could do what usually required several talents to do alone. Forest's long and straight pass on the counter-attack had a high error rate, but once successful, Eastwood could face César directly.

Eastwood did not go back to pitch to defend, but instead just stood in the Inter Milan half and waited for an opportunity. If his teammates made a mistake in passing the ball, he would win it back, but he would otherwise let it go and continue to wait for the next chance. He believed in the midfield's ability to intercept and knew there would not be a lack of chances for him.

The Forest players in the midfield also had great confidence in Eastwood's ability so they did not worry that their passes would not reach anyone. They just had to send the ball forward.

After Wood intercepted a pass from Inter Milan, he passed the ball to Şahin, who continued to pass it straight. This time they succeeded! Samuel let the football slip past his feet! Eastwood ran out from behind Andreu in order to receive the ball.

"Freddy Eastwood! A beautiful pass that was not offside!"

But this was not a death sentence for Inter Milan because there was still some distance between the route of the pass and Eastwood. As long as César's timely strike blocked the line and angle, coupled with his continued magical play, then it was not impossible to save the team this time.

Julio César made his choice. He ran out of the goal to get as close as possible to Eastwood to block his shot. At the same time, he recalled some of Eastwood's technical features. As a striker, he preferred to shoot hard instead of shooting cleverly. That was good. If the keeper could block the angle, no matter how much strength was behind the shot, he would not score unless he managed to get the ball past the keeper.

Şahin passed the ball straight, Eastwood slotted in, and it was clear that if he wanted to shoot, he needed to adjust his direction after receiving the ball, which was advantageous to Inter Milan's defense.

César slowed down a little because he thought he could take the ball from in front of Eastwood, and once he was outside the area he would not be able to use his hands, which would greatly limit his play. He intended to let Nottingham Forest's No.11 get the ball first and then block his shot.

"Eastwood was about to reach the ball and now he is right outside the penalty area and César has blocked his angle of the shot. Will he get past the Brazilian goalkeeper?"

"Pass him!" There was a tsunami of mountain calls in the stands, and they all wanted to see Eastwood dribble pass César and then send the football beautifully into the empty goalmouth. The fans were admiring the desperate expressions on the faces of the chasing Inter Milan players. As long as the goal was scored, Inter Milan would need to score at least two goals to progress in the competition.

But Eastwood made an action that no one thought he could. Once he received the ball and was facing sideways towards César, he lifted his right calf. He chipped the ball over the top of César, who had already dropped his center of gravity and prepared to pounce on the ball, and it flew straight into the empty net behind him!

"A chip shot! Beautiful! Beautiful!"

César would have been prepared for Eastwood's strong shot, but he did not think the striker would actually take a chip shot. When he jumped from the ground to pounce on the ball he had already been too late as he was only half-kneeling on the ground, turning his head shockingly to look at the ball that was still in the air.

Eastwood, who had completed the chip shot, ran to the other side and was ready to celebrate the goal with open arms. He knew that the ball could not be stopped by anyone, not even the crossbar posts.

César watched the football fall into the net, and finally fell to the ground on one side, a chill in his heart. The graceful arc seemed to make all sounds disappear and stop time, but when the football fell into the goal, the City Ground came alive like an erupting volcano.

"Wonderful shot! A surprising strike! César is in good shape, but Eastwood, who hasn't been on the pitch long, was in better shape than he is! The goal, from passing to running to the last shot, had a clear and easy path. Eastwood is playing as he does during regular training sessions—you don't see any extra movement when he shoots. Neat! "

"Ahha! Don't think that I can only shoot hard shots!" Eastwood, after the goal, flew on the pitch with open arms and gloated.

"You're still chewing gum? Aren't you afraid of swallowing that thing!" Teammates flocked to him.

"Hey, if you don't pat me on the head, I won't!"

"Hahahaha!"

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Unlike the Nottingham Forest players who were basking in their excitement, the Inter Milan players were extremely frustrated. Nevermind that they could not score against Nottingham Forest despite the siege, but to have Nottingham Forest score against them? How were they to continue the game now? Now they had to make sure they did not lose the ball again and scored at least two more goals to qualify. Even if they end with a 1:1 draw, they would be eliminated because of the lack of away goals.

Mourinho, as the manager, stood rooted and was a little helpless. Technically, the loss started with Samuel's shoveling error, but he could not blame anyone. Because of his tactics, Nottingham Forest's goal was going to come sooner or later. He had hoped to score before the other side, thus changing the stance of his play and taking the initiative of the game in his own hands. Now it was all gone! Was he really going to lost to Tony Twain?

Mourinho clenched his fist. He was not satisfied. Why was it so difficult to win a game against him!

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Mourinho replaced Cambiasso with Adriano and Mario Balotelli replaced Samuel, who had made the mistake. He seemed to be going all-in like a madman. Twain, on the other hand, substituted Şahin for Woodgate, so Forest now had five full and three center backs as defense. As the game continued, his odds of winning increased. As long as Inter Milan did not score two goals in the last minute, Forest would advance even if they accidentally scored a goal. He really went all out with the exploiting...

In the final moments of the game, Forest gave Inter Milan three free-kicks in a row on the edge of the penalty area due to their exaggerated defense moves. This made Twain very nervous. He could no longer sit as he stood from the coach's seat to step up to the side of the field, nervously watching the game.

He knew Balotelli was a free-kick expert, and Mihajlovic was not to be underestimated. He did not want to make himself the victim of this genius boy; he was more willing to be the devil who killed this genius boy.

Balotelli's first free-kick hit the post and flew out of bounds, leaving the Forest fans in the stands in a cold sweat. Mourinho was as nervous as Twain was on the sidelines, staring at Balotelli while gritting his teeth. What he was probably wanting to see the most at this moment was Balotelli's "two goals to fame" drama.

For the second free-kick, Balotelli kicked the ball against the wall. The sly Nottingham Forest players took full advantage of the opportunity, being knocked to the ground by the football. Eastwood, groaning in pain on the ground, was unwilling to get up. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

Inter Milan wanted to continue their attack but went about it too hastily as they kicked the football at the feet of forest players. Barnes kicked the ball into the stands with a big kick as the team doctor entered the field, wanting to drag the match out.

Mourinho quipped, "I bet if Barnes had not kicked the ball out and had decided to take the ball back for a counter-attack, Eastwood would somehow be able to jump up and take part in the attack."

He was not wrong at all. Nottingham Forest were not demonstrating much sportsmanship. Eastwood's took five minutes to get up, and it did not take long for Inter Milan to get another free-kick once the match resumed.

There were still three minutes to go before the additional injury time, and eight minutes left if the injury stoppage time was five minutes. To score two goals in eight minutes was not easy for Inter Milan's players, not to mention the fact that their opponents, Nottingham Forest, excelled in defense.

This third free-kick was a testament to how anxious Inter Milan's players were. Balotelli kicked the ball straight into the air. It might as well have been 108,000 miles away from the goalmouth.

The six minutes of injury time did not bring good luck to Inter either. The Italian team was frantically besieging Forest's goal and even Julio César rushed up to play as a striker when they got a corner. It did not help.

The City Ground was instantly covered in loud cheers when the referee blew the final whistle. They had finally taken revenge for their defeat in the previous season and had found the best way to eliminate Inter Milan!

At the end of the game, Nottingham Forest fans sang songs of their own invention in the stands to mock Mourinho,

"You'll never beat Tony! You'll never beat Tony! What a poor man! If Tony appears in your dreams, it would be a nightmare for you! If you open your eyes, Tony will appear in front of your eyes to smile at you, to smile at you! "

In the midst of the noise, Mourinho came over to shake hands with Twain.

"Did you step on dog sh*t today?" He asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"You had such good luck."

Twain laughed. "As long as I win, the reason doesn't matter." Twain did not care if his luck was good. "I only care about the results."

In fact, when Mourinho was at Chelsea, he had been a little shameless, but when Tony Twain, an even more shameless person came into the picture, he lost. Hence, it was normal for him to lost to Twain consecutively.