Chapter 287: Burst Part 2
Translator:Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor:Nyoi-Bo Studio
Just as Forest launched their attack, Villa’s manager, O’Leary, was about to drink some water. As he attended to the change in the situation on the field, the bottle of water that was lifted to the side of his mouth stayed unmoving. When the ball headed by Eastwood went into the goal, O’Leary’s first reaction was to hurl the bottle angrily onto the floor. He no longer cared about the water, instead turning and swearing. Meanwhile, Tony Twain rushed to the sidelines with his arms raised, waving his fists in a show of prowess towards the filled stands for the away team.
The fans, earlier celebrating with such disregard, had all fallen into silence.
“… Freddy Eastwood has told the fans of Villa that even a lead of two points is no insurance!” the commentator Martin Taylor said, speaking aloud the words in Tang En’s heart.
Swapping sides in the second half, both teams re-entered the battle having adjusted their deployment. David O’Leary especially must have made comprehensive defensive arrangements to deal with Eastwood during half-time. The Romani no longer had the same opportunities in the second half of the match.
At the same time, Forest’s defensive line, led by veteran Hierro, was unshakable. It prevented Juan Pablo Angel, Villa’s forward from Colombia, and famed Peruvian Nolberto Solano from having the chance to stir up trouble. While Hierro had aged and his turning speed was much too slow, his experience and ability to box-out opponents early continued to neutralize numerous attacks from Aston Villa.
He remained Tang En’s most trusted center back. It was a pity that his physical condition did not allow him to play throughout the full season. Perhaps the delay of a year when bringing Hierro onto the team had sealed the fate between Tang En and the greatest center back in the history of Spain’s National Team as well as Real Madrid; their time with each other was only a year long. The contract between Hierro and Forest was only for a year, and the Spaniard veteran had no intentions of renewing it. However, it was inevitable. A year ago, Forest was still struggling within the First Division. The Nottingham Forest of then could not have attracted the attention of a person such as Hierro.
The match entered a stalemate with the score stuck at 2:2. It did not change for a long time.
Tang En began adjusting; he swapped out Albertini, whose stamina was beginning to fall behind. The newcomer during the Winter Transfer, Mikel Arteta from Spain, finally got to represent Forest in a League match.
This was not a warm-up routine for the new player to get familiar with the atmosphere in matches. This was a decisive move which required him to help his teammates break out of the stalemate. Arteta knew the exact meaning behind Tang En’s substitution; much hope was pinned on him. But wasn’t that always the case for a professional footballer? He did not care about the pressure that came from expectations; he knew he would not let the manager down.
I am not a young boy who needs to prove myself. During my time in Scotland with Rangers, I have already done so. Now, I only need to do my part and contribute. That will be enough.
From Arteta’s first contact with the ball on the field, a familiar sensation returned to his body. It was the feeling he had been searching for throughout half the season with Real Sociedad. He understood the style of football here; he was familiar with the match pace; he knew exactly what he needed to do each minute and second while on the field here. Perhaps, all those years back when he had drifted around, from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain and from France to Scotland, he had already become estranged from Spanish football. Instead, he had developed affection for English football with its more rapid pace.
As Arteta was substituting Albertini in the field, he naturally had to take over the responsibility of organizing the team’s attacks. This meant more balls were passed to him.
After a brief period of warming up and familiarizing himself, Arteta began to pass forward, actively participating as well as setting up their attacks.
After giving out a series of good passes, Arteta’s confidence returned rapidly. The offense of Forest started to pick up. Different from Albertini, Arteta’s dribbling and passing were imbued with greater ingenuity. Frequently he would make incredible passes to the least expected places. He also utilized more short passes. With the ball under his feet, the attack patterns of Forest became much more varied and complex. They no longer had to stick to a single pattern of taking the ball outside to the end line; they could now attempt to enter from the center with their combinations.
With only 10 minutes left in the match, a single combination from Arteta and Ribéry successfully deceived the entire defensive line of Villa. Just before the penalty area, Arteta held onto the ball instead of immediately passing, as if waiting for someone. At this moment, Ribéry suddenly cut forward with breakneck speed in the left wing. His abrupt movement attracted the attention of Villa’s right back, Ulises de la Cruz. He had no choice but to retreat and defend against Ribéry’s breakthrough.
But Arteta did not pass the ball to Ribéry. Instead…
“Arteta! A direct pass! No, not to Ribéry. It’s to… to Eastwood!”
Although Arteta was facing Ribéry’s direction, he passed the ball to Eastwood who was diagonally behind him!
Due to the forward movements of Aston Villa’s defenders, the Romani was originally in an offside position. However, Ribéry’s sudden forward cut forced Ulises de la Cruz to retreat. As such, Eastwood became no longer offsides. Grabbing hold of this moment, Arteta passed the ball to Eastwood who had already slipped behind the two center backs.
With an opportunity like this, Eastwood, in excellent match condition, could not possibly waste it. He spun around and kicked!
“It’s GOOOAL!! The third goal! This is Eastwood’s first hat-trick of the season! Absolutely beautiful! Freddy Eastwood alone defeated Aston Villa; he is the best player of the match today, and no one deserves it more… the best!”
Tang En jumped from his seat. What excited him about this goal was not only that they had turned the tides, but also that he had witnessed an inspired moment of Arteta and Eastwood’s burst of brilliance. In the face of such a rewarding match, who could be happy if he wasn’t?
※※※
After the match ended, Eastwood became the focus of the media’s reports. Like George Wood, the Romani’s story also had a somewhat mythical feeling to it. And very soon, the media discovered the story between Eastwood and George Wood. This tremendously excited the gossips within the English tabloids.
Eastwood became the hot topic in Fleet Street, while Forest again appeared in numerous sports sectors in the media.
Tony Twain’s team had accumulated 43 points. They held tightly onto Liverpool, who was just ahead of them. With the same number of points, it now came down to a question of which team would first buckle under the pressure and fall behind.
Forest was beginning to pick up speed, readying themselves to challenge the strong foe sitting right above them.
