The game was deadlocked for fifteen minutes. Manchester United dominated with an absolute advantage on the field but did not score any goals due to their luck being a little down.

Twain did not think that his team would be in such a sorry predicament in Old Trafford, and he was a little annoyed.

It was no use clinging to defense when they were up against Manchester United’s offensive. If the Forest team could not counterattack, it would slowly be eaten by Manchester United one bite at a time.

But how would he defend against Ronaldo in such good form…

※※※

Cristiano Ronaldo almost withdrew to the midfield to get the ball. The Nottingham Forest players forced him to move outside, so he took advantage of the situation for his own benefit and came back to receive the pass. After he took the ball, he used his superb footwork to break through the Forest team’s defensive line.

George Wood found Ronaldo harder to defend against than in previous seasons. It was not how fancy Ronaldo’s footwork was. On the contrary, the Portuguese’s footwork became more practical. He not only immersed himself in his dribbling, he also knew when to pass the ball and when to shoot. The diversity of his offense made it harder to guard against him.

When George Wood saw him rush up with the ball, he looked left and right to check the positions of his own team and opposing players before he went up to face him. Although Twain did not instruct him to specifically mark Ronaldo, he was now in their defensive zone, so how could he shy away from defending against him?

He went up to intercept Ronaldo head-on, but Ronaldo passed the ball, not wanting to entangle with George Wood.

Ronaldo ran and skirted around Wood without the football. Once he received the ball from his teammate, he had managed to wedge Wood behind him. Now that he was now in the dangerous zone, he did not think that Wood would dare to foul lightly.

Wood indeed did not dare to foul. He wanted to stab the ball from behind, but Ronaldo did a good job of protecting the ball in the course of dribbling it, so he could not find the right time to make his move. After a slight hesitation, Ronaldo found a gap to slip into the penalty.

This time, he did not dare foul even if he wanted to.

Pepe intended to cut Ronaldo’s ball when he broke into the box and had not established himself on firm ground. He did not think that Ronaldo could still control the football in such a confined area. No matter how many people wanted to intercept his ball, they just could not tackle it! And because they were in the box, the defensive players had to be careful. The force of the interception was not strong enough, so it was not that easy to tackle the ball successfully.

Ronaldo zoomed in on a gap and suddenly lifted his leg to shoot. Although the power was not strong, the angle was artful enough.

Edwin van der Sar’s line of sight was blocked by the crowd. He had to dive to get the football out using his fingertips!

“Wooooow! Cristiano Ronaldo’s form looks very good today! He, alone in the box, has attracted all of Nottingham Forest’s defensive strength, but he can still kick the shot, and a quality shot at that. If not for Edwin van der Sar’s valiant performance, Manchester United would be leading with 1:0!”

Ronaldo raised his head as he squeezed among the crowd, ready to grab the corner kick for another shot. With his height of 1.89 meters, he was not inferior to the center-backs. In addition with his outstanding leap, he was a real threat to the Forest team in front of the goal.

Pepe grabbed hold of George Wood and pointed to Ronaldo to motion for him to go defend against Manchester United’s number 7.

Wood did not refuse, and stood in front of Ronaldo.

The Portuguese looked at Wood, but did not use his hands to jostle him. The two just looked at each other. A “friendly” defense of a corner kick was incomprehensible to others.

Once the ball was kicked, Wood and Ronaldo made their moves almost at the same time. Wood tried to stall Ronaldo, while Ronaldo tried to push Wood away.

The two players entangled and jumped up to find that they had done it for nothing. Manchester United’s corner kick was not done well enough and went straight out of the end line in the air…

※※※

Ronaldo in full swing caused the entire Forest team to be quite nervous. Whenever he took the ball, there would be at least three people around him to prevent him from easily breaking through. The Forest team’s middle was already crowded. Having three players besiege him was normal. As one of the strong attacking players, he deserved this handling.

The Forest players guarded against Ronaldo more, but gradually forgot another person.

When Ronaldo was again hit by the Forest team’s blockade, he did not choose to break through individually or raise his leg for a shot, but diverted the football to the left.

Wayne Rooney received the pass from him.

Only Rafinha was in front of Rooney.

As a result of Ronaldo’s active performance, Nottingham Forest unwittingly shifted the defensive focus from the wing to the middle and then to him alone. There were even times when Beckham needed to step back into the middle to help with the defense.

After Rooney took the ball, no one was there to defend against him.

In the face of the offensively strong and defensively weak Rafinha, Rooney did not go easy. After a feint shook his center of gravity, he accelerated to break through. Rafinha also reacted fast. When he saw Rooney bypass him, he immediately turned around to shovel. Even a foul was better than letting him easily break through.

The English boy seemed to have eyes on his back. Once Rafinha came close, he soared. Rafinha did not shovel the ball, but slightly hooked Rooney.

Rooney stumbled, but soon adjusted, thanks to his outstanding physical fitness, and staggered toward the football. Pepe had already rushed over from the box. Meanwhile, Beckham had also rushed over from the middle to support the defense.

He was about to push Rooney to the brink, but instead he suddenly swept the football into the middle.

Ronaldo, Scholes, and Hargreaves were all inside the box. Piqué, Bale, Wood, and Rafinha had just run back on that side of Nottingham Forest.

Rooney’s pass became a mess in front of the goal.

Ronaldo was going to rush up and grab the ball when he suddenly felt someone’s hand grip his shoulder and push him forward. He suddenly had an idea and fell headfirst.

Ronaldo, who fell down, knocked over Piqué in front of him.

It instantly became a mess in the box. The football flew past the goal amidst the chaos, and no one touched it!

The Manchester United fans got excited as they saw Ronaldo fall to the ground and heard the referee’s whistle.

The referee on duty ran into the box and pointed to… a spot for a penalty shot!

※※※

“Damn it!” Twain saw the scene and was furious. “It’s clearly a dive! That referee is doggone blind!”

In next technical area, Ferguson stood on the sidelines, smiling and clapping. He did not care if it was a dive, as long as the referee awarded Nottingham Forest with a penalty, then it was Nottingham Forest who fouled.

Loud cheers rang out in the stands at the Old Trafford Stadium, drowning out the boos from the Nottingham Forest fans. The home field advantage was unmistakable.

On the field, the Nottingham Forest players were arguing with the referee amid the overwhelming cheers from the Manchester United fans. Incessantly clapping his hands together, Bale kept explaining to the referee that he had not pushed anyone, and that it was just a normal physical contact. His strength was not enough to push Ronaldo down.

But the referee just shook his head and stood on the penalty spot. He would not change his decision.

Tony Twain, who was enraged, pointed to the group of Manchester United players hugging each other in celebration on the sidelines and roared, “Liar! Ronaldo, you’re a brazen liar!”

Ronaldo had a bad reputation due to his many dive. Twain did not really care as he openly abused him on the opponent’s turf.

Ferguson frowned slightly when heard. The fourth official was drawn to his shouts.

“Mr. Tony Twain, please calm down. I’m warning you, don’t be banished to the stands because of this.”

Twain knew what the other person said was not a joke. He grimaced and stopped yelling. He just turned around in the technical area with his back toward the field. He did not want to watch the Manchester United players’ celebration.

※※※

Cristiano Ronaldo was surrounded by his teammates. There was a roar of excitement all around him, and he had no idea what Twain shouted on the sidelines, but it did not matter. Once the game was over, someone would tell him what happened on the sidelines. Then the media could watch in safety and reap the rewards again whilst both sides fought.

The Nottingham Forest players’ protest was ineffective, and the decided penalty was unlikely to change. They could only accept the result powerlessly, but when several people pulled out of the box, they threw resentful looks at Ronaldo, who took the football as he prepared for the penalty shot.

Among them, Gareth Bale, the “offender,” almost nailed his stare at the other party.

Ronaldo did not have time to care whether other people’s glances were friendly or not. He carried the football to the penalty spot, and placed the football firmly on it.

“Ronaldo has scored thirty goals in the league tournament and is currently at the top of the strikers’ ranking. But apparently he doesn’t want to end his goalscoring spree yet. There is no doubt that he will be the best player of the season if he can help Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest to eventually pick up the league title trophy. As a midfielder, he has reached a total of forty goals in a single season. This is a remarkable result! Does Ferguson think that he poses a greater threat to his opponent by putting him on the front line as a striker in this game?”

The raucous Old Trafford stadium gradually quieted down. Ronaldo got up and moved backwards, ready to take the penalty shot. He stood with his legs apart and put his hands on his hips as he stared at the goal. He continuously inhaled and exhaled. It was one of his usual poses before executing a penalty set-piece.

Edwin van der Sar stared at the football as he stood in the middle of the goal with open arms. His height and arm length allowed him to cover almost half the goal.

His ability to pounce on the penalty shots had improved significantly since he beat Arsenal on the penalty shot in the Champions League semifinal game of the 05-06 season which helped the team break into the Champions League finals.

And…

“It looks like Ronaldo is going to execute the penalty shot he created. He missed a penalty shot in the Champions League semifinal penalty shootout against Chelsea. I wonder if he has a chance to wash away the shame this time?”

Cristiano Ronaldo had just missed a penalty shot in an important game and the team was tragically eliminated. His emotions had to still be fluctuating. He was taking on the penalty shot in hopes to get rid of the shadow of the missed penalty shot. But with more haste and less speed, the more he wanted it, the less he could succeed.

So although the Forest team was sentenced with a supreme penalty in the game, the situation might not be that dire.

When Edwin van der Sar opened his arms in front of the goal, Twain’s raging heart settled a little.

With the exception of Edwin van der Sar and Ronaldo, everyone else pulled out of the box.

The referee whistled to signal that Ronaldo could kick.

He took a deep breath and then began to run, while Edwin van der Sar quickly judged the direction.

The running Ronaldo stopped and raised his leg to shoot! Edwin van der Sar leapt sideways!

The football hit van der Sar on the arm and bounced back, but the commentator and Nottingham Forest fans had yet to cheer, because the danger was not eliminated.

Edwin van der Sar’s thrown ball happened to bounce back in front of Ronaldo, who was still upset…

Can it be that I miss a penalty shot again?

Ronaldo was put out when he saw that the football had bounced back.

He froze for less than a second, looked up and saw Edwin van der Sar still in the air, looking at him with a desperate expression on his face.

He smiled.

He lifted his leg for a shot…

“Gooooal!! Manchester United is in the lead! Manchester United takes the lead on their home ground in the opening twenty-one minutes! Ah, ah, ah… But we’re not surprised by this score at all. It’s a matter of course for Manchester United to take the lead based on the first twenty-minutes of this game! Nottingham Forest doesn’t even have a chance. They can only be beaten passively! Maybe Tony Twain still have something to say about this penalty shot, but he can’t deny the score!”

Thunderous cheers rang out in the stands at the Old Trafford stadium. The commentator’s words infuriated Twain again, but when he calmed down, he had to admit that the man was right. Nottingham Forest had not had any advantage at all in the first twenty minutes, not to mention that they could not play with the style they were good at. How could they expect to beat Manchester United in the away game?

He turned his back toward the field and heard the cheers coming from all directions, knowing that Manchester United was ahead. Instead of turning around, he continued to face the technical area. Dunn and Kerslake could see that the expression on his face was getting darker.

He pressed his hands on the railing of the technical area, clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. His expression was ugly as he gnashed his teeth and emitted a low growl, rumbling like waves of thunder from a distance.