The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 143 Save Match Point Twice

"The Red Devils didn't play well in the FA Cup final and they almost lost the championship. Fortunately, Ferguson was lucky enough and the Red Devils players never gave up their fighting spirit. In the end, they equalized twice in desperate situations, especially when they were behind in extra time, and won the chance to play another game."

--Inscription

Liverpool's early win of the league title did not affect Ferguson's impact on another title.

In May 1990, Ferguson led the Red Devils to Wembley Stadium to face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final.

This was the most important game Ferguson had coached the Red Devils so far, a game that would determine his fate with the Red Devils.

Ferguson's Red Devils did not perform well this season. They were even very strange. They were in poor form in the league and fought poorly. They not only shrank back against strong teams, but also played timidly against weak teams. They eventually dropped to 13th place in the standings, setting a new record for Ferguson's worst coaching record. However, the league failure did not affect Ferguson's success in the FA Cup and he made it to the final without any danger.

Although the FA Cup schedule was not easy and the team suffered a scare against Nottingham Forest, the team still won a thrilling victory in the end and pulled Ferguson back from the brink of being sacked.

Since then, the Red Devils have been smooth sailing in the FA Cup, successfully defeating their opponents and advancing. In the fourth round, the Red Devils eliminated Hereford United 4-1 away, and in the fifth round, they met Newcastle United and ended up beating them 0-5. In the semi-finals, the Red Devils met Alderford from the lower league, and they also passed the two games smoothly and finally made it to the final.

Ferguson called on the players to win the championship: "We have gone through countless difficulties to reach the final. Now we have only one goal, and that is to win the FA Cup!"

"We have to win this FA Cup, it's the only thing we can do this season."

The final opponent Crystal Palace has more topics and is more exciting. This club has a long history and has been in the English League One for many years, but its strength has always been in the middle and lower reaches. This team is a bit similar to the Red Devils. Their performance this season is also very weird, with irregular ups and downs, which is unpredictable. Crystal Palace did not perform well in the league this season. In the first half of the season, they suffered a super defeat of 0-9 to Liverpool, and finally ranked last in the league. But they miraculously made it all the way to the final in the FA Cup, and even experienced a difficult test far beyond the Red Devils. They defeated their opponent Liverpool in the semi-finals.

In the FA Cup, facing the league champion who had once beaten them by 9 goals, the Crystal Palace team, which was not optimistic at all, created a miracle. Before the game, public opinion was unanimous that Liverpool would easily eliminate Crystal Palace, but when the wind was one-sided, Crystal Palace suddenly broke out and played fiercely and tenaciously. The quick counterattack caught Liverpool off guard, and the shrinking defense made it impossible for Liverpool to attack. The two teams ended up in a tie in 90 minutes and in overtime. After that, in the penalty shootout, Crystal Palace finally defeated Liverpool with a score of 4 to 3, which was the biggest upset in the FA Cup.

Crystal Palace is also ambitious, aiming for the championship. When the media did pre-match analysis, they found that Crystal Palace not only had the morale boost of defeating Liverpool, but also had the psychological advantage of conquering the Red Devils' Theatre of Dreams in the league.

Such an opponent is a huge challenge, but he thinks it is also a great opportunity. Ferguson certainly does not want to lose this game. It is the team's first championship chance in more than five years and his only chance to solve external pressure in more than three years. How can he let it go? Not only that, Ferguson also knows that the English FA Cup championship has extraordinary significance. It is a great honor for the local die-hard fans.

The final kicked off as scheduled, Ferguson was full of confidence, the Red Devils were eager to try, and the Red Devils fans were full of expectations.

The sun was shining brightly at Wembley Stadium in May, and this most famous football stadium in England was packed with fans. Before the game started, fans from both sides were cheering for their teams crazily, and the shouts were deafening. Ferguson sent out the strongest lineup, goalkeeper Leighton, defense combination Lee Martin, Bruce, Pallister, Webber, midfielders Robson, Ince, Phelan and Wallace, forwards McClair and Mark Hughes. Ferguson did not change the 442 formation, Robson was a little further forward, Wallace launched more attacks on the wing, Ince was responsible for more defense and coverage... These were all the contents of the long season of drills, and Ferguson hoped to suppress the opponent tactically.

At the beginning of the game, after a brief trial, Crystal Palace launched the offensive first, continuously testing the Red Devils' defense through long passes and quick attacks. The Red Devils' defense quickly came under pressure and began to be in danger. In the 18th minute, Crystal Palace won a free kick on the right side of the penalty area. This free kick flew directly into the penalty area with a strong rotation. Gary O'Leary of Crystal Palace jumped high in the small penalty area, knocked away Pallister, the tallest player in the Red Devils, and headed the ball into the Red Devils' goal with a lion-like head-shaking. The score was 1-0.

Red Devils goalkeeper Leighton was partly responsible for the goal, as he misjudged the ball's landing point and rushed out of the goal line. This decision led to a series of subsequent mistakes: he was unable to rush to the ball's landing point in time and failed to hit the ball, which meant that the goal was directly opened to the opponent. Red Devils center back Pallister also had problems, as he could not withstand the opponent's collision and was completely defeated by the opponent when competing for the header. This is really a big man with a strong physique.

The Red Devils suffered a heavy blow and fell into a situation where the score was behind.

The Red Devils players quickly calmed down. The team took advantage of the opponent's retreat and gradually took the initiative, pushing the offensive step by step to the Crystal Palace penalty area. Ferguson instructed the players on the sidelines to try more flank attacks. He saw that there was a problem with the distance between the opponent's full-back and central defender, and the top of the penalty area was also empty. In the 33rd minute, the Red Devils attacked in the frontcourt. Ince took the ball to about 20 yards outside the penalty area and decisively passed it to the flank space. Forward McClair quickly inserted into the penalty area to get the ball, turned around and passed the ball directly to the front of the goal. Wallace rushed to the front point to get the ball with his back, took the opponent's defender away from the core area, and passed the ball near the bottom line in the penalty area. At this time, McClair outside the penalty area inserted on time, and without waiting for the ball to stop, he directly passed the ball to the back point of the penalty area. Captain Brian Robson made a powerful header at the back point, hitting a rebound shot. The opponent's goalkeeper fell to the ground and couldn't save it. The Red Devils captain's header directly hit the ball into the dead corner of the goal.

1 is better than 1!

At the end of the first half, during the halftime break, Ferguson confidently said to the players, "Crystal Palace is just like this, and their attack is all done individually. Their idea is simple, which is to wait for us to make mistakes or drag the game to the last penalty kick. We have now caught up from behind to a tie, and we have overwhelmed our opponents in momentum. What I want to emphasize is that any one of you is better than them, remember this!"

"We will win in the end, we are so confident!"

The Red Devils continued their offensive in the second half. In addition to McClair's position being pushed forward and playing as a double center forward with Mark Hughes, Wallace and Robson also entered the penalty area more often to participate in the attack, further increasing their offensive firepower. The Red Devils launched an attack on the right in the 62nd minute, and the opponent's defense was in a panic. Wallace's cross hit the opponent's defender and continued to fly into the penalty area. The Crystal Palace defender kicked the ball away, but the Red Devils player flew to block it with his foot and moved it to the middle. The ball passed the opponent's goal and came to the back point. Mark Hughes, who was ambushing at the back point, shot the ball and directly hit the opponent's goal corner!

2 to 1, the Red Devils took the lead!

For this goal, even luck was on the side of the Red Devils.

Crystal Palace, which was behind, gave it a try and replaced striker Wright to strengthen the attack. In the 70th minute, Crystal Palace played a simple tactic. The goalkeeper kicked the ball to the front court, and then passed the ball to Ian Wright in a tangle with the Red Devils midfielder. When Wright got the ball, there were still three people on the Red Devils defense line, but he suddenly accelerated at the edge of the penalty area, made a series of fake moves to get rid of Phelan and rushed into the penalty area, then used a change of direction to knock down Pallister, and then easily kicked the ball. This shot went straight to the dead corner, and Leighton came out to defend, but he was too slow when he fell to the ground to block it, and he couldn't block the ball that passed through his armpit.

2-2, Crystal Palace equalized.

In the end, the two teams tied 90-2 after 2 minutes and entered overtime.

Just two minutes into extra time, Crystal Palace moved to the left and John Salako made a long pass into the Red Devils penalty area. Red Devils goalkeeper Leighton made a mistake that even the youth team goalkeeper would not make. He thought he could intercept the cross and left the goal to attack. For such a high and long pass, the landing point must be judged very accurately. Once a mistake is made, it is almost a big mistake. Leighton obviously made a wrong judgment. He knew he was in big trouble before he ran out 2 yards. Even if he was 6cm taller, he could not reach this cross. He really couldn't stop the ball. In panic, he could only turn around, but it was too late.

Wright again!

The fierce Crystal Palace substitute striker shot the ball from the side of the back post and efficiently opened the Red Devils' goal.

The Red Devils were trailing 2-3 and it looked like they would lose their chance of winning the FA Cup.

This goal conceded directly made Ferguson very upset - it was simply fatal. The score was behind and the goalkeeper was confused. What should he do?

Ferguson could only encourage the players to continue charging in the frontcourt, and even let the central defenders charge into the opponent's penalty area. The players knew that time was running out, so they tried their best to attack the opponent. No matter whether Crystal Palace would counterattack or not, they were already behind and there was not much time left. If the front line could not score, it didn't matter if the back line lost a few more goals.

Ferguson made the right bet.

Crystal Palace was retreating, while the Red Devils were attacking. Crystal Palace was killing time, while the Red Devils were seizing the time and fighting hard. In the final moments, the Red Devils players were pressing like crazy in the frontcourt, fighting for every almost non-existent opportunity. A miracle happened in the 113th minute, when Mark Hughes took the lead in the tangle with the opponent's defender. He leaned on the opponent and ran out of space, received a straight pass from his teammate Wallace in the middle, immediately dribbled the ball to the right, and quickly shot after entering the penalty area. In a flash, Hughes' shot was like a fairy from the sky. This shot chose an extremely tricky angle, and the power was enough to make the opponent's goalkeeper despair.

3 is better than 3!

The two sides chose another day to rematch, and the Red Devils miraculously won another chance.

Mark Hughes was just like his nickname "Spark", lighting up the hope in the darkness of the Red Devils at the critical moment and saving the Red Devils from the brink of the cliff.

Everyone knows the significance of the FA Cup final in saving Ferguson's job, and everyone knows that this game cannot be lost, but no one expected the game to turn out like this. The Red Devils played very impatiently, and the goalkeeper also made a low-level mistake, and they almost collapsed. Fortunately, their offensive power was always online, they played very bravely, and the whole team was very tenacious. They were able to equalize the score when they fell behind at the last moment, and finally stopped at the cliff.

Ferguson's command?

There was nothing wrong with him. There was nothing wrong with the tactics he formulated for this game, and his idea of ​​going all out in offense was also correct. It was this attitude of always attacking that finally gave him the chance and allowed the team to tie the game.

The Red Devils and their opponents played in a style that made people's blood pressure rise. They fell behind, tied, overtook, were tied, were overtaken, and tied again. Ferguson's characteristics were so distinctive, but also so thrilling!

The media were also shocked by this game. The BBC said: "The Red Devils are really tough and Ferguson is really tough."

The Times said: "After falling behind twice and equalizing twice, the Red Devils played an extraordinary final. The Red Devils fell behind at the beginning of the game, and Ferguson's team later kept close to the score, and then surpassed after equalizing, and then was tied by the opponent again. The back-and-forth game process was full of accidents. Especially when they were behind in extra time and were able to equalize, the Red Devils are really tenacious, and Ferguson is really good at playing cup finals."