The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 319: A Great Victory to Vent Frustration

"Ferguson thought the team needed a big win to show their resolve, and they did just that."

--Inscription

At the end of February, Manchester United played against Everton in the 2th round of the league. Manchester United dominated the whole game. Hughes and Cole missed excellent chances in front of the goal in the first half. In the 30th minute, Manchester United launched an attack from the middle. Ince passed the ball directly to the Everton penalty area. Hughes flashed in and had a single shot, but his shot missed the target. In the 17rd minute, Cole took the ball in the opponent's penalty area and turned around. After a close-range cooperation with Giggs, he moved away and shot hard at the lower right corner of the opponent's goal. Unfortunately, the angle was not good and the shot was too straight, so the opponent's goalkeeper fell to the ground and saved it.

Manchester United took the initiative after the opening and launched a continuous offensive. Everton took a defensive counterattack posture and retreated to the penalty area for most of the time. They were not in a hurry to fight Manchester United. In the 61st minute of the second half, Manchester United attacked from the right. Parker passed the ball straight. Kanchelskis got the ball in the right area of ​​the midfield and pushed the ball forward to attack the opponent's side of the defense. Kanchelskis ran faster and faster with the ball. Before the opponent's defender could stand firm, he was shaken off by his acceleration and could only watch him advance into the penalty area. Kanchelskis dribbled into the penalty area. Everton's central defender came up to intercept him, and another midfielder defensive player also came to assist. Facing two double teams, Kanchelskis decisively took the ball to the bottom line, but when he took one more step to face the opponent's central defender, Kanchelskis keenly sensed the opportunity and immediately shot. The shot went straight to the lower left corner of the goal, but unfortunately the ball was not fast enough and was caught by the opponent's goalkeeper. In the 67th minute, Kanchelskis made a comeback. He easily passed the full-back again on the right, played a two-on-one match with Ince to pass the retreating winger, and rushed straight to the penalty area, and then crossed the ball when the opponent's central defender blocked it. Hughes and Cole both actively rushed to the front point, but both missed the landing point at the back point. In the 76th minute, Kanchelskis broke through again, quickly went down the bottom and crossed the ball. Giggs successfully received the ball in the penalty area, but his header was not hit correctly due to interference, and the ball was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.

In the 81st minute, Manchester United's midfield and backcourt were pressed to the front court under the fierce attack, and the opponent made a quick counterattack. After Everton cleared the ball in the penalty area, a long pass to Manchester United's backcourt was kicked out of the baseline by Irwin. Then Everton took a corner kick, and the cross fell to the back post. Everton's Duncan Ferguson jumped the highest at the back post, jumped up and headed the ball into the goal of Manchester United.

Manchester United was trailing their opponent 0 to 1. In the last 10 minutes or so, Manchester United attacked their opponent fiercely, with long shots, crosses, lobs, individual breakthroughs, corner kicks... Manchester United tried every possible way to attack, but they could not score for various reasons and finally had to lose 0 to 1 away from home.

After this match, the Red Devils have 30 points in 63 league games, 3 points less than the top Blackburn.

In March, the Red Devils played against Ipswich at home.

It was March 1995, 3, when the Red Devils faced Ipswich, the second-to-last team in the standings, at the Theatre of Dreams. The Red Devils had just lost to Everton before the match, and they needed to vent their anger and resentment. Ferguson said in a pre-match special edition, "We have enough fighting spirit to respond to the defeat. This team will not collapse, nor will it lose fighting spirit. We have excellent experience, the fans will get the game they expect, and we will bounce back immediately."

The Red Devils' goal before the game was of course to defeat their opponents and maintain pressure on Blackburn.

The game started with the Red Devils attacking the opponent's defense, and the situation was tilted towards the Red Devils. The Red Devils were determined to open the situation early, pressuring the opponent to attack, and constantly developing the offensive to the opponent's goal. Ipswich, who was deeply trapped in the relegation quagmire, played without any rules, only retreating blindly and piling up people in the penalty area. Under great pressure, Ipswich was not even ready to retreat and defend, the defenders had a very poor sense of position, and the quality of defense was not satisfactory.

The Red Devils' attack was like a raging sea on a typhoon day, while the opponent's defense was like a broken house with leaks everywhere. The Red Devils soon created a good chance to score. Hughes and Cole missed their teammates' passes one after another, and the Red Devils were only one step away from scoring. After seeing his teammates miss chances in front of the goal many times, Keane decided to solve the problem himself. In the 15th minute of the first half, the Red Devils attacked the middle. Keane received a pass from Mark Hughes who entered the penalty area, and then made a powerful low shot. The ball passed the opponent's goalkeeper Craig Forrest's hands, hit the post and deflected into the net, helping the Red Devils to score the first goal.

After breaking the deadlock, it was Andy Cole's turn to be the star of the show.

Cole made his debut for the Red Devils only six weeks ago. He spent a lot of time adapting to the team's offensive system, and finally waited for this opportunity to explode. After Keane scored, the Red Devils continued to attack quickly. Giggs stole the ball from the wing and ran all the way. When he reached the opponent's baseline, his speed was like a supercar. After Giggs went down the bottom line, he sent a very comfortable cross pass. Cole only needed to run to the position to easily shoot and score. Cole certainly would not miss this opportunity. He shot directly in front of the goal and scored, and the Red Devils led 6-2.

In the 37th minute, the Red Devils continued to attack. This time it was Kanchelskis who made a cross from the right, and Mark Hughes made a wonderful hook shot in the penalty area. Unfortunately, this shot with perfect posture hit the crossbar of the opponent's goal and bounced out. The goalkeeper of Ipswich was still in shock. Cole of the Red Devils rushed to the front point in the chaos, made a supplementary shot in front of the goal, and easily kicked the ball into the net, and the Red Devils led 3-0!

Cole scored twice easily, without even a drop of sweat on his body, unlike Hughes who was panting while carrying the opponent's central defender. Although he accidentally tore the ankle ligament when scoring the second goal, Cole was determined to make persistent efforts after a short treatment and was unwilling to leave the field.

Cole said: "At halftime, the coach asked me to consider whether to leave the field, but I felt that I could score more goals and didn't want to miss this rare opportunity."

At the beginning of the second half, the Red Devils continued to attack actively. The opponent was still sluggish despite falling behind by three goals. Irwin intercepted the ball in the midfield and dribbled forward. Even if it was a reverse kick to the right, Irwin's cross was very accurate. The ball flew out from under his feet as if it was equipped with a guidance instrument and fell into the penalty area while spinning. Cole once again made a sharp move in front of the goal and successfully scored a header to break the opponent's goal. The Red Devils led 4-0 and Cole completed a hat trick!

At this time, the second half of the game was only 53 minutes in. After Cole's hat trick, Hughes was not to be outdone and started a different style of performance.

Hughes is strong, has a strong sense of shooting and excellent awareness of scoring. He first received Giggs's cross in the penalty area, used his strength to get rid of his opponent, then fell to the ground and shot, blasting open the opponent's goal. The Red Devils took a 5-0 lead!

Hughes continued to attack, planning a perfect triangle pass, allowing Giggs to easily break into the penalty area and meet the opponent alone. Giggs's single shot was not well kicked and hit the goalkeeper. In a flash, Hughes quickly seized the opportunity and took advantage of the opponent's failure to clear the ball. He jumped high in front of the goal and headed the ball into the goal, and the Red Devils led the opponent 6-0!

The Red Devils are playing like crazy!

The two wings of the Red Devils were as fast as the wind, and the forwards were like snipers. The excitement of a big win stimulated the Red Devils players to continue to attack. Hughes and Cole were extremely flexible in their running positions. Neither of them did too much back-to-back work in the penalty area, but pulled out to cooperate with other teammates. Ince, Sharp, and McClair were very active in their forward runs, especially Sharp who was even more diligent after getting the chance to return. The two wings of the Red Devils advanced quickly, often breaking through the opponent's first interception, and the crosses were more threatening. Cole and Hughes pulled out of the penalty area to cooperate with the midfielder's two-on-one, and the triangle pass with Ince and McClair was even more popular, making it difficult for the opponent to defend.

All the Red Devils fans were extremely excited and sang loudly in the stadium, looking forward to a record-breaking victory.

In the 65th minute of the second half, the Red Devils continued to attack. McClair received the pass in the middle and turned in time, then broke into the penalty area to form a single shot. His shot was bravely saved by the opponent's goalkeeper Forrest, but Cole followed up and easily scored his fourth goal, and the Red Devils led 4-7!

In the 72nd minute, the Red Devils quickly attacked the front court. Ipswich goalkeeper Frost rushed out of the penalty area and blocked the ball with his hands. The referee decisively awarded a free kick. Hughes saw that the referee agreed to a quick kick and immediately sent the ball out. Ince understood and rushed forward in time. After getting the ball, he shot directly and scored. When the ball flew towards the empty goal, the opponent didn't even set up the human wall, and the goalkeeper was not in position. The Ipswich players were stunned and could only watch the ball go into the net, at a loss.

Red Devils 8-0!

At the last moment of the game, the Red Devils got a corner kick, and Giggs's signature powerful spin ball was passed into the penalty area. Pallister jumped up in front of the goal to head the ball, causing chaos in the penalty area. Cole nimbly moved out of position, leaned against the defender with his back six yards in front of the goal, then faked out of space, half-sideways and shot the ball into the goal, 9-0!

The visiting team's goalkeeper actually performed well in this match, but he was still almost exhausted by the experience of 9 goals. The two full-backs of the Ipswich team were even more exhausted. They were repeatedly attacked by the lightning speed of Giggs and Kanchelskis, exhausting their last bit of physical strength.

Andy Cole made a name for himself in the first match. Wearing the No. 17 jersey, Cole was unstoppable in the front line, creating a magical record of scoring 5 goals in a Premier League game. He also became the first striker in the history of the Premier League to score 5 goals in a single game. Not only that, in recent games, he has scored goals and made countless assists, becoming the most dazzling killer in the entire league.

When Cole left the court, he found himself the target of reporters' crazy pursuit. Cole shined in the game, and all five goals were scored easily. Cole made a high-speed connection, Cole made a point shot, Cole headed the ball, Cole played with his back to the goal in the penalty area... He showed the ability of a super shooter. Cole made full use of his unique small and fast style. He is not tall but very flexible, very flexible, and smart in his movement. He can always appear in positions that defenders can't imagine. His ball control and shooting skills are both first-class. He can pull the side and insert, can shoot and pass the ball, and can be better at backing up than holding the ball... He is not only a forward, but also plays multiple roles in Manchester United's attack system. He has multiple talents. Not only does he perform better, but also makes Manchester United's offense flourish.

No journalist or football commentator dared to question Ferguson's waste of £700 million on a dud. The journalists changed their faces, flocked to him and offered him flowers and knees, and portrayed Andy Cole as a super striker. They began to brag that Cole was a sharp killer, a super harvester, and the shining "black lightning" of the Premier League!

The Red Devils set the league's goal record in nearly 50 years, a super victory that will be remembered in history.

Ferguson's team shocked the entire Premier League with a stunning victory. "This game was close to perfect," Ferguson was very excited in an interview after the game. He was also surprised by the players' sharp attack. "We created so many opportunities and hit the goal frame twice. We won a great victory that will go down in history. This is a performance that only happens once in a lifetime."

This is the Red Devils' biggest victory in the history of the Premier League, and also the record of the biggest score difference in the entire Premier League. Even for the Red Devils themselves, only the 1892-10 defeat of Wolves in 1 can be compared with it.

The Red Devils' 9-0 victory was not only a response to the frustration of the previous upset loss to Everton, but also a response to the FA's punishment of Cantona, venting their anger for the King of the Theatre of Dreams.