The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 323 The Last Chance

The chance of a comeback was fought for by the Red Devils themselves and was earned by Ferguson himself. No matter how you look at it, it was not a gift from God, nor was it a courtesy from any team. Blackburn made it more difficult for themselves to win the championship, but that was their own fault.

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After Blackburn Rovers played 37 rounds, they were "accidentally" tied by their opponents and their points lead was reduced to 5 points.

Manchester United now needs to catch up with 5 points in the remaining 5 games, and every remaining game is crucial.

Manchester United played against Chelsea in the 38th round of the Premier League. It was another tough battle for the Red Devils. Chelsea was still a mid-level team in London at the time, but they had a special temperament. They were still in bad shape, but their tactics were flexible and changeable. However, the Red Devils rushed and attacked fiercely at the beginning, and still had a great advantage. They quickly impacted the opponent's formation and made it scattered and more vulnerable. The Red Devils played a lot of side cross tactics, and the ribs also penetrated the opponent's defense many times, but the Red Devils forward missed many opportunities in front of the goal and failed to score. Under the Red Devils' fierce attack, Chelsea contracted their defense and failed to score and take the lead. The Red Devils' offensive was even plotted by the referee. Gary Neville threw the ball into the penalty area with great force. The Chelsea defender deliberately opened his hands to block the ball in panic. This obvious handball helped Chelsea resolve the danger, but the referee and the linesman pretended to be blind and did not blow any whistles. They ignored the protests of the Red Devils players and directly let go of a penalty kick from the opponent. The commentators and Red Devils fans booed and the penalty for Chelsea players' intentional handball in the penalty area was ignored, which aroused the anger of the TV broadcast, but ultimately could not change the result. The deeply hit Red Devils created opportunities afterwards, but failed to break through the opponent's city.

Manchester United fought hard but ended up with a draw, which meant that the planned 3 points turned into 1 point.

On the other side, Blackburn won the game and led Manchester United by 7 points. There are still 4 rounds left in the league, and it seems that the Red Devils' dream of winning the championship is getting farther and farther away, but even if it is only theoretically possible, the Red Devils will not give up.

The Manchester Evening News once again reminded everyone, "The Red Devils are now missing Cantona, which is a key. If Cantona can play, Manchester United should be able to successfully beat Chelsea and continue to put pressure on Blackburn. The fact is so mysterious. After Cantona joined the Red Devils, as long as he played all the games he could play, the Red Devils would definitely win the championship that season, but now Manchester United has to endure the situation of Cantona being suspended and missing the game."

In the 39th round of the league, the Red Devils visited Coventry.

Facing a weak team, Ferguson's Red Devils showed strong attacking power, but Coventry's performance was very exciting and almost made the Red Devils suffer. The Red Devils attacked the opponent fiercely after the opening, but the opponent played high-profile and lobbed at home, which also put the Red Devils' defense under great pressure. In the 23rd minute of the first half, the Red Devils' Cole fired a shot from the right side of the opponent's penalty area, but it was blocked. Scholes shot the ball and scored, helping the Red Devils break the deadlock. But the Red Devils' lead did not last long. The opponent equalized the score through a corner kick tactic 4 minutes later.

At the beginning of the second half, the Red Devils continued to attack. Forward Cole ran into an open space in the opponent's penalty area, and his teammates assisted him tacitly. The Black Tornado went to the meeting alone and shot calmly, hitting the ball into the blind corner of the opponent's goal. The Red Devils took the lead again.

Coventry, which fell behind for the second time, immediately responded with a textbook high cross tactic. The center forward received a cross from the right in the penalty area and headed the ball. The header only touched the goal a little, but flew back into the blind corner of the Red Devils' goal, 2-2 - Coventry tied the score again.

In the final stage of the game, the Red Devils, eager to attack, launched many high passes, while the opponents all retreated to the penalty area, busy clearing and kicking the ball. In the 90th minute, the Coventry goalkeeper kicked the ball to the Red Devils' backcourt, and the long pass was quickly headed back by the Red Devils player and landed directly in front of the opponent's defense line. Originally, this exchange of ball possession did not pose much threat, but the Coventry player made a mistake in a hurry. He headed the ball back to the goalkeeper but the force was too weak, and the Red Devils' Cole seized the opportunity and rushed over quickly, stabbing the ball away before the opponent's goalkeeper attacked, directly creating a single-handed opportunity. Cole cut into the opponent's gap like a sharp knife and easily kicked the ball into the empty goal - the Red Devils finally defeated the opponent 3-2 and grabbed the crucial 3 points.

Blackburn Rovers had an unexpected situation and lost this round. As a result, Manchester United narrowed the points gap to 4 points, and the suspense of the league championship was increased.

Back at home, the Red Devils faced Sheffield Wednesday in the 40th round.

For Manchester United, every game now cannot be lost, the team must win to extend the suspense to the next game. Moreover, Manchester United's victory will put more pressure on the opponent Blackburn and make the opponent make mistakes.

The Red Devils were very active in this match, and they launched an offensive wave right from the start, forcing the opponent to shrink their defense. The Red Devils' forwards and attacking midfielders were unable to break through the opponent's dense defense in multiple attacks, and various tactics such as free kicks, set pieces, and corner kicks were unable to open the opponent's goal. The Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper guarded the goal like a god, and even though the Red Devils' corner kick tactics were perfect, David May, who was ambushing in front of the goal, was found by the front point and back, and David May headed the ball in time, the opponent's goalkeeper was able to react amazingly at a distance of 4 yards, and caught the ball with one hand, causing the ball to change direction and hit the post and bounce out, and Manchester United missed the chance to score again!

Under the strong attack of the Red Devils, almost the entire team pressed across the half court to attack and press, and the continuous attack also made the opponent's defense more and more difficult. Manchester United's continuous pressure on the opponent finally overwhelmed their defense. In the 74th minute, Manchester United launched an attack on the right. Ince passed the ball to the right in the midfield, and then made a wall-to-wall cooperation with Kanchelskis to help Manchester United open up space on the right. Kanchelskis's speed of advancement became faster and faster. He passed two opponent players on the right and made a cross after entering the penalty area. Hughes succeeded in grabbing the ball at the front point, but he was unable to turn around due to the close defense of the opponent's central defender. He did not hesitate at all and passed the ball directly back to his teammates who were supporting him. McClair moved sideways and shot, but unfortunately it was blocked by the dense defense of the opponent.

In the 81st minute, Manchester United took a corner kick from the left. Giggs sent a strong cross with strong rotation. Manchester United lacked a high point in the opponent's penalty area, and the pass was too erratic. In the end, the opponent's goalkeeper hit it with both hands. In the last moments of the game, Manchester United continued to besiege the opponent. In the 89th minute, Manchester United tried to advance with multiple people on the left. The fast pass and cut finally tore a gap in the opponent's dense formation. Giggs dribbled past a defender, and then cooperated with Ince to pass two defensive players. When approaching the penalty area on the left, he attracted the opponent's third defender to come out to make up for the defense. He took advantage of this time when the opponent's defender gave up his original position and passed the ball to his teammate who rushed up from the corner of the penalty area. Scholes suddenly appeared. He then used his delicate footwork to pass the opponent's defender on the left and then made a triangle cross from the bottom. David May pushed the ball into the dead corner again in the penalty area. This time, the opponent's goalkeeper finally surrendered. There were too many people in front of him, blocking his sight, and he could no longer save his team.

1-0, the Red Devils attacked fiercely throughout the game and had many opportunities. A group of players took more than 20 shots, and finally David May, the outstanding central defender, scored a goal and won the game.

The Red Devils won consecutive games, while Blackburn lost another game, and their lead in points was reduced to only 2 points.

Now, everyone admits that Manchester United's chance is back.

In the 41st round, the Red Devils faced Southampton.

This match was also crucial, but the Red Devils fell behind at the start. The opponent's counterattack quickly broke through the Red Devils' defense line that was too far forward, and a diagonal pass behind the back led to a single shot. Schmeichel's attack was also unable to block the opponent's pass, and the opponent's forward directly pushed the ball into the goal. The Red Devils, who were one goal behind, had to score two goals in a row to retain their hope of winning the championship. The Red Devils attacked the opponent fiercely and pressed the opponent's defense line into the penalty area. Mark Hughes and Andy Cole attacked continuously in the opponent's penalty area. In the end, Cole took the lead in the chaos and scored a goal, tying the score. In the second half, the Red Devils continued to attack fiercely. Irwin dribbled the ball to the outside of the penalty area and passed the ball. McClair and Cole played a tacit cooperation. He pretended to receive the ball in front, but he missed the ball directly and ran diagonally, taking away the opponent's attention. This cooperation allowed Cole in the hinterland of the penalty area to get the ball and had enough space to shoot. In the crisis, the Southampton defender made a mistake in a hurry and knocked down Cole when he was fighting for the ball with the goalkeeper. Penalty!

Irwin withstood the pressure and scored the penalty kick steadily. The Red Devils finally reversed the game and won 2-1!

After this difficult reversal, the Red Devils won a crucial three-game winning streak.

Blackburn Rovers, their biggest title rival, also won the match and continued to lead Manchester United in points.

In this way, after 41 rounds of the Premier League, the Red Devils narrowed the points gap with the top Blackburn to 2 points, retaining the chance for the final decisive battle.

The Red Devils stumbled and chased for most of the season and finally gained a little hope!

The media were surprised. They had been prepared for Manchester United's final efforts, but they did not expect Blackburn to play so strangely before the end of the season. From the 38th round to the 41st round, they only won two games and lost two games, and were almost overtaken by Manchester United.

Now, both clubs have a chance, and Ferguson finally keeps his hope until the last game.

Who will win the Premier League title will now be decided in the final round of matches. Although the Red Devils are still in a passive position, they still need other factors to succeed in their comeback. The conditions are actually very strict. Ferguson's team can only win the championship if the Red Devils win the last game and the opponent does not win. But this is already the most rare opportunity for the Red Devils.

And for Premier League organisers and the media, it was the perfect story.

For the media, this final battle is more interesting. On one side, Blackburn will play against Liverpool, and Daglash will fight against his old club again; on the other side, Ferguson's Manchester United will face West Ham United. Although the Hammers are not strong, they are also the victims of Manchester United's missed last season's English League One championship. There is still a lot of suspense.