Nottingham Forest launched a counter-attack. Cao Baiming received the ball in midfield, his quick runs and rhythm control proving more valuable than a direct long ball.
As the ball reached midfield, Cao Baiming's speed was visibly a notch above the other players. Upon receiving the ball, he quickly made a decision, passing it to a teammate on the right.
The situation instantly opened up, proving far more effective than a simple long kick!
Johnson received the ball and continued forward, intending to break through himself. However, he soon found himself in a panic facing two defenders!
He attempted a Marseille turn, but while he moved past, the ball seemed to vanish!
The opposing defenders were no pushovers; they were Castagne and Amartey!
He was getting carried away.
Cao Baiming sighed in resignation. In that moment, he understood why his teammates' pass completion numbers were so low. Despite lacking the skill, they possessed an overabundance of confidence, truly believing they could pull off solo runs of such magnitude!
The fans could only sigh helplessly, what a shame.
Everyone had seen Cao Baiming, Messi, and Ronaldo effortlessly dribble past opponents, making it seem like a simple task!
Even the players were fooled. But the defenders weren't so naive, especially considering these were mid-tier teams in the top English league.
They weren't going to be a pushover and wouldn't indulge him.
Possession lost! No big deal!
The club's high-level management, watching from the sidelines, remained unfazed, completely unhurried.
They were still two goals ahead; the opposition's struggle was futile. They had no chance, absolutely none.
However, for a period, the opposition also slowed down their attacking rhythm. Simultaneously, Nottingham Forest's counter-attacking opportunities diminished significantly.
The management saw nothing wrong with this, as it was clear who was running out of time.
If this continued, victory would undoubtedly belong to Nottingham Forest!
In the fifty-sixth minute, Cooper brought on Ayew and Lin Jiade in midfield.
Following this, Leicester City also made substitutions, and the match gradually began to stagnate, a fact evident to everyone.
At this point, Leicester City hoped someone would step up and become the hero to save the day, but who could it be?
While the management pondered, the players on the field were already exhausted. They had given over 120% from the start of the second half, managing to maintain a stalemate with neither conceding nor scoring.
Now, most of them were thinking, "At least we've scored one goal, better than Chelsea!" It was as good as a win!
Losing was losing, but in a way, losing was also winning...
They simply had no energy left to fight further!
Soon, Leicester City had only one substitution remaining. The coach was reluctant to use it, as there was still plenty of time, and too much uncertainty.
No, they had to hold on a bit longer.
The situation was already bad, could it get any worse?
On the Nottingham Forest side, Ayew, who had just come on as a substitute, was quickly favored by Cao Baiming, receiving an outside-of-the-foot lob pass in the penalty area.
The ball, with a slight arc, landed steadily in front of him. For him, it was the best pass of his life! He almost cried!
Ayew didn't hesitate and decisively swung his leg, unleashing a powerful shot!
He didn't disappoint! The ball went in!
Cao Baiming's lips curved into a slight smile. As expected, he wasn't let down. This passing stat had rarely exceeded eighty; there was no need to think, he had to pass.
He had scored just five minutes after coming on as a substitute! Ayew jumped up in joy!
His luck was incredible; even he hadn't expected the goal to come so suddenly.
While everyone celebrated passionately, the commentator began to praise Cao Baiming's exquisite assist, calling him a bug on the field!
The fans were long accustomed to it; this was just Cao Baiming's usual operation, a routine play!
After such a long stalemate, Nottingham Forest had broken the deadlock! Leicester City was now completely demoralized.
Sixty minutes had passed in the match, time flying by.
According to the pre-match tactical plan, at the 60-minute mark, Nottingham Forest's entire formation would undergo a transformation.
The core of this transformation, of course, still revolved around Cao Baiming. Other players would also experience some functional and positional changes, but this would not be too easily detected by the opponents, thus maintaining sufficient stealth.
With the current scoreline, the Nottingham Forest players still wanted to score more. Perhaps the management, being cautious, wanted them to play conservatively, but with the momentum building, how could they be held back?
During this period, as the tactical changes were implemented, even the players themselves hadn't fully adapted. Instead, Leicester City seized this opportunity.
The ball was initiated from the back, involved several beautiful passes in midfield, and directly reached the front, effortlessly breaking through Nottingham Forest's entire defensive line.
Even more remarkably, Cao Baiming himself couldn't stop them.
The fans in the stands gasped involuntarily. If one didn't pay close attention, they would notice that each player made one-touch passes, making the attack fluid and without any hesitation, a textbook example of a swift counter-attack.
Finally, Tate took a shot from outside the box but failed to score. Maddison's follow-up also missed.
However, the danger wasn't over. After the ball was cleared to midfield, two Leicester City players combined to regain possession. This time was different; Cao Baiming was already in position, several meters in front of the two players.
Two players trying to get past one was a typical "two-versus-one" situation, but unfortunately for them, they were facing Cao Baiming, which made all the difference.
Ultimately, this attack came to an end.
Cao Baiming's eyes flickered, spotting his chance, and he cleanly dispossessed the ball.
As another player ran towards him, his intention was quite obvious. A clear indicator was his gaze; if he looked left, it generally meant his next move would be to the left.
This was a common method for people to judge an opponent's direction. But Cao Baiming was different; he could analyze multiple indicators from the body. To fool his eyes, one would need every single part of their body, from head to toe, down to the very hair, to be perfectly consistent. In this world, very few, if any, could truly achieve that.