What did this mean?
Cao Baming once again fell into contemplation. The truly important thing wasn't when he would come on, perhaps none of it mattered, not even being accurate, just a strange feeling.
No matter what situation arose, as long as it wasn't a boring continuation until the final minute like the first half, that would be fine!
Cao Baming remained full of curiosity about Max.
The introduction only classified him as a forward player. Could it be that his position wasn't as clearly defined as his own?
Playing as a free agent was not something everyone could handle; the difficulty was exceptionally high, the threshold very steep!
If Max came on as a substitute, who would he replace?
While he was lost in thought, halftime drew to a close unnoticed. The players began to cheer each other on, preparing to leave the locker room and head back to the pitch.
In the tunnel, under the dim light, Cao Baming saw Max, standing less than two meters away from him.
Seizing the opportunity, he took a careful look, examining him from head to toe, to see if there was anything noteworthy.
As a result, he couldn't discern anything. Even at such close proximity, there was no trace of any previous injury on him. This was truly baffling and peculiar.
They arrived on the field, waiting for the referee's whistle. The fans had already begun to cheer.
Looking towards the sidelines, Manchester United's head coach, Ten Hag, showed no intention of making a substitution. He stood by the pitch, looking at the field with a serious expression.
Beside him, no player was preparing, nor had anyone started warming up.
Max was still sitting on the bench, showing no signs of preparing to leave. If his premonition was correct, the real substitution was still a long way off.
Perhaps this idea hadn't even crossed Ten Hag's mind yet.
Maybe, something would trigger it, like a goal?
With this thought, Cao Baming glanced ahead. The ball was currently under the control of his teammate. He raised his arm high, signaling to his teammate.
Supreme Treasure! Use it immediately!
Just twenty seconds into the match, Vieira spotted Cao Baming with his hands raised high. After evading an opponent, he passed the ball to a spot about a meter in front of Cao Baming.
He understood what Cao Baming meant by calling for the ball in that position.
Cao Baming's eyes twinkled as he looked towards the goal, approximately forty-five meters away.
There were only three defenders ahead, and their positions were quite spread out!
The moment the ball reached his feet, a bright golden line appeared, with the number one hundred displayed on it.
Cao Baming saw this line, his eyes seeming to reflect a golden light. However, only he could see this line. It meant that even if he kicked the ball towards the sky on his next touch, the probability of scoring would be one hundred percent!
Faced with this situation, Cao Baming naturally did not hesitate.
Instantly, two players next to Cao Baming accelerated forward, preparing to prevent him from continuing his dribble. They could not forget the goal Cao Baming had just scored in the first half.
In that goal, he hadn't just bypassed two players; he had gone past a crowd. They couldn't let that happen again!
Their thoughts were synchronized: commit a foul immediately, without a moment's hesitation. Because even a second of hesitation might mean they were already completely bypassed, and chasing back to regain possession would be impossible.
However, in the next second, Cao Baming glanced at the goal. The defenders who were about to foul suddenly felt a jolt in their hearts!
It's over, this guy is going to shoot directly!
He himself had forgotten how far he was from the goal. After all, the person in front of him was Cao Baming, and distance seemed to matter little!
And he was still a meter away from Cao Baming. It was too late to foul. Who would have thought he would choose to shoot from that spot instead of trying to get past them?
A deep sense of despair washed over both of them!
They wanted to make a token effort to block, but their bodies trembled uncontrollably. The stronger the thought, the more violently they trembled.
Out of instinct for self-preservation, the two of them tacitly dodged aside, creating a much more comfortable space for Cao Baming's shot!
A loud noise startled everyone nearby.
If they had actively tried to block the shot just now, they might have ended up in the goal along with the ball.
The outcome of the game was certainly important. Achieving a top-three finish in the Premier League, or even defeating Arsenal, whom everyone was praising sky-high, was incredibly appealing. However, losing one's life for it would certainly not be worth it!
Life was more important than the game!
The ball flew across the sky, many eyes tracking its rapid trajectory, piercing through everything like a bullet.
Its target was the goal.
At this point, no one could do anything. All they could do was watch its progress intently. Only the goalkeeper was ready to do something.
However, the ball ultimately entered the net steadily. The goalkeeper could only watch in despair.
Goal! It's a goal again!! This time, it's Cao Baming again!!
After scoring, Cao Baming looked towards Ten Hag on the sidelines. The reason he had used the Supreme Treasure at this moment was precisely to see his reaction, to see if he would give Max a chance to play.
However, Cao Baming did not see the reaction he had hoped for. Ten Hag appeared saddened and helpless, but he did not glance in the direction of the substitute bench.
Cao Baming had scored a brace, and the fans erupted in wild cheers!
Less than two minutes into the second half, a thunderous opening. Scoring so quickly was undoubtedly a huge blow to the Manchester United players, whose morale had already been affected.
Following this, the score, which had been two-nil, became three-nil!
Although the entire Manchester United team hadn't held high expectations before the match, they certainly didn't want to suffer the same fate as Chelsea half a month ago, being thrashed so badly.
Chelsea now, when facing other opponents, had also lost their previous momentum. They had failed to meet fans' expectations for several consecutive games, even losing zero-three to Nottingham Forest.