As he watched the retreating figure, Cao Baiming instantly deciphered his shooting direction: a fast, low shot towards the bottom-left corner of the goal.
Glancing back at the familiar goalkeeper, his gaze, footwork, and gestures, Cao Baiming, in a flash, also understood the goalkeeper's intended dive direction: towards the right side of the goal.
This guy was completely fooled by the opponent. Sigh!
A wave of helplessness washed over Cao Baiming as he turned around. The next second, the stadium erupted.
"Goal! Goal! It's a goal! From the substitute Max, who just came on, Manchester United pulls one back!"
"That speed is supernatural, it even looked like he was about to overtake Cao Baiming just now, what a shame they were heading in opposite directions! Such a pity!"
The entire stadium was stunned. They had to admit everyone had underestimated this person! Underestimated Max's strength!
As the camera panned across Cristiano Ronaldo's expression, there was no trace of excitement on his face, only profound disappointment.
"Goal from Manchester United's Max, in the sixty-fourth minute of the match. The current real-time score is one to three. As the home team, Manchester United is still trailing by two goals!"
While the opponents were celebrating, Cao Baiming felt a gentle pat on his shoulder. He turned to see Messi.
"Is that guy very good? Did you know him before?" Messi asked directly.
"Of course I didn't!"
"Why does it feel like he was targeting you before, and it seems to be the case in this match too."
"How should I know? I want to know too..."
Cao Baiming fell into thought, looking at the distant figure.
"Regardless, let's crush him. That guy has some ability, but he's not on our level yet. He needs a few more years of training."
Just then, Ten Hag on the sidelines requested another substitution, and at the same time, Arteta seized the opportunity to adjust his defensive midfield configuration.
They brought on faster players, as Max's explosive speed earlier was indeed a cause for concern, a very significant concern.
Messi slowly walked back to his position, and the referee returned to the center of the field.
Henry kicked off, and the match resumed.
In the sixty-fifth minute, Henry's shot from a tight angle was blocked by the goalkeeper.
Two minutes later, Saka's header, a mere attempt, also failed to find the target.
The Arsenal players lacked heading ability, fortunately, they didn't cross much.
Henry was notoriously poor at heading, and Messi was in a league of his own. Saka and Martinelli were not particularly adept at heading for goals, while Nelson was slightly better, but still mediocre.
As for Cao Baiming, if one were forced to find a weakness, it would only be his heading ability. Of his over fifty goals in the league this season, only four were headers, which spoke volumes.
However, considering heading as a weakness was only in comparison to Cao Baiming's other extraordinary skills. It was widely known that finding a true weakness in him was an almost impossible task.
In the seventy-fourth minute, Cao Baiming's long-range shot also failed to break the deadlock. Unbeknownst to them, Manchester United had begun to park the bus, leaving only Max to battle alone up front!
This was something no one had anticipated. The score remained one to three, unchanged.
As this offensive attempt was wasted with the long shot, Manchester United's counter-attack struck again. Maguire broke through, playing a through ball in midfield to create an opportunity for Max.
This attempt, however, was intercepted by White, who secured the ball just before Max could reach it.
A sigh of relief, as the situation had been extremely dangerous.
Yet, merely three minutes later, Manchester United tried again. This time, a powerful long-range pass from their own half directly found Max up front.
Manchester United was playing openly now, with only Max up front!
What kind of treatment was this? This was only his first match!
Max responded with his skill, proving that this strategy was indeed correct, incredibly correct!
In the seventy-eighth minute, from outside the penalty area, Max unleashed a volley, a world-class strike directly into the goal from the long pass, not even needing to trap the ball!
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!"
"Absolutely brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
"Mad Max!!"
"With that goal, he has now scored twice, and this is all within twenty minutes of coming on. He is truly strong! My god, is he really going to be the man to save Manchester United?"
This strike truly astonished everyone.
If his previous performance had merely alerted fans to his presence, now, everyone realized the seriousness of the situation. This person wasn't just strong, he was practically invincible!
To score from that position, with a volley, was incredibly difficult, not just difficult.
James Rodriguez had once scored a beautiful volley that was nominated and won the Puskás Award. This goal was on par, if not superior, to that one!
However, when it came to the Puskás Award, one would indeed need to reconsider, as his competitor was Cao Baiming, who already had five or six more spectacular goals on the shortlist.
Cristiano Ronaldo was utterly resigned, shaking his head with a smile.
"The score is two to three! Two to three! No one could have predicted this script; Manchester United has actually clawed back two goals!"
For Ten Hag, this score was already satisfactory, even exceeding his previous expectations.
Although he was hesitant to say it, in reality, facing Arsenal, he hadn't even considered the possibility of winning. However, seeing the current situation, hope uncontrollably rekindled within him.
Cao Baiming surveyed the surroundings. At this moment, there were likely no other options. If he didn't focus all his energy on defense now, his backline would be torn apart by this single player.
What a humiliating prospect! He could not afford such disgrace!
With the restart, Cao Baiming signaled to a few key teammates with his hands: he would personally mark Max!
After more than ten minutes, Max finally got what he wished for: he was being personally defended by Cao Baiming, something he had long desired.
However, Cao Baiming would not give him any opportunities.
It was fine to think that way.