The hero who earned the penalty kick was Max, after all. It was his superb dribbling skills alone that broke through the defense of two players and entered the penalty area, leading to this penalty opportunity!
And yet, the penalty was given to someone completely unrelated.
Max's fans were bewildered and unacceptable, and they expressed their protests.
But Cao Baiming understood that the reason behind it was likely not that simple. The team's primary penalty taker was probably arranged in advance, and given the delicate relationships within this team, this decision must not have been easy to make.
He glanced at the Manchester United head coach, Ten Hag, on the sidelines. At this moment, his facial expression was extremely tense.
Amidst the cacophony of different voices, Bruno Fernandes gradually walked to the spot, his gaze fixed on the goal.
The goalkeeper seemed to have completely not anticipated that Bruno Fernandes would take this penalty. He had initially expected Max or Cristiano Ronaldo to take it, one of the two, no more, no less, without considering other possibilities.
Ten Hag had also considered this point. This move was a bit unexpected, and perhaps it could yield some unforeseen positive results.
After the referee blew his whistle, Bruno adjusted himself slightly, then took a confident and decisive shot directly into the top corner of the goal!
The goalkeeper dove in time but failed to reach it.
However, the football flew directly over the crossbar along the upper area of the goal, not dropping down, nor successfully entering the net!
The Nottingham Forest players burst into laughter. Although it seemed a bit impolite, they couldn't help themselves!
Bruno stood rooted to the spot, his eyes fixed blankly on the goal. He didn't know what had just happened and could not believe what he was seeing.
The Manchester United players could only shake their heads in resignation and sigh.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Max felt furious. If they had been allowed to take it, how could such a situation have arisen!
Ten Hag also couldn't believe the situation. His greatest concern was Bruno missing the penalty, which was a very serious matter, its severity potentially affecting not only this match but also the dressing room atmosphere and future player relationships.
Of course, most importantly, it would affect his own position!
With Bruno's failure, the fans gradually accepted reality. The reality was that this Manchester United team was utterly finished, beyond saving. They had once thought that Cristiano Ronaldo's return to form could help Manchester United recover, and with Max's arrival, they even dared to hope for a top-three finish in the league, or even the championship!
Now, it seemed it was all just a dream. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. They wished they hadn't held such high hopes in the first place!
Bruno stood in place for a long time. When he turned around, his teammates were already near the center circle. All he saw were their backs.
No one waited for him, and no one proactively came forward to comfort him.
This dismal scene was too much for the Manchester United fans to bear.
In the remaining ten-odd minutes, neither side's defense made any serious mistakes that could directly lead to a goal, and neither team scored again.
The moment the final whistle blew, the dream was over.
The final score was a one-all draw! Perhaps this was the best outcome for both sides. Although the Nottingham Forest higher-ups were still somewhat dissatisfied, dwelling on the opportunities they should have seized.
However, when they considered that Manchester United had wasted several times more chances than they had, they felt better. At least psychologically, they could feel more at ease.
Seeing the outcome, Cao Baiming was satisfied. He immediately called Mike to inquire about the progress of related matters.
After hanging up, he also managed to rake in some money.
Soon, Arsenal would face Manchester City. Less than five days remained until this crucial match, which was a league game, not a Champions League fixture.
In the Champions League, Manchester City would also face AC Milan next week, but it was highly probable they wouldn't win.
Last week, Manchester City drew two-two with Chelsea. It seemed their form had improved, at least much better than when they faced AC Milan in the Champions League quarterfinals last time.
Just as Cao Baiming was about to head to the training ground to join his teammates, Mike's call came again.
Cao Baiming answered the call with some curiosity.
"Boss, do you know about this? Cristiano Ronaldo exposed Max's fake identity!"
Cao Baiming was startled. Fake identity?
"I heard about it before, after the conflict at that entertainment event, right?"
"Exactly. This matter seems to be confirmed. Cristiano Ronaldo's agent found some evidence. Max's identity might be forged; he's not the owner of that company at all."
"What??"
Cao Baiming fell into deep thought, his mind racing.
If Max wasn't Max, what was the situation? He hadn't expected that something could actually be investigated. Cristiano Ronaldo's agent was indeed not to be trifled with. After all, his entire technical team of over fifty people couldn't find anything crucial.
"Alright, I'll go and take a look."
With that, Cao Baiming began searching for related news on the internet. He found that it was much easier than he had imagined because the popularity of this news was skyrocketing, and it had already reached the homepage.
It was only a matter of time before it hit the headlines!
Mendes certainly had his methods!
After reading, Cao Baiming took a deep breath.
Max wasn't the owner of that company, and the owner of that company was also called Max. He had even seen him that day and beaten him up...
At this moment, Cao Baiming's eyes lit up.
Could it be that the Max he beat up that day was the owner of that company!?
No wonder he could recover from his injuries so quickly. Could it be that the person he hit couldn't play football at all, and he had never met this person? Were they twin brothers?
With this thought, Cao Baiming quickly dialed Mike's number and relayed his idea.
"Okay, I'll investigate immediately!"
For a moment, Cao Baiming felt a tingling sensation on his scalp. Had he beaten up the wrong person?
Beating up the wrong person wasn't important. What was important was that if there were indeed two Maxes, it would mean that at least one Max had not yet received his beating. How could that be allowed?