The entire Manchester United coaching staff and substitutes, except for Ferguson, stood up. They craned their necks and leaned forward, some so eager they simply rushed to the edge of the dugout, waiting to cheer and celebrate.

Rooney had won Manchester United an excellent opportunity.

This penalty not only meant that Manchester United could take a one-goal lead against Liverpool, but more importantly, it meant that Skrtel was off the field.

Liverpool was down a man. With so much time left, Liverpool, playing with ten men, would have to contend with Manchester United for over seventy minutes. No one believed that their stamina could last that long without problems.

If this ball went in, Manchester United could simply pull back and continue to defend, waiting for Liverpool's stamina to falter.

Then, with a massive counter-attack, Liverpool would likely collapse.

In a match against opponents like Manchester United, being down a man for over seventy minutes would put even Liverpool under immense pressure.

They were so excited because they saw this wonderful prospect.

Ferguson sat on the bench, not as excited as the others.

But no one noticed his hands. Resting on his knees, they had clenched into fists at some unknown time.

※※※

Rooney stood on the edge of the penalty area, ignoring the curses and boos aimed at him from the stands, and avoiding looking at the fans behind the goal.

He looked up, his eyes fixed on the goal.

He was waiting for the referee's whistle.

Skrtel had long accepted his fate, reluctantly bidding farewell to the pitch.

However, he did not return directly to the locker room, but stood at the entrance of the tunnel, craning his neck to watch.

He wanted to see the result of this penalty.

Wasn't the point of his red card sacrifice to give Reina, the goalkeeper known for saving penalties, a chance?

As long as Liverpool didn't concede, he would feel a little more at ease, even if he wasn't on the field.

※※※

Reina was good at saving penalties.

But even the best penalty-saving goalkeeper can't guarantee that he'll save every single one.

The referee's whistle finally blew, Rooney ran up, and kicked the ball.

The ball didn't fly up, but skimmed along the grass towards the lower left corner of the goal!

This was the angle goalkeepers hated the most!

Because they not only had to lower their center of gravity, but also had to dive far enough.

If this ball went in, it would be a dead corner!

But such shots were also likely to go wide, because the penalty taker often pursued the angle too much.

That didn't happen to Rooney today. The ball he kicked was both accurate and fast.

Although Reina judged the direction correctly, it was too far away, beyond his reach.

He could only watch the ball graze the post and fly into the goal...

"Goal!!"

The commentator roared, igniting the passion of Manchester United fans. The few Manchester United fans in the stands at Anfield, together with the huge number of Manchester United fans in front of their televisions, erupted in a huge cheer.

"Manchester United leads Liverpool 1-0 on the road! The game has only started for seventeen minutes!"

"Liverpool, who have always been leading other teams, are finally tasting the feeling of being led!"

"This penalty is undisputed, Rooney calmly scores under tremendous pressure! Truly a superstar!"

"Liverpool has Chen Yingxiong! But our Manchester United is not weak either, we have Wayne Rooney!!!"

※※※

Just as Rooney put the penalty away, Manchester United assistant coach Phelan was about to raise his arms and cheer.

At that moment, he felt someone push him aside, and then a figure darted past him.

The movement was so agile that it didn't look like a man in his seventies at all...

It was Alex Ferguson!

The old man, who had been like a dead man before the game, rushed down the bench with a flushed face, then took the lead in raising his arms and shouting to the sky!

Then, he excitedly took off his suit jacket and slammed it on the ground.

Not just Phelan, but everyone on the Manchester United bench and coaching staff was dumbfounded...

Ferguson turned around, looked at a group of petrified colleagues, and smiled: "What? Are you not happy that we are ahead?"

Phelan was the first to react, because he was Ferguson's assistant, and was naturally most familiar with Ferguson's way of doing things. So he immediately found the reason for Ferguson's abnormal behavior during this period - he was deliberately pretending to be weak, just for this moment! To make Liverpool think that Manchester United was no threat!

This old man... even fooled our own people!

Realizing this, Phelan laughed and rushed down the bench, hugging the excited Ferguson.

"Is your heart okay, Sir?" He didn't forget to care about Ferguson's health.

Ferguson laughed: "My heart is very happy to see Liverpool in trouble!"

Phelan was completely relieved - this was the Alex Ferguson he knew, this was the old coach who had dedicated his life to Manchester United!

He never admitted defeat!

※※※

Not only Phelan and the others, but the TV broadcast also caught this scene.

Ferguson's action of rushing down to celebrate was too crazy, completely unlike an old man about to retire.

If the TV broadcast hadn't quickly given him a close-up, others would have thought it was someone else.

Ferguson's white hair fluttered in the wind, his face flushed, visibly due to extreme excitement.

Before the game, Ferguson looked like an old man in his eighties, lifeless, but now this Ferguson suddenly burst out with vitality that startled many people.

"This..."

Most commentators didn't know what to say.

But some smart people quickly reacted.

They connected Manchester United's performance in this game, Ferguson's current performance and his previous performance, and after a little analysis, they knew what was going on.

"Ferguson really deserves to be a master of acting! I think he can try to guest star in some movie roles after retirement! His excellent performance before fooled everyone!"

"This is the coach of Manchester United! In the home of the arch-rival, never miss any opportunity to show off!"

"This is normal, haha! As the coach of Manchester United, even if it is the last game, you must maintain the hatred value for Liverpool!"

"Ferguson successfully deceived his team, and also successfully deceived Liverpool. Let's take a look at Martin O'Neill's expression..."

The TV broadcast quickly cut to a close-up of Martin O'Neill.

The Irishman's face was very ugly.

He stood on the bench, his face gloomy and livid, not hiding his displeasure.

When Rooney won a penalty for Manchester United and sent Skrtel off with a red card, he didn't realize where the problem was, he was just frustrated by his team's bad luck.

But when Ferguson rushed down from the bench and celebrated the goal with a spirit that exceeded his age, he instantly realized - Ferguson was demonstrating to himself, to Liverpool!

You thought I surrendered and admitted defeat? You laughed at my old age behind my back? Now see who the hell is laughing at who!!

O'Neill felt as if Ferguson had slapped him in the face, half of his face was burning with pain.

He had to admit that he had indeed underestimated Manchester United, and underestimated that cunning old Ferguson! So he couldn't say a word about this slap, no excuse, no reason, he could only suffer it himself.

Now what he had to consider was how to reverse this unfavorable situation, first he had to replace a center back, but who to take off?

Liverpool's frontcourt attacking combination was very important, none of them could be easily replaced.

No matter who he replaced, Martin O'Neill had a headache.

※※※

In fact, Manchester United players planned to rush towards Ferguson after scoring, and then lift him up, to announce their support for Ferguson in this way, and also to counter the long-standing Liverpool fans.

But when they just ran over, they saw Ferguson rushing down from the bench, followed by a burst of unrestrained celebration...

Everyone was stunned.

Many people looked at each other in confusion.

The veteran Rooney was the most calm, he ran back to the bench, ran to Ferguson.

In any case, this goal was dedicated to Ferguson.

The other players also reacted - isn't such a passionate coach what they have been hoping for?

It seems that the old爵爷 (Jueye, a respectful way to address Ferguson) wasn't really saying that he had no confidence in them, but was acting in a play!

This play not only deceived them, but also deceived their opponents.

Otherwise, how could Liverpool have given them a chance to counter-attack so easily in the game?

Realizing the boss's good intentions, these people felt guilty for doubting and being dissatisfied with Ferguson, but at the same time they admired their boss even more, for the victory of the team, he was so deliberate, enduring everyone's scolding, bearing the infamy. Wasn't it just to exchange for such an opportunity?

Thinking of this, everyone's belief in defeating Liverpool became even stronger.

In this game, no matter what the cost, no matter what means they used, they must win!

A group of people followed Rooney back and pounced on Ferguson. First they hugged him, and then they lifted him high, using this way to celebrate the goal.

But this celebration, in the eyes of those Liverpool fans, was like a slap in the face of all of them...

Rooney's penalty brought two positive effects to Manchester United. One was naturally that they scored first and Liverpool was down a man. The second effect was that everyone saw Ferguson's determination, and it brought them great confidence. They knew that the coach was on their side, what did they have to fear?

After the celebration, the Manchester United players who returned to the field did not forget to wave their fists at the stunned Liverpool fans in the stands, demonstrating.

Faced with this show of force by the Manchester United players, the Liverpool fans had no choice but to grit their teeth.

This made them feel even more suffocated.

The weather was still very good, but they felt like they were in a storm.

The feeling of a picnic was gone.