Just 4 minutes into the second half, Sheffield Wednesday scored to equalize!
Pantilimon looked at Vida, whose face was full of apologies, with a helpless expression, having already cursed Vida's relatives in his heart!
"Old man."
Huang Hao didn't turn his head, directly calling out to Darren.
Darren turned to look at Huang Hao, feeling quite helpless about Vida's extremely amateurish handling of the situation.
"I'm thinking, perhaps only old man Wenger can truly activate this Vida correctly." Although Huang Hao kept his gaze fixed on the field, Darren could sense his disappointment directly.
In the team's player evaluations, Vida still possessed the potential to become an excellent right-back, but it had to be said, compared to Lovren, his growth rate was slower, and Cambridge United couldn't afford to give him that much time to develop.
Despite the frustration, Cambridge United was still leading by two goals, so the team's morale hadn't taken too big a hit.
But for the Sheffield Wednesday players, who had been suppressed for an entire half, the significance was different. Just 1 minute after Sheffield Wednesday's goal, Odowada snatched the ball from Ayu again.
After gaining possession, Odowada quickly transferred the ball to Potter in the middle, who then launched a long pass directly over Cambridge United's defensive line!
As Sun Jihai was positioned slightly deeper, Vani easily beat the offside trap!
However, Mahrez and Lovren returned to defend at an extremely fast pace, successfully forcing Vani to the edge of the penalty area!
With no shooting opportunity, Vani attempted to pass the ball towards the center, but Sun Jihai headed it clear! Gutierrez gained possession outside the box and transferred the ball to Bidwell on the left wing.
Bidwell crossed from the byline, but the ball was blocked out for a corner by Vida!
Lowen kicked the ball directly in front of the goal, and Potter won the first header, but didn't have a good opportunity.
Helpless, Potter passed the ball back out, allowing Lowen to reorganize the attack.
Seeing Cambridge United's penalty area heavily guarded, Lowen dribbled horizontally outside the box, trying to find an opening.
May immediately rushed forward, but accidentally pulled down his opponent! Sheffield Wednesday won a very well-placed free kick on the left side of Cambridge United's penalty area.
At the same time, May also received a yellow card.
Vani stood in front of the ball, calmly observing Cambridge United's wall.
After a brief preparation, Vani's run-up wasn't long; he accelerated the swing of his lower leg, and at the moment of impact, his toes turned inward, striking the ball with the outside of his instep on the inner-rear side!
The ball, with intense spin, curled around the wall from the left side and headed straight for the bottom left corner of the goal!
Pantilimon had fully extended his body, bravely crashing into the left post!
However, Vani's free kick was incredibly fast, still managing to sneak into the goal from the bottom left corner before Pantilimon could reach it!!!
3:2! Sheffield Wednesday scored two goals in 5 minutes!
Besides the Sheffield Wednesday coaching staff and that small group of away fans, everyone else at Abbey Stadium was stunned!
How precarious a one-goal lead was, the Cambridge United players knew best; this season, comebacks and being come back against had played out on them several times. Huang Hao, who usually liked to surprise opponents at the start of the second half, was now experiencing what it felt like.
As time passed in the match, the feeling of wanting to win but fearing to lose slowly spread among the Cambridge United squad.
The players were somewhat timid in attack, and several good scoring opportunities were missed due to nervousness!
This was an extremely rare phenomenon for Cambridge United in the past; being so close to the Premier League put too much pressure on these young men, whose average age was only in their twenties. Although Huang Hao began to make substitutions, trying to break this deadlock, it had little effect.
By the 80th minute, Cambridge United's players had all begun to fall back and defend!
Huang Hao sat quietly on the bench, not rushing to the sidelines and shouting as he usually would.
He knew that at this moment, such a coaching style would only make the nervous players even more flustered.
If he were on the field, his technical movements would probably be distorted. Even though Cambridge United's defensive retraction increased Sheffield Wednesday's attacking opportunities, their attacks didn't pose much of a threat against Cambridge United's organized defense.
Unbeknownst to them, the match had already reached the 89th minute. Cambridge United players' stamina was almost at its limit!
At this moment, the fourth official raised the board showing the number 5.
There was an uproar on the field! Although both sides had committed some fouls, with almost no players suffering injuries, such a long period of added time was simply incomprehensible!
As things stood, Cambridge United players could only grit their teeth and hold on for the final 5 minutes!
Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand, pushed forward with all their might in the remaining time, striving for an equalizer.
In the last two minutes of the match, Cambridge United had completely given up on counter-attacks, retreating all the way to their own half!
Everyone repeatedly kicked the ball as far as possible towards midfield, while Sheffield Wednesday intercepted the ball and once again began their half-field attacking and defending drills!
In the 94th minute, Vida, in clearing the ball, inadvertently kicked it out for a goal kick!
Seeing Sheffield Wednesday get a corner in the final moments, even Huang Hao was so nervous that cold sweat broke out on his back!
Lowen retreated several times when he was about to take the kick, clearly using this method to put pressure on the Cambridge United players.
This time, there was no feint; Lowen kicked the ball directly to the near post!
Vani, despite Sun Jihai's desperate defending, still got to the ball first and headed it towards the goal! Pantilimon leaped backward from a standing position, but his fingertips only lightly grazed the ball, failing to change its direction!
Thud! Huang Hao's heart trembled simultaneously with the crossbar!
The ball hit the crossbar and bounced to the ground!
Gutierrez was first to react, rushing towards the goal!
In the 95th minute, the ball was kicked into the net by Gutierrez!!!
3:3!!!
Huang Hao's worst fear had come true before his eyes!
He frantically grabbed Darren's shoulder!
"Score! Quick!"
Darren quickly checked his phone, first freezing, then slowly raising the phone in front of Huang Hao.
When Huang Hao saw the content on Darren's phone, the anxious expression on his face slowly relaxed.
Relieved, he felt a chill down his back!
If he wasn't mistaken, his shirt underneath must be soaked.
Birmingham, despite putting in a tremendous effort, failed to break through Preston's defense, with both teams ultimately settling for a 0:0 draw.
When Huang Hao saw the result, he wished he could immediately drive to St. Andrews Park and give the Preston Head Coach a big hug!
When Sheffield Wednesday scored against Cambridge United in the very last minute of added time, Huang Hao's heart instantly sank to rock bottom!
If Birmingham had won, they would have directly overtaken Cambridge United by 1 point, and Huang Hao's team would have been kicked out of second place by an opponent for the second time. This time, there would be no more opportunities for them to play against each other, and the initiative would fall completely into Birmingham's hands!
Now it seemed, the most satisfied party with this round's results must be English Football Association, secretly chuckling to themselves!
After the match, Huang Hao didn't comment much on the inexplicable 5 minutes of added time, merely stating calmly that it was fortunate Sheffield Wednesday scored in the 5 minutes, otherwise he might not have been able to leave Abbey Stadium that night!
And as for the Cambridge United players, Huang Hao also didn't lose his temper.
Conceding a goal in the very last minute was lesson enough for them.
Huang Hao's understanding, however, made the players uneasy for the next few days, forcing them to train twice as hard!
If Huang Hao had harshly criticized them, perhaps everyone would have felt better. But this silence now made everyone feel that the boss was thoroughly angry, and a volcano might erupt any day.
So, it was better to train diligently to avoid getting into trouble!
Darren, seeing the players training desperately, looked at Huang Hao with confusion, thinking this brainwashing expert had given the players another lecture behind his back. Huang Hao, however, wore an expression of 'it has nothing to do with me,' which made people's teeth itch.
Four days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Cambridge United was heading to Blackpool for their final match of the season.
Blackpool was currently ranked 18th in the EFL Championship, having already secured their League Two status. However, Huang Hao dared not hope for the opponent to go easy; after all, Blackpool's performance had made him deeply realize that the path was in their own hands and had nothing to do with anyone else.
Facts proved that Huang Hao's idea was very correct.
Blackpool, without any pressure, played bravely and aggressively in the match, completely unlike a team ranked in the lower half of the League!
Just 42 seconds into the match, Blackpool nearly scored directly from a set piece, almost breaking open Cambridge United's goal!
It wasn't until the 25th minute that Cambridge United, from a corner kick, had their first shot on goal, courtesy of Lewandowski!
Huang Hao shook his head; it seemed everyone was under too much pressure. It was necessary to say something at halftime.
Fortunately, although their offense wasn't particularly effective, Cambridge United's defense was decent. At the end of a somewhat dull first half, both teams were scoreless, neither having found the net.
When the players entered the locker room, Huang Hao was already sitting leisurely in a chair, legs crossed.
"O'Connor, do you know Birmingham's current score?"
O'Connor's heart sank. This was it! This clearly meant he was dissatisfied with my first-half performance!
Thinking this, O'Connor immediately lowered his head.
Then, a thought struck him: he hadn't answered the question yet, so he raised his head again to look at Huang Hao. But awkwardly, O'Connor didn't know how to answer!
So, O'Connor shook his head while lowering it again.
Huang Hao, seeing O'Connor's comical reaction, covered his face with his hand and burst out laughing.
"Alright, alright! I'll tell you, Birmingham is currently leading 2:0."
"If they're not as miserable as we were in the last match, they should have secured 3 points. If you guys continue to perform like this, then we'll only be able to participate in the playoffs."
"Stop! Don't look down, all of you look at me!" Seeing the players about to put on a pitiful expression again, Huang Hao grew a little angry!
Hearing the reprimand, everyone quickly looked up at the Head Coach.
"This season, we've encountered many strong teams and faced great pressure, and you've all done very well."
"I once thought that your ability to handle pressure would definitely be among the best in the Premier League."
"However, the match two days ago completely changed that view." Looking at the familiar faces, Huang Hao's tone gradually softened.
"Listen, I'm responsible for this. I shouldn't have put all the pressure on you."
Huang Hao wasn't being polite; as the team's spiritual leader, failing to help the players de-stress at the last minute was indeed something he couldn't shirk responsibility for.
"We won't consider what those damn media outlets positioned us as at the beginning of the season. Let's just talk about the current situation."
Huang Hao knew well that using phrases like 'relegation team' and 'slap in the face' were clearly no longer appropriate at this critical juncture.
"Pasquel, Cole, do you remember our first season together?"
The two who were called out immediately nodded. As veterans of the team, they certainly wouldn't forget their experience in the National League.
"That's right, during Cambridge United's toughest times, it was through the playoffs that we were promoted to League Two."
"The playoffs also offer another chance to play at Wembley, what are you afraid of?"
"If I didn't want to go on vacation early, I would definitely tell you to play poorly and go to the playoffs!"
Huang Hao's words seemed to possess an unusual magic. After a few sentences, the players' restless hearts seemed to truly calm down a lot.
"All you lads, relax! Relax! Relax!"
"End this season's regular League in the way you're best at."
"Whether it's direct promotion or through the playoffs, Cambridge United will definitely go to the Premier League! I swear!" Huang Hao's last sentence completely put everyone at ease.
Thinking about it, he was right. Even if they didn't get second place, the playoffs still offered a ticket to the Premier League. Cambridge United now had double insurance!
"So, all of you, be men! Like men, use your best methods to play every match well. We can lose, but we cannot be cowards!!!"
