After Huang Hao played his last substitution card, he returned to the coaching bench and sat down.
Darren stared intently at O'Neill, who was fuming and losing his temper at his players. He still couldn't understand one thing: why did so many opposing Head Coaches lose their composure during matches over the past four years?
The most insane among them was Swansea's former Head Coach, Ray Kenny, who took off his pants and urinated towards the coaching bench during a match. The scene of him being chased and beaten by fans must have been unforgettable for a lifetime.
But what was wrong with them?
Was it deep-seated discrimination and contempt for Huang Hao, so they were so humiliated after being defeated by Huang Hao that their mentality collapsed and their spirits broke?
Or was the pressure of the match itself too great, with Cambridge United being seen as the underdog, unwilling to accept defeat but unable to turn the tide, leading to some inexplicable actions? Darren shook his head; he couldn't figure it out.
Huang Hao noticed his head shake and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Darren didn't voice his true thoughts but shrugged and said, "Aston Villa's squad is actually quite good. I thought this would be a tough battle, but I didn't expect us to win so easily. I'm wondering why."
Huang Hao chuckled and said, "Yes, Aston Villa's squad looks good, but we are more advanced than them in tactics. It's not that we specifically countered them, but rather that their current formation can't contain us. Given Aston Villa's level, if they still play a flat 4-4-2 midfield against Cambridge United, they will most likely lose again. Didn't you notice that their conventional defense couldn't handle our wingers?"
Darren recalled for a moment and then nodded. Tadić assisted Vardy for a goal, Vardy assisted Lewandowski for a goal, and then Lewandowski assisted Smith for a goal.
In these three goals, once the winger found space to cut inside, the opponent's defense seemed somewhat at a loss.
After Van Dijk left the field, the substitute who came on was Suxi, the teammate Smith had hugged after scoring his goal.
The match restarted, and Aston Villa began to attack frantically, somewhat recklessly.
But the more impatient they became, the more disorganized their attacks appeared.
Their central push was met by a joint interception from Kante and M'Vila. Petrov lost his balance and fell to the ground during a challenge, causing O'Neill to angrily rush to the fourth official to protest that M'Vila's action was a foul. At this moment, Huang Hao also walked to the fourth official and scolded O'Neill, "Get back to your position! I've seen plenty of people lose their temper when they're losing, but I've never seen anyone as unreasonable as you!"
O'Neill immediately tried to walk towards Huang Hao but was stopped by the fourth official.
Even Head Referee Knight had to stop the match and come to the sideline to maintain order. The enraged O'Neill was pulled back by his assistant coach, while Huang Hao exchanged a few words with Head Referee Knight, stating that O'Neill was causing trouble and he was there to help the fourth official.
Head Referee Knight clearly wasn't appreciative. He had already learned about Huang Hao mocking the referee team in the first half during halftime.
Knight thought to himself, 'You're not a good guy either, damn it!'
Huang Hao walked back and, after sitting down on the coaching bench, said to Darren, "O'Neill is really here to make a fool of himself! I wasn't looking for trouble with him, but he jumped out!"
Darren gave a helpless bitter smile.
To be honest, from an objective standpoint, Huang Hao isn't exactly a well-behaved Head Coach either.
In the 74th minute of the match, Sidwell, while defending in midfield, had no choice but to trip Kante. Aston Villa's formation was completely pushed forward; if they allowed Cambridge United to counter-attack quickly, their defense would be in danger.
The Head Referee showed Sidwell a yellow card.
Four minutes later, Ashley Young pushed forward on the right flank. He had a few good crosses today, but he was still far from a "game-deciding" performance.
This time, facing the substitute Suxi, he probably thought the opponent was an easy target to bully. However, when he attempted to dribble past him, Suxi used a fierce challenge to gain position, and then the nimble and agile Suxi poked the ball away from his feet!
Ashley Young was stunned, while the Cambridge United fans in the nearby stands applauded Suxi.
The poked ball rolled towards Lovren, who sent a through ball to the left side of midfield. This was the safest area and teammate he could see ahead.
As soon as Smith controlled the ball on the left side of midfield, he saw full-back Shorey and defensive midfielder Sidwell rushing towards him.
Aston Villa's formation was pushed up for a furious attack, and whether it was the full-back or the defensive midfielder, they couldn't retreat any further when suddenly hit by a counter-attack.
So they could only actively press forward.
Smith remained calm and composed, chipping the ball forward from his spot.
Both Aston Villa players were somewhat surprised.
Smith was the left winger; if he passed the ball to the left flank's front, who would it be for?
After they turned to look back, they saw Lewandowski actively pulling wide, coming to receive Smith's pass.
This was also why Lewandowski was so favored by Huang Hao; he was more complete, a typical template for a future center forward.
After Lewandowski controlled the ball on the wing, he dribbled towards the penalty area!
After he reached top speed, the two center-backs, Davis and Dunn, on the defensive line could only retreat quickly, but as soon as they reached the edge of the penalty area, they found Lewandowski had already arrived in front of them; they couldn't retreat any further!
Dunn moved to face Lewandowski, who was coming in diagonally, while Davis remained vigilant in the center, watching Vardy on the side.
After Lewandowski dribbled the ball to the edge of the penalty area, facing Dunn's frontal defense, he did not forcefully attempt to break through but instead passed the ball horizontally.
It looked like the ball was going to Vardy on the flank. Davis moved forward to intercept, but Vardy, who was running forward, suddenly changed direction two meters in front of him, going around him. The ball? Vardy didn't even touch it!
The ball, which Vardy had let pass, rolled three meters to the right and was then sent with a lightning-fast through ball by Ayu with his left foot behind Davis!
Luke Young simply couldn't move in time to block Ayu.
Who would have expected Vardy to let this ball pass?
Vardy, beating the offside trap, broke into the penalty area to receive Ayu's pass, then used his left foot to cut the ball to his front right. Goalkeeper Friedel immediately rushed out from his goal towards him. Friedel just didn't expect Vardy's next move to be a sudden stop and cut the ball back to the left, giving Vardy a wider shooting angle.
Vardy didn't hesitate for a moment, curling the ball with his left foot!
From about 10 yards from the goal, Vardy managed to curl the ball with a slight arc. The ball curved inwards and flew into the far corner of the goal!
Friedel stopped and turned quickly, his feet giving way as he slipped and fell to the ground. He simply sat on the ground, shaking his head helplessly.
After scoring, Vardy didn't rush to the sideline to celebrate. He simply stopped and turned to wave to his teammates.
Lewandowski, Smith, and Ayu walked over to him. They hugged and high-fived each other. Vardy had a relaxed smile on his face, as if scoring this goal had been effortless.
The Cambridge United players on the bench also stood up and came to the sideline to applaud their teammates on the field.
This goal wasn't actually too difficult to score. After all, it was a counter-attack, and with a huge amount of space in the attacking third, Cambridge United had no great difficulty completely destroying the opponent's defense with their passing and movement. This was what Cambridge United excelled at.
When Huang Hao first coached the team, he combined speed and teamwork, and he had maintained this over the years.
However, at this stage, securing this victory, and scoring four goals against Aston Villa, a team currently ranked eighth in the Premier League, was a huge morale booster.
They all knew they were facing a devilish schedule this month, and securing the second victory would further stabilize morale!
Huang Hao remained seated on the coaching bench with a smile, only craning his neck to look at his players on the field from afar.
O'Neill, on the other hand, looked dejected. He suddenly squatted down, distraught, covering his face with his hands, as if he couldn't bear to watch the scene on the field anymore.
And in the stands behind him, Cambridge United fans were still relentlessly taunting him.
"O'Neill, go eat shit!"
"O'Neill, woo-la-la, go eat shit, oh hehe!"
O'Neill suddenly shook his head, stood up, turned around, and shouted towards the stands, "Stop cursing! Stop cursing! I beg you, stop cursing... stop cursing!"
He knew he had lost. He knew he had given his all, only to lose even more terribly!
But even so, it made it even harder for him to accept.
Why?
An opponent who was once his defeated foe two years ago was now so high above him, so unbeatable!
Today, he could only watch the man he once trampled underfoot with disdain contend for the title!
Why?
Why?
How could reality be like this?
And Huang Hao, who once criticized him, now completely disregarded him.
It was a huge irony.
Under the gaze of everyone present and the audience watching the live broadcast of the match on TV, O'Neill broke down and lost his composure!
Because, after desperately pleading with Cambridge United fans to stop humiliating him, he only provoked them further, leading to only one sound overwhelming Park Stadium.
"O'Neill, go eat shit!"
What does it feel like to be excitedly cursed at by nearly 20,000 people in a stadium?
Huang Hao didn't know.
Nor could he imagine.
He only knew that O'Neill was crying.
In full view of everyone, O'Neill covered his face and wept bitterly, but perhaps because his hands continuously covered his face, preventing people from seeing his tears, the Cambridge United fans in the Park Stadium stands continued to humiliate him.
Aston Villa's assistant coach quickly stepped forward and pulled O'Neill back to the coaching bench. Huang Hao also stood up at this moment. He walked to the sideline, then turned to face the stands. He pointed towards the field, gesturing for the fans to shift their attention to the field and stop humiliating O'Neill.
Huang Hao's approach was very effective. The fans quickly stopped their curses and instead began to sing their team song, joyfully praising the greatness of their team.
O'Neill quickly stopped crying. He probably realized how embarrassing his actions had been, so he used the wide collar of his jacket to cover half of his face, slumping weakly against the chair, looking like a frail man.
The assistant coach exercised the Head Coach's authority on his behalf, immediately using all three substitutions, bringing on defensive players to strengthen the team's defense.
The commentators were all dumbfounded at this moment.
In truth, unless one is the protagonist in the vortex, no one can understand the bitterness in O'Neill's heart.
He wanted to prove that he was better than Huang Hao; he couldn't accept Huang Hao's disdain for him.
He wanted to be respected!
And that was precisely what he hadn't given Huang Hao when they first met!
Aston Villa had conceded four goals, and the players on the field had lost their fighting spirit, but they still upheld the bottom line of professional players: they couldn't lose any more!
With three defensive players brought on at once, Aston Villa's goal was surrounded like an impenetrable fortress. Cambridge United also slowed down the pace of the game in the remaining time; there was no need to forcefully break through the opponent's defense anymore.
Time gradually elapsed. The Head Referee, seeing that neither team was actively creating threatening attacks, blew the final whistle before injury time had even finished.
Park Stadium erupted in cheers. Huang Hao stood up from the coaching bench and shook hands and hugged his colleagues, a relatively restrained celebration of this victory.
He turned and walked towards O'Neill, but O'Neill had already left with his head down, even before the post-match interview.
It seemed he had taken a huge blow today.
Huang Hao also didn't want to kick him while he was down. During the post-match interview, when Brian Horton brought up the topic of O'Neill, Huang Hao lightly defended O'Neill:
"I don't know what happened to him, but I need to remind everyone that being a football coach is an extremely high-pressure profession, especially coaching a top-League team. The expectations of fans, public opinion, and managing a complex club – pressure comes from all sides. I don't want to comment on him, but I hope everyone shows understanding and tolerance."
Huang Hao's answer surprised even Brian Horton, so he didn't press the topic further.
He then asked, "Has Cambridge United's recent winning streak begun to prepare for a sprint for European qualification at the end of the season?"
Huang Hao shook his head and said, "It's too early to talk about a sprint. After all, there are still 13 League rounds left. Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal are all opponents we look up to. We will do our best in every match; that's what we need to focus on right now."
Looking ahead to the upcoming FA Cup, Huang Hao's expression was much more relaxed, saying, "Compared to other Premier League teams, our opponent is weaker. The only unfavorable factor is that we will be playing away. Even so, I will give some key players a rest and let the substitute and young players play. They should get some experience and growth. The FA Cup Round of 16 is a very good stage."
Fleet Street had already anticipated this. Facing a three-front battle, even top clubs wouldn't field their full strength in domestic cup competitions, let alone Cambridge United. They would certainly approach this competition with the lowest possible expenditure.
However, Cambridge United's opponent wasn't strong, and Cambridge United's chances of advancing were still very high. And once they passed the Reading hurdle, Cambridge United would enter the FA Cup quarter-finals!
