Chapter 21

After the restart, the match continued amidst the deafening cheers of the Chelsea fans. However, the disoriented Manchester United suffered another blow. United's defender Sylvain Wiltord, who already had a yellow card, fouled Kaká, who was setting up to shoot. The referee, Phil Dowd, showed Wiltord his second yellow card of the match.

Two yellows turned into a red, and Wiltord was sent off the field!

At 63 years old, Sir Alex Ferguson was furious, shouting at the fourth official and accusing him of a bad call. On the contrary, Jowan Xian stood with his arms crossed, smirking at Ferguson, a faint smile on his lips, finding the old man's antics somewhat amusing.

After a heated argument and a warning from the referee, Ferguson finally calmed down and made two substitutions: defender John O'Shea replaced the underperforming forward Alan Smith to fill the gap left by Wiltord's dismissal; and the young Darren Fletcher replaced Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been completely shut down by Ashley Cole, to strengthen the midfield's defensive capabilities.

With these substitutions, the only remaining threat from Ferguson's Manchester United was the impact of Ryan Giggs on the substitute Glen Johnson, who had come on for Ricardo Carvalho.

Although they were trailing and down a man, Ferguson, known for his ability to turn the tide, was not despairing. He trusted that Giggs could easily break through Chelsea's right flank defense. If today's Carvalho was performing exceptionally, there was no reason why Giggs, an Englishman, would be held back by Johnson.

With Wiltord's dismissal, Chelsea won a well-positioned free kick, just outside the penalty area, about 23-24 meters from the goal, right in the sweet spot for Frank Lampard.

In this match, Manchester United had committed numerous fouls to disrupt Chelsea's fluid attack, giving Lampard many opportunities to showcase his skills. However, despite feeling good today, he couldn't seem to find his inspiration, as if his feet were unclean.

Seeing the Manchester United players huddled around their coach, a very unscrupulous idea popped into Lampard's head. He winked at United's goalkeeper, Tim Howard, and gave a mischievous smile.

While Howard was still organizing the wall at the left post, Lampard launched a sudden attack with a quick free kick.

There are usually two ways to take a direct free kick in the attacking half. If the referee does not explicitly tell the players that they must wait for his whistle, the player can choose to take it quickly. Coincidentally, Lampard did not hear Phil Dowd make such a requirement.

The black and white ball, watched by everyone, traced a parabolic path and awkwardly darted into the right side of the Manchester United goal, bouncing around as if mocking the Red Devils.

Howard, who had already been humiliated three times by Chelsea, was furious at Lampard's antics. He angrily picked up the ball from the net and threw it to Lampard, intending to scold the Chelsea vice-captain. However, a shocking scene unfolded as the referee, Phil Dowd, blew his whistle and pointed to the center circle...

The goal was valid?

The goal was valid!

"This ball... it's in! Phil Dowd indicates that the goal is valid!" Zhang Jun's usually calm voice was filled with surprise. "At the 63rd minute, a dramatic moment occurred on the field. Chelsea's vice-captain, Frank Lampard, scored a free kick with a sneak attack! Another controversial call!"

Huang Jianxiang of CCTV5 sounded somewhat gleeful, laughing and saying, "Phil Dowd will certainly become the focus of the media after the match, likely as hot as Jowan Xian! First, Giggs' wild tackle only resulted in a yellow card, then Wiltord's red card, and now the quick free kick is ruled valid. Let's wait and see if Jowan Xian will be angry that he's been upstaged!"

The Manchester United players surrounded the referee again, and this time, Ferguson tried to join them but was held back by the fourth official and his assistant coaches. Sir Alex Ferguson, with decades of experience in football, having weathered countless storms and seen Manchester United through its highs and lows, had never before been so insulted by a young upstart!

"Jowan Xian, Jowan Xian!!!" Ferguson, seeing Jowan Xian's monkey-like celebration, gritted his teeth in anger.

The camera panned over the Stamford Bridge stands, where the blue and red fans formed a stark contrast. The sea of blue undulated with the passionate cries of the Chelsea fans, who were doing the wave in unison...

The Manchester United fans, on the other hand, looked utterly dejected. They had come from Manchester to London to witness a big win, but the result was the opposite, now trailing 4-1! The red half of the stands was thinning, with many fans already taking off their red jerseys and throwing them on the ground, and even more leaving early, returning to Manchester with heavy hearts.

Suddenly, a chorus of cheers erupted from the Chelsea West Stand: "Xian! Xian! Xian! Xian..."

The cheers grew louder and louder, eventually echoing throughout the entire Stamford Bridge stadium, the only sound being the name "Xian!"

The camera found Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich, in the VIP box, and to everyone's surprise, he was in tears, his arms waving and his lips murmuring, "Xian... Xian..."

A sense of immense pride welled up in Jowan Xian, who was so moved that he could hardly contain his emotions. Fortunately, he was wearing sunglasses, or the many cameras would have captured his teary-eyed moment!

Jowan Xian took a deep breath, turned, and gave a light hug to André Villas-Boas, celebrating their first official match victory together. Villas-Boas, hearing the整齐又巨大的呐喊声，一时也无不动容，这……才是一个足球教练梦寐以求的吧？

Villas-Boas sniffed and said, "Xian, you were right!"

Jowan Xian smiled and patted Villas-Boas on the shoulder.

The Manchester United commentator, seeing this, began to mock, "Hmph! Although Manchester United's prospects in this match are grim, we've noticed something extremely interesting: Jowan Xian is a complete homosexual! Look, he's flirting with his assistant!"

Down a man and trailing 4-1, Ferguson felt a sense of despair. The 1-3 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield had left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he was determined to make up for it in the league. He had thought that facing the laughable young man Jowan Xian would be an easy win, but this match had left him exhausted!

However, Ferguson's nightmare was far from over.

At the 74th minute, Manchester United's winger Ryan Giggs finally got a chance to counterattack, intending to use his speed and skill to break through Glen Johnson's defense. But little did he know, Johnson was no pushover!

The aggressive Glen Johnson lunged in and poked the ball away, and Chelsea's midfield maestro, Frank Lampard, picked it up and launched a long, unapologetic pass directly into the Manchester United penalty area!

Gudjohnsen used his body to shield the defender John O'Shea, winning a header, and the Brazilian Kaká, charging in from behind, unleashed a powerful shot...

5-1! The score was rewritten!

Kaká, who had just transferred from AC Milan to Chelsea the day before, scored another goal, completing an incredible hat-trick!

Zhang Jun, seeing this, began to show off his extensive football knowledge: "Hmm... looking at the entire match, we can't help but marvel at the beauty of Jowan Xian's tactics. Although Lampard and Kaká form a double playmaker setup, Lampard, positioned behind Kaká and in front of Makelele, is the midfield organizer, while Kaká is the team's offensive core!"

At this point, for the Manchester United players, the rest of the match was just garbage time. United still had one substitution left, but under normal circumstances, no one would want to be taken off. Now, all the players had one wish: "Sir Alex, please take me off the field; I don't want to be humiliated anymore!"

Ferguson, however, sat calmly on the bench, his gaze fixed on the field, seemingly forgetting that he still had a substitution left.

The Manchester United players were completely demoralized, and the traveling Red Devils fans were leaving in droves, their faces as if they had lost everything.

Kaká, having scored his third goal, no longer celebrated, but instead waved at his mentor, Jowan Xian, on the bench, and then high-fived his teammates.

"Unbelievable... Unbelievable..."

The Chelsea executives in the VIP box, accompanying Abramovich, were all stunned. When Jowan Xian had strongly advocated for Kaká's signing, they had all opposed it. But today, on his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt, Kaká had scored three goals against the Premier League champions, Manchester United!

At this moment, including CEO Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea executives felt a sense of being proven wrong. Could this madman Jowan Xian really be a talent scout with a keen eye?

Abramovich's lips curled into a knowing smile, feeling that his decision to appoint Jowan Xian as the team's manager was truly wise. Suddenly, he remembered something, and his smile faded as he was startled: "Oh God, how could I almost forget? I have a second bet with Xian! And we signed it in writing! How much will Xian make if Kaká is sold?"

According to the 50% split, Abramovich took a deep breath, thinking that a profit of £10 million would be a conservative estimate, right?

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