The Greatest Manager of All time

Brentford were able to sit in the upper half of the Second Division table and had hopes of challenging for a place in the First Division next season, so naturally, they had qualities of their own.

On top of their simple, direct long-ball approach, they could also mix in basic passing moves on the ground. Long and short, wide and central, their attacking play was fairly structured.

However, when they charged at Swansea's defense, Pedretti played a key role.

Twice in a row, he accurately blocked Eddie Hutchinson's through balls, and when Robert Terrell tried to carry the ball inside, Pedretti stuck close to him, battled him shoulder to shoulder, and finally won the ball!

Watching from the stands, Lynn was quite satisfied. Pedretti was gradually developing in the direction of Makélélé.

With the help of skill cards, he could also launch attacks after winning the ball, making Swansea's transitions from defense to attack even smoother.

Many people, including most of Swansea's players, did not know that during Pedretti's injury recovery period, defensive coach Thomas Paine had sent him many highlight tapes of elite ball-winning defensive midfielders at Pedretti's request.

Pedretti had not stopped moving forward while recovering.

Again and again, he watched and analyzed how the world's top defensive midfielders marked opponents, stopped attacks, thought through situations, memorized the patterns, absorbed them, and then applied them flexibly on the pitch.

But like many defensive players who did not receive much attention on the field, Pedretti was an extremely low-key figure within the team.

Perhaps only Lynn and the coaching staff truly understood his value and importance.

In the 27th minute, Pedretti once again froze Red-and-White Army forward Mark Peters during a recovery run. This annoyed Peters, who charged into Pedretti during the counter-press.

Before Pedretti fell to the ground, while his body was already losing balance, he swept the ball across toward the left side of midfield.

The referee put the whistle in his mouth, hesitated for a moment, but chose not to blow for Peters's foul. Instead, he followed the advantage rule and allowed Swansea's attack to continue.

Grosso received Pedretti's pass on the left side of midfield. Before Terrell could recover and close him down, Grosso carried the ball forward at speed into a dangerous attacking area.

After observing the overall situation, Grosso passed the ball square into the middle.

Cromwell, arriving from behind, controlled the ball in front of Red-and-White defensive midfielder O'Connor. He saw Villa preparing to run in behind, so he played the ball into the channel Villa was attacking.

The agile and sharp Villa burst straight between Danny Thomas and Danny Allampage, racing into the left side of the penalty area. The ball rolling in from behind was guided perfectly onto his right foot. Cromwell's precise through ball had created a golden opportunity!

Danny Thomas immediately tracked back. After turning, he charged into Villa's shooting line, stretching out his long leg in a sliding challenge.

At the critical moment, however, Villa pulled the ball back slightly under his foot, and Danny Thomas slid right past him!

The other centre-back, Matt Small, had also rushed toward him. Villa gently knocked the ball sideways.

Ibrahimović, unmarked, stepped forward and controlled it. He shaped as if to shoot, and Matt Small immediately changed direction, rushing toward Ibrahimović and lifting his leg to block.

But Ibrahimović's raised right leg, which seemed ready to fire, came down and instead nudged the ball diagonally forward!

A fake shot into a real dribble!

Matt Small immediately tried to shift his weight back and chase Ibrahimović again, but his body simply did not have the agility to support another sudden change of direction.

He lost his balance completely and fell to the ground!

Inside Brentford's penalty area, Ibrahimović strolled past Matt Small as if he were taking a walk in the park. After that, there was no one left to stop him from shooting.

Oh, except goalkeeper Alan Julian!

Alan Julian came rushing off his line. Just as he charged out of the six-yard box, Ibrahimović swung his right leg again, as if he were about to shoot.

Julian dropped to the ground, spreading his legs and arms wide to expand his blocking area.

But what appeared before Julian's eyes left him stunned.

Ibrahimović's right foot came down once more and pushed the ball forward again!

The ball slipped perfectly past Julian's outstretched left leg!

The Swansea supporters in the away stand were already close to losing their minds.

Again and again, Ibrahimović had not only toyed with the opposition defenders and goalkeeper, he had even fooled his own fans!

Every time they thought he was going to shoot, every time they were ready to cheer, ready to celebrate Swansea's second goal, Ibrahimović instead chose to beat another man with unbelievable confidence!

And the timing of each fake shot was perfect. The opponents were desperate to block his attempt, so they easily surrendered their body weight.

That was a huge defensive taboo, but there was nothing they could do.

Against a forward like Ibrahimović, who was obsessed with footwork, how could they possibly imagine that this nearly two-meter-tall giant was actually a technical player?

When there was truly no one left between the ball at Ibrahimović's feet and the goal, he calmly used the inside of his foot to guide the ball from a tight angle into the empty net!

After scoring, Ibrahimović looked back and saw Brentford goalkeeper Alan Julian and the two centre-backs, Danny Thomas and Matt Small, all lying inside the penalty area.

The Red-and-White Army's box was a complete mess of fallen bodies!

Ibrahimović laughed.

He looked especially innocent, yet at the same time, utterly dismissive of everything around him!

"My goodness! Zlatan Ibrahimović! He has scored a magical goal!

"He beat Brentford's centre-backs and goalkeeper one after another before finishing into an empty net!

"He is ruthlessly tearing apart Brentford's defense! It's like a god has descended onto the pitch!

"Swansea's attack is wonderfully organized. We had always thought Swansea's front line was a typical English-style big-and-fast pairing. Ibrahimović has height and strength, and he can stand firm in the penalty area.

Villa is flexible in his movement and has a sharp sense for goal. But no one expected Ibrahimović to be far more than a simple tall striker. He can keep the ball glued to his feet and dribble past opponents with incredible skill!

"Swansea's £3 million spending last summer was absolutely worth it. This strike partnership has opened the eyes of Second Division side Brentford!

"It's 2–0! Swansea are two goals ahead at the Red-and-White Army's home ground!"

The Red-and-White Army players were already full of anger.

They felt as if they were being humiliated by the Third Division Swan Sea.

After the fallen centre-backs and goalkeeper got back up, they roared at the teammates in front of them, demanding that they stay focused in defense.

On the touchline, head coach Dean Smith felt a chill run through him.

He had not underestimated Swansea, but now he realized Swansea were not as simple as he had thought.

And after his original game plan had been disrupted, signs had already appeared from the opening stages that not only this match, but even the two-legged semi-final, might already be slipping away!

Swansea's attacking players clearly had better technical ability than Brentford's defenders.

Their team combinations were also sharp and effective, and their counterattacks were flowing with devastating force.

If the Red-and-White Army did not compress the space in their defensive third, they would probably concede again.

Dean Smith repeatedly gestured toward the players on the pitch, telling them not to be overconfident when defending.

The defensive line must not push forward recklessly. They had to retreat into the danger zone and form an effective joint defense!

The Swansea fans sang loudly, chanting songs of praise for Ibrahimović.

Lynn was smiling with extraordinary happiness. Naturally, he could also see that the Red-and-White Army had been blinded by anger.

They had thought they could crush Swansea at home in one go, only to be stabbed twice in return by Swansea!

Red-and-White Army, do you know how to spell death now?

In the VIP seats, chairman Cliff Boya's face looked extremely ugly.

What he wanted was revenge, not the embarrassing sight of Swansea celebrating freely at Griffin Park and rubbing salt into his wound!

Falling two goals behind made the home fans in the stands restless. Everyone began talking among themselves.

They all felt that Swansea's level should not belong to the Third Division.

They did not know that Swansea's first team had been built from nothing, restarted this season, and had only reached its current scale and strength through steady, step-by-step progress.

One could say that compared with the Swansea at the start of the season, the current Swansea were at least one full level stronger!

Swansea had improved at terrifying speed.

Challenging the giants of the Premier League was still unrealistic, but against Second Division teams, there was certainly no opponent they needed to fear, especially when that opponent arrogantly attacked wildly at home and left its defense on the verge of collapse.

The Red-and-White Army players were burning with fury.

After the match restarted, they intensified their attacking efforts. They frequently sent crosses in from the wings and stopped thinking about any passing combinations.

They simply went for the most direct, rough approach!

But Brunel and Gabbidon repeatedly made their crosses useless, and Glendower also performed well on several occasions when coming out to claim the ball.

In the 38th minute, after Cromwell and Ibrahimović played a wall pass in the attacking half, Cromwell unexpectedly sent a lofted diagonal ball over the top toward the left side of the penalty area!

Villa was positioned slightly to the right in front of the penalty area at that moment. He was receiving special attention from the Red-and-White defensive line.

Because of that, Villa acted as a decoy and covered his teammate's attack.

Grosso charged into the penalty area ahead of everyone else. Just as he controlled the ball inside the box, full-back Danny Allampage slid in from behind at an angle, taking both Grosso and the ball to the ground!

The referee's whistle sounded.

Ibrahimović was furious. He roared at Danny Allampage for the tackle from behind. Kevin O'Connor rushed over to protect his teammate.

Ibrahimović helped Grosso up and only stopped when he saw that Grosso was not seriously hurt.

"Brentford suffer another blow! The referee has shown Danny Allampage a red card! And it's a penalty!

"Allampage's tackle from behind inside the box was indeed very dangerous. It is a clear red card. Although the home fans are expressing their dissatisfaction with boos, the facts are plain. Swansea have won a penalty near the end of the first half, and they have a chance to extend the score to 3–0!"

The Swansea fans in the away stand were absolutely ecstatic!

But at this moment, they all quieted down, not wanting to disturb the penalty taker's mindset or put too much pressure on him.

Cromwell stood in front of the penalty spot.

In fact, he could be called the Swansea player with the strongest mentality and ability to handle pressure. He could treat heavy moments lightly in his mind, so naturally, he had no fear of such a scene.

After the referee blew the whistle, Cromwell calmly began his run-up, then used a standard side-foot finish to send the ball into the bottom-left corner of the goal. Goalkeeper Alan Julian guessed the direction correctly, but his dive was slower than the ball!

The ball rolled just inside the post and into the net!

Cromwell spread his arms and sprinted wildly along the pitch. His handsome face was filled with happiness.

From him, people could feel the joy and satisfaction that football gave him.

"Swansea have scored three goals in the first half! An unbelievable match! When we believed Swansea were the weakest side among the Football League Trophy's final four, the team with the slimmest chance of winning the trophy, Swansea have instead unleashed a massacre against Brentford, who sit seventh in the Second Division!

"Unbelievable Swansea!"

Red-and-White Army manager Dean Smith closed his eyes in pain.

His team were three goals down at home and had also lost a man. He knew this match could no longer be saved.

And like an outsider dragged into the chairman's personal grudge, he had been forced to watch all of this unfold before his eyes.

A huge wave of boos rose from Griffin Park.

Those boos were not aimed at the players.

They were for club chairman Cliff Boya!

One hour before kick-off, Cliff Boya had marched into the dressing room full of ambition and revenge.

He never could have imagined that two hours later, not only would he personally witness his team being ravaged by the Swan Sea at home, but he himself would also be booed by the fans!

Meanwhile, in the away supporters' stand, Lynn was laughing wildly and excitedly.

Cliff Boya stood up and turned toward the tunnel.

He could not keep watching.

He could not stay here any longer. He knew Brentford were certain to lose this match.

If they could not win eleven against eleven, how could they win ten against eleven?

He knew that after this match, he would be nailed to the pillar of shame, and he would never again be able to lift his head in front of Lynn.

Right now, he only wanted to escape.

To flee from everything.

To treat today as a nightmare and never think of it again.

Although the first half had not even finished, the Red-and-White Army knew the overall situation was already lost.

After their rationality had been completely swallowed by their obsession with all-out attack, the gaps in their defense had been torn apart by Swansea's sharp offensive force.

Now, even if they wanted to fix things, it was already too late!

At last, Emlyn Hughes could command the match calmly from the touchline.

This was the easiest match he had managed since taking over touchline duties from Lynn.

The second half was uneventful. Swansea had been under heavy fixture pressure recently.

Since the Christmas schedule began, they had almost been playing twice a week.

After making sure the victory was secured, Emlyn Hughes made routine substitutions in the second half.

At home, the Red-and-White Army were wary of Ibrahimović and Villa.

As long as the two forwards were still on the pitch, Brentford could only be pinned back in their own half, unable to move.

Even so, in the final moments of the second half, substitute Nielsen still assisted Ibrahimović to score Swansea's fourth goal of the match.

4–0!

Swansea had produced a huge upset in the first leg of the Football League Trophy semi-final!

As a Third Division side, they had gone to the home ground of Brentford, seventh in the Second Division, and won by four goals!

A place in the Football League Trophy final now seemed all but certain.