Lynn was preparing to send on Poulsen to strengthen the defense in the middle, but before he could complete the substitution, Roger Freestone had already taken the goal kick, sending the ball flying toward midfield.
Cromwell could no longer run.
And this was only the sixtieth minute.
Jonathan Curtis brought the ball down with ease, turned, and imdiately launched an attack.
He carried the ball toward the left side of the attacking third, then played a one-two with Tahart.
After receiving it back, Tahart reached the edge of the box and delivered a curling cross behind the full-back.
It was Barnet's finest cross of the match so far.
Brunel lost his man.
In the middle, Beadle darted in and threw himself forward, eting the ball with a diving header that sent it into the net.
Goalkeeper Glendower did not react at all.
The distance was simply too close.
The Swansea fans in the Liberty Stadium stands had only just been left frustrated by Villa's missed one-on-one.
Now they had suffered another heavy blow.
The back-to-back setbacks were difficult for them to accept. Many of them shook their heads slightly in the stands.
It seed dissatisfaction with the team's performance was beginning to appear.
The three defectors — Freestone, Howard, and Curtis — rushed to the touchline, tugging wildly at their shirts as they roared, as though venting all the fury they had felt after being cast out by Lynn.
And now, with Barnet leading at the Liberty Stadium, they were openly slapping Lynn across the face.
Ray Kennedy shouted wildly, celebrating Beadle's goal like a madman.
He even yelled directly toward Lynn, "You spent all that money, and this is the Swansea side you built? Regretting it now? Even if you are, it's too late!"
Lynn pretended not to hear him, but inside, a storm was surging.
Regret?
No.
He absolutely would not regret it.
Today was only one match. Even if one ga could not prove everything, he still had to burn his boats and fight to the end.
The players had already done very well. Better than he had imagined.
Of course, the team still had plenty of problems.
For example, when the opponent changed their attacking thod, the back line reacted slowly, which exposed defensive gaps. But that also ant Swansea still had enormous room to grow.
Lynn gritted his teeth and imdiately changed his substitution plan.
He called Charisteas and Nilsson over and gave them new tactical instructions for when they entered the match.
Super-sub Greek striker Charisteas ca on!
Twenty-two-year-old Swedish midfielder Mark Nilsson also made his appearance.
When Cromwell and Jas Cook ca off, they received applause from the Swansea supporters throughout the stadium.
No matter what, Cromwell, who had scored a goal, and Jas Cook, who had assisted Ibrahimović, deserved encouragent and support from the fans.
They were only seventeen.
They were Swansea's hope.
They were the new talents Lynn had unearthed.
After coming on, Charisteas and Nilsson passed on the manager's tactical instructions.
Charisteas and Ibrahimović would act as two central strikers inside the box, while Villa would be given freedom across the front line.
Swansea were now playing with three forwards — and not a single winger among them.
They were going to bombard Barnet's penalty area.
Nilsson would strengthen the midfield battle and focus on moving the ball out to the left flank.
Swansea completely concentrated their attacking thrust down the left.
Gabbidon tucked into the penalty area to reinforce the defensive presence inside the box.
Barnet continued their attacks.
This match had carried a personal grudge from the very beginning, and Ray Kennedy was not going to stop here.
He wanted to tear Swansea apart at the Liberty Stadium.
He wanted to prove Lynn's foolishness and failure.
After the substitutions, Swansea's attack was chaotic for nearly ten minutes. They blindly sent crosses into the box, but failed to create any real threat.
On the touchline, Lynn kept gesturing to the players, telling them to calm down.
Swansea had gone for broke now, but not completely.
When Grosso, who had been running up and down the flank, also began to show signs of fatigue, Lynn decisively used his final substitution.
German full-back Hanno Balitsch ca on!
The fans in the stands were extrely unhappy with Lynn.
From their perspective, Lynn had replaced Grosso, a wide midfielder, with Balitsch, a full-back.
The team was behind!
They needed to attack!
How could he make a substitution like that?
Even Ray Kennedy showed Lynn a mocking smile.
When David Livingstone saw the change, he laughed loudly. "Has he started losing his mind and making desperate decisions? A defender for a midfielder? Is he trying to lose with a little more dignity? Has he surrendered before the match is even over?"
Raleigh and Carter remained silent, their expressions grave.
They did not know whether Lynn could withstand the pressure and make the correct in-ga decisions.
In their eyes, this match had been difficult from the start.
Barnet had finished sixth in Division Three last season. On top of that, Ray Kennedy, Swansea's forr manager, was now standing opposite Lynn.
The pressure Lynn faced was obvious.
But on the touchline, Lynn's face was cold. There was not the slightest hint of panic.
After coming on, right-back Balitsch imdiately played as a right wing-back!
At the sa ti, his German compatriot Tobias Rau took up the role of left wing-back on the opposite side.
Gabbidon, Brunel, and Friedrich ford a back three.
Pedretti and Nilsson beca the double pivot in midfield.
Swansea's formation had beco a 3-4-3.
They still needed both wings flying forward. They could not attack only down one side.
In the 83rd minute, Balitsch overlapped down the right and received Nilsson's pass before imdiately swinging a cross in from the flank.
Swansea, who had spent so long attacking down the left, suddenly switched to the right. Barnet failed to react in ti.
Charisteas, who had co on as a substitute, also possessed a clear height advantage inside the box.
Standing at 191 centiters, he outjumped Bowr and powered a header toward goal!
The header ca from close range, and Roger Freestone, caught in a rush, failed to hold onto the ball.
It struck his knee and bounced out.
In the crowded goalmouth, soone stabbed the loose ball into Barnet's net with a first-ti volleyed finish!
Ibrahimović!
Before Howard could clear it, Ibrahimović used the inside of his foot to guide the ball back toward goal.
It was in!
The Liberty Stadium, which had been suppressed for so long, finally erupted with earth-shaking cheers!
Lynn bent forward slightly, clenched both fists, and let out an angry roar.
When he raised his head again, his face was almost ferocious as he shouted toward the pitch, "Don't relax! Keep attacking! Attack! Attack! Attack! Kill Barnet! Tear them apart for !"
Swansea's morale was ignited by Ibrahimović's goal.
The starting players had already been approaching their physical limits, but now they seed to have been revived at full strength, suddenly filled with energy once more.
Everyone wanted to win!
Ibrahimović swept a proud, disdainful glance at Howard.
Howard was burning with rage. He shouted at his teammates, "What are you doing? They're just a bunch of kids! Why are you letting them create so many chances?"
Howard's words imdiately irritated many Barnet players, including their captain, his central defensive partner Bowr.
Bowr snapped at him without politeness, "What gives you the right to bla us? Do your own job!"
Perhaps because Curtis, Howard, and Freestone were Ray Kennedy's old subordinates, they had gained a certain status as soon as they moved to Barnet.
After all, they had the manager's support.
But that naturally made Barnet's original players deeply unhappy.
Howard also had a fiery temper.
On normal days, the others were unwilling to clash with him, but in the heat of a match, when emotions burst out and could no longer be restrained, conflict was almost inevitable.
Barnet were becoming unsettled.
And the disorder had begun from within.
Swansea, anwhile, continued launching aerial bombardnts.
Tobias Rau and Hanno Balitsch kept sending balls into the box from the left and right wings. Inside the penalty area, Charisteas and Ibrahimović held an obvious aerial advantage.
Three consecutive headers followed, but each was either wide or too central.
Ti slipped away second by second.
Under Ray Kennedy's urging, Barnet failed to produce a more threatening attack.
Their crosses from the flanks were cleared inside the box by Brunel, Friedrich, and Gabbidon.
When they tried long-range shots from the edge of the area, Nilsson and Pedretti's interceptions were extrely strong.
As stoppage ti approached, Lynn's heartbeat grew faster and faster.
He could feel it pounding like a war drum, shaking his entire soul.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His eyes were fixed on his players' attack on the pitch.
In the second minute of stoppage ti, Tobias Rau received Pedretti's pass on the flank and pushed forward.
He had barely crossed the halfway line when Gamble moved in to intercept him.
Rau passed the ball into the middle, and as he tried to run around Gamble and continue forward, Gamble bumped into him.
Rau stumbled, staggered for two steps, then regained his balance and kept charging ahead.
Under Curtis's pressing and physical challenge, Nilsson held his ground.
He was not Cromwell. Curtis would not easily knock him to the grass.
After steadying himself, Nilsson accurately sent the ball into the path of Tobias Rau's forward run.
From a forty-five-degree angle on the wing, Rau delivered the cross.
The ball carried a slight curve as it dropped into the penalty area. Every pair of eyes in the stadium locked onto it.
That beautifully spinning, unpredictable football seed to pull at the hearts of countless people.
As it fell toward the far post, two players leapt to contest it.
Bowr against Charisteas.
Ibrahimović against Howard in the middle of the goalmouth.
Charisteas rose high into the air.
Bowr jumped too late!
But Charisteas could not head directly at goal. The angle was too tight, and his position was not right.
After reaching the limit of his leap, the substitute striker headed the ball back across the face of goal!
The ball flew in front of the goalmouth.
Ibrahimović, Howard, Freestone, and Hendon, who had dropped into the middle of the box to defend, could only raise their heads and watch it sail over them.
Everyone's gaze followed the ball as it descended.
Then they saw a figure in Swansea's white-and-black kit arrive at the far post and push the ball forward with his forehead!
Under the stunned eyes of everyone watching, the ball flew into Barnet's net!
Goal!
Goal!
The Liberty Stadium seed to shake as though the earth itself were trembling.
Every Swansea fan embraced the people around them, jumping up and down in wild joy as they witnessed their team score a last-gasp winner!
Lynn leaned forward, saw the ball go in, and leapt up in excitent!
Assistant coach Emlyn Hughes ca over to hug him, but Lynn shoved him aside.
Amid the thunderous cheers and deafening roar of the entire stadium, Lynn sprinted toward the corner flag.
The goalscorer was David Villa!
El Guaje, who had missed a one-on-one earlier, had completed his redemption — and beco the team's hero!
As he roared and charged toward the corner flag, Villa ripped off his shirt. His expression was so emotional that his face looked almost twisted.
The mont he reached the corner, Ibrahimović, Charisteas, Balitsch, and the others rushed in from behind and surrounded him.
Lynn charged over as well, then jumped onto the backs of Ibrahimović and Charisteas, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Incredible goal! Send Barnet to hell! You were brilliant! You were brilliant!"
On the pitch, the Barnet players looked at one another in a daze.
They had been killed off at the death!
Goalkeeper Freestone sat in front of his goal line, his face full of helplessness. Howard stared at Bowr with resentnt in his eyes.
Clearly, he had a major problem with Bowr.
Bowr said coldly, "What are you looking at?"
Howard snapped fiercely, "If you'd won that header, we wouldn't have conceded!"
Bowr's anger flared. "You want to fight?"
The greatest taboo on a football pitch was pushing all the bla onto one person.
Barnet's two centre-backs broke into a verbal confrontation, and their teammates had no choice but to co over, separate them, and calm the dispute.
When Lynn walked back toward the technical area, his gaze shifted to Ray Kennedy, who now looked utterly overwheld.
Kennedy glanced at Lynn and happened to catch the slight movent of Lynn's lips.
"Go to hell."
Lynn had not said it out loud, but Kennedy could guess exactly what he had mouthed.
He lowered his head, gnashing his teeth, his fists clenched tight, hatred raging inside him.
But what could he do?
Stoppage ti was already over.
After Barnet restarted play, their desperate long-ball attack was headed clear by Brunel.
Nilsson controlled the ball on the outside, and then the referee blew the full-ti whistle!
Every Swansea supporter in the Liberty Stadium stands rose to their feet, waving their arms, cheering, and celebrating.
In the opening match of the new season, the Swans had taken all three points!
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