When the ball rolled into the net, Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, and others immediately signaled that the goal was offside.
Atkinson really wanted to disallow the goal, but the linesman did not raise the flag to signal offside.
Furthermore, Van Persie's tap-in came from Fly's zero-angle blast from the byline.
In this situation, there is no such thing as offside for a shot.
Just as there is no offside in a corner kick, there cannot be a situation where a tap-in player is offside from a shot near the byline.
Atkinson could disallow or allow goals where an accurate judgment couldn't be made instantly on the field.
But he couldn't disallow a goal that was 100% valid.
Helplessly, Atkinson could only blow the whistle to signal a valid goal, pointing to the center circle to indicate a restart.
"GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!"
"Number 10, Robin van Persie!!!"
"Fly's zero-angle blast hit the frame of the goal, bounced off, and was bundled into the net by Van Persie right in front of the goal. Arsenal takes the lead again, 3-2."
"There are now less than 3 minutes left in regular time. Will this goal be the winner?"
Sir Alex Ferguson saw his team concede in the final moments, his face, already red from the cold, turned deep crimson.
He absolutely would not allow this match to be ruined like this, absolutely not!
Thinking of this, Sir Alex Ferguson immediately called up Hernandez, making the final substitution, replacing Rafael.
Sir Alex Ferguson's instructions to Hernandez were very simple:
"Don't worry about anything else, just hoof the ball into Arsenal's penalty area, and you forwards keep attacking the goal inside the box. If there isn't a good chance, try diving, the referee will help us."
The Scottish Old Man, who had been immersed in the Premier League for many years and had become shrewd with age, knew one thing clearly: the Premier League absolutely did not want to see Arsenal win today's match.
Because if Manchester United lost this match, even if the game in hand was counted as 3 points for Manchester United, they would still be 15 points behind Arsenal, a difference of five wins.
With such a huge gap, even Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't confident he could overtake them in the second half of the season.
Therefore, Manchester United winning against Arsenal in this match was the best outcome for the Premier League.
At the very least, it had to be a draw.
Nani's clear offside goal just now had already confirmed Sir Alex Ferguson's conjecture.
So next, Sir Alex Ferguson was going to frantically hoof the ball into Arsenal's penalty area, abandoning defense for a desperate all-out attack, giving the referee a chance to exert influence.
Arsène Wenger was fully aware of the current situation, but he couldn't make any targeted adjustments because he had used all his substitutions.
After a brief thought, Arsène Wenger called Fly to the touchline and instructed him:
"Fly, Manchester United will definitely put all their energy into attacking next. You wait for opportunities in the front field. Believe me, Manchester United's defense in the back will be virtually non-existent. As long as you seize one chance, this match will be completely over."
"I understand, leave it to me, Boss." Fly nodded, indicating he understood.
After the match restarted, Manchester United immediately stacked five attacking players in the front: Berbatov, Rooney, Nani, Giggs, and Hernandez.
The task of the midfielders and defenders was to play long balls, hoofing the ball into Arsenal's penalty area.
Abandoning any ground penetration, they would only play aerial balls.
It must be said that Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics truly hit Arsenal where it hurt. Aerial balls were not Arsenal's strong suit, let alone several big men competing for the ball with Arsenal's players in the penalty area.
The 89th minute of the match.
Berbatov successfully won a header in Arsenal's penalty area, forcefully heading the ball towards Arsenal's goal.
Fortunately, Szczęsny stepped up at the crucial moment and dealt with this rather threatening header.
The 90th minute of the match.
Manchester United used the same tactic again. Giggs crossed from the wing, and Rooney headed the ball with a powerful dive in the penalty area, but unfortunately, the ball bounced off the ground and went wide of the goal.
Regular time ended, and the Fourth Official on the sideline held up the electronic board, the LED screen showing "3". The referee added three minutes of injury time.
The 91st minute of the match.
Park Ji-sung took a long shot from outside the penalty area, the ball flew high over the crossbar and into the stands.
"Ashiba!" Park Ji-sung looked frustrated. God knows how much mental impact Fly's solo creation of three goals in front of him had caused.
If Manchester United ultimately lost this match, but not because of Fly, Park Ji-sung might have felt better.
At least in this'strongest East Asian showdown' hyped by the South Korean media, he didn't lose.
But the current situation was that Arsenal, thanks to Fly's performance, was about to defeat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
This made Park Ji-sung very anxious. He absolutely couldn't lose this showdown!
Because this was about the dignity of all South Korean men, it absolutely could not be lost!
If Fly knew Park Ji-sung's inner thoughts, he would probably be speechless.
Seriously, mate, you're talking about men's dignity in a football match? Isn't that crazy?
Besides, South Korea has been militarily colonized by the US, where is the dignity to speak of?
In this life, strictly speaking, Fly was the father of the South Korean'sticks'.
It was only right for a father to discipline his unfilial son.
The 92nd minute of the match.
Fletcher won the ball in midfield, quickly pushing the attack forward. The ball was crossed by Nani from the left wing and hoisted into Arsenal's penalty area.
At the crucial moment, Varane made an accurate judgment and headed the ball out of the penalty area.
As soon as Rosicky received the ball, he was knocked down by Park Ji-sung's knee from behind. Atkinson ignored this, signaling Manchester United to continue attacking.
Arsenal players didn't even have time to appeal to the referee and could only hastily defend in front of the penalty area.
After winning the ball through a foul, Park Ji-sung immediately passed it to Giggs on the right wing.
Giggs crossed from the byline, the ball arcing beautifully through the air, dropping directly less than 5 meters from the goal.
Fortunately, Koscielny was not out of position, shielding Hernandez's body to prevent him from heading comfortably. The ball ultimately hit the side netting and rolled out for a goal kick.
And at this moment, at Alexandre Song's shout, everyone on the field realized that Rosicky had fallen and couldn't get up.
Clearly, that knee impact just now had caused Rosicky significant injury.
Arsène Wenger was furiously shouting at the Fourth Official on the sideline, criticizing the Main Referee's inaction.
But this time, the referee team didn't indulge Arsène Wenger. At the Fourth Official's call, Atkinson ran over and gave Arsène Wenger a red card, sending the Arsène Wenger directly to the stands.
This scene immediately drew furious boos from the Arsenal fans present.
After being examined by the Arsenal team doctor, it was confirmed that Rosicky could not continue the match, and he was immediately stretchered off.
And because Arsenal had used all their substitutions, they would have to play with one less player for the remainder of the match.
It was precisely because of this injury stoppage that Main Referee Atkinson had room to manipulate the game.
The match, which was supposed to end in just one more minute, was forcibly extended by three minutes, and the final whistle hadn't blown even by the 97th minute.
The familiar Sir Alex Ferguson time had arrived...
It's important to note that when Rosicky was stretchered off and the match resumed, it wasn't even the 95th minute yet.
But now it was already the 97th minute, and Atkinson still hadn't blown the final whistle.
"Sir, the match time is over." When Szczęsny made another save and Manchester United's attack was thwarted again.
Wilshere couldn't hold back any longer and went directly to remind the Main Referee.
Unexpectedly, for just saying that, Wilshere was given a yellow card warning.
"You don't need to remind me, player. You just need to play on the field. I decide when to blow the whistle!" Atkinson said sternly, appearing completely impartial.
If Walcott hadn't been holding him back, Wilshere would have probably gone up to Atkinson.
Manchester United took the corner kick, Rio Ferdinand found space in front of the goal, and headed the ball powerfully. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced vertically downwards. Rooney was about to tap in right in front of the goal, but Clichy cleared it with a big kick just before him.
Wilshere outside the penalty area anticipated where the ball would land. Facing the ball falling from high, he didn't hesitate for a moment, launching a big kick directly towards the front field.
And just as Wilshere kicked the ball, Park Ji-sung kicked him from behind again, tripping Wilshere to the ground.
Main Referee Atkinson was hesitating whether to continue pretending not to see this scene when a shout on the field suddenly startled him.
In Manchester United's backfield, a cheetah wearing Arsenal's yellow away kit was sprinting freely in the wide open space over dozens of meters.
Evra, the only Manchester United player pressing back to defend, his face ashen against this world-renowned lightning bolt, struggled immensely to race against Fly.
But the visible gap between them grew wider and wider. Helplessly, Evra could only commit his body completely, attempting a violent sliding tackle to forcibly break up Fly's counterattack.
But Fly seemed to have anticipated it. Facing Evra's tackle from the side and behind, he simply made a small jump and dodged his studs.
After catching up to the ball, Fly was immediately facing Van der Sar in a 1v1 showdown.
The 40-year-old Dutch veteran had already come out the moment he saw Evra being left behind by Fly. He was now outside the penalty area, just three meters away from the ball.
Fly saw Van der Sar running out of the penalty area and knew the Dutchman was definitely preparing to use his body to forcibly intercept the ball at Fly's feet.
At worst, he would bring Fly down; a red card would be the consequence.
Seeing through Van der Sar's intention, Fly kicked the ball towards his right rear before Van der Sar's body went to the ground, then jumped up, dodging Van der Sar's dive.
At this moment, there was a wide-open goal in front of Fly. Facing this situation, unless the National Football Team possessed him, it would be a simple tap-in.
After running a few steps and catching up to the ball, he gently pushed it with the inside of his foot. The ball rolled straight over the goal line and into the net...