After the halftime break, both teams came back out with purpose.
For Blackburn, the task was clear: grab one more goal or just hold out for 45 minutes, and they'd knock City out of the League Cup.
As for City—they had no choice but to go all in and chase the game.
"Boss, what do you need from me?" Materazzi asked, walking up beside O'Neill, standing tall and ready.
O'Neill glanced at him, then asked quietly, "Did you notice how they set up defensively in the first half?"
Materazzi blinked, a little caught off guard by the question, but gave his answer. It wasn't far off.
O'Neill nodded and pulled a small notebook from inside his suit jacket, sketching out a simple diagram as Materazzi, Savage, and Solskjær leaned in.
Four defenders were aligned at the back, with one holding midfielder positioned just in front of them.
Ahead of that, three midfielders supported Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton up front. It was a well-structured 4-4-1-1 formation.
