Taking advantage of a dead ball situation, the fourth official raised the substitution board.
Capdevila was being replaced by Materazzi.
"What are they thinking? They're trailing, and O'Neill brings on a center-back? Capdevila's been excellent today, offering real attacking width—yet he's the one being taken off? This is genuinely baffling!"
The Cityzens also exchanged bewildered glances, murmuring amongst themselves in disbelief.
Three center-backs on the pitch? Were they giving up on the game?
Even Aston Villa's head coach, Brian Little, looked puzzled on the sidelines.
He had anticipated that City would respond by reinforcing the midfield with Jackie McNamara, or perhaps bring on Henry or Shevchenko to bolster the attack. But a center-back? No one saw that coming.
Yet O'Neill had done exactly that—boldly, perhaps foolishly—sending Materazzi onto the pitch.
