City Take a Step Backwards

Ipswich Town 1:0 Leicester City

City suffered a damaging defeat at Portman Road on Saturday being edged out of a tight game by Ipswich…

Nigel Pearson chose an unchanged side for this trip to Suffolk with David Nugent yet to recover from his neck injury.

There were very few chances in the first half, with Kane sending in a couple of narrowly off-target efforts for City while Chopra and Chambers both forced good saves from Schmeichel for Town. Kane bundled the ball into the net in first half injury time but was denied by the linesman’s flag for offside.

Early in the second half Knockaert was shown a yellow card for booting the ball away, City’s frustrating afternoon in great contrast to the 6-0 win over Ipswich earlier in the season.
Ipswich then went close to an opener when McGoldrick, in on the right, fired in a low shot that Schmeichel did well to keep out.
Just before the hour mark Chambers’s wayward back pass set Kane up with a gift-wrapped opportunity, but his shot brushed the outside of the left hand post with only Henderson to beat.
Nigel Pearson brought Dyer on for Knockaert and Gallagher for Marshall but still City couldn’t find a way through. Wood nodded over and Drinkwater sent a long range effort off-target, but it was the home side who finally made the breakthrough in the 85th minute.
Moments before the winner Murphy appeared to elbow Morgan in the face, but escaped a red card. Morgan, however was shown yellow for pointing this out to the ref for a little too long. It may have still been on his mind seconds later as he made a rare mistake in attempting to play the ball out of defence and  Murphy sent McGoldrick in down the left to slot the winner under Schmeichel.
The nearest City got to an equaliser was a King shot blocked by Emmanuel-Thomas, but the final whistle heralded a defeat, raising further question marks over City’s consistency.

Nigel Pearson commented: “We didn’t deserve to lose. But credit to Ipswich they are working very, very hard and Mick McCarthy has them well organised. They are a lot more difficult to beat now than they were when he first arrived and credit to them for that, but I’m disappointed and the players are disappointed today.”

Ipswich: Henderson, Stearman, Chambers, Smith, Cresswell, Edwards, Hyam, N’Daw, Martin (Emmanuel-Thomas 80), Chopra (Murphy 80), McGoldrick (Drury 90).
Subs not used:Loach, Kisnorbo, Mclean, Nouble.
Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet, Morgan, Keane, Konchesky, Marshall (Gallagher 69), Drinkwater, King, Knockaert (Dyer 65), Kane, Wood. Subs not used: Logan, Whitbread, Vardy, Waghorn, Wellens.

Referee: D Deadman. Attendance: 17,021. 

Easter Joy on the Road for City

Ipswich Town 1:2 Leicester City

City recorded their second victory on the spin with a superb second half display at Portman Road to leave themselves just three points shy of the last play-off spot.

Nigel Pearson sent out an unchanged side from the comprehensive win over Doncaster Rovers on Saturday but it was Ipswich who had the better of the opening stages of the game.
City struggled to impose themselves in midfield and Bowyer had the freedom of the park as he prompted the home side’s attacks.
Schmeichel had to be alert to keep out a Carson effort early on and then got down quickly to grab Scotland’s low shot. A Leadbitter free kick brought out the best of the young Dane again and all this before City finally got in to the game when Beckford was guilty of wasting three decent chances, the worst of which came when Drinkwater sent him through but his shot was tame and straight at Lee-Barrett.
It was no surprise when the hosts took the lead two minutes before half time; Scotland turned Bamba far too easily and slammed a low shot past Schmeichel from just inside the area. But it was short-lived joy for Ipswich,
after Marshall was brought down 30 yards out a minute later. He picked himself up before driving the free kick through the wall with a stunning shot that Lee-Barrett got a hand to but couldn’t keep out. That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home side as City came out of the traps at the start of the second half and never let up. Schmeichel didn’t have a serious save to make and was left to collect crosses and watch hopeful, long-range efforts  sail over. It was City playing the football and making the chances now and Lee-Barrett did well to keep out Peltier before Nugent broke through with what turned out to be the winner. After Nugent had his initial shot blocked it was Gallagher who sent in a perfect cross for Nugent to nod home from close in and send the travelling support delirious.
After that City never looked in danger and might have increased their lead late on when Lee-Barrett once again denied Beckford.
The final whistle signalled a much-needed win on the road for City and the travelling support (just under 900) enjoyed every moment.
It was a workmanlike performance by City who did a superb job of subduing an Ipswich side that had won six of their previous seven home games and started the game much the stronger. With four games remaining the final play-off spot is now looks achievable if City can string together four more performances like this one.

Ipswich: Lee-Barrett, Edwards, Smith, Delaney, Cresswell, Carson (Emmanuel-Thomas 58), Martin, Bowyer, Murphy (Chopra 73), Scotland, Stevenson (Martin 66). Unused Subs: Wright, Sonko.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Peltier, Morgan, Bamba, Konchesky, Marshall (Howard 79), Wellens, Drinkwater (King 46), Dyer (Gallagher 46), Beckford, Nugent. Unused Subs: St Ledger, Schlupp.
Referee: Tony Bates (Staffordshire). Attendance: 18,282.

City Whitewashed

Ipswich Town 3:0 Leicester City

Leicester lost at a snow-bound Portman Road to an Ipswich side that adapted to the farcical conditions and deserved their win but the fall-out from the match brings in to question the competency of referee Stuart Atwell.

City fans arriving in Suffolk were greeted with leaden skies and dropping temperatures and the news that Chris Kirkland would be making his debut. By kick off the pitch was under a blanket of snow and the blizzard continued unabated throughout the entire (extended) match. The facts of the match will show that Ipswich won by three goals to nil with goals from Norris and two from Scotland. What the record books will not show is that the events from 5.20pm onwards never once resembled a football match. Credit must go to Ipswich for adapting to the conditions better than City and for showing more desire whereas City simply looked as if they didn’t fancy it.
The conditions got steadily worse throughout the evening and at one point the pitch markings were invisible. Players slid around on the snow and did their best to produce some football but the problem was that, by half-time, Ipswich were three goals to the good. If the score had been 0-0 then the referee would almost certainly have ended proceedings and abandoned the game. If City had been winning then I’m sure the army of stewards and helpers wouldn’t have bothered to clear the lines and parts of the pitch of snow. And if Stuart Atwell could ‘grow a pair’ then he would have had the courage to tell Roy Keane that the match was a farce and it would be played another day. As it was, young Master Atwell was under immense pressure from the home side to keep playing; they were three up and looking to end a six game losing streak so they didn’t give a damn whether or not the match was watchable or not and who can blame them? In the same circumstances I am sure that City would have felt the same.
Meanwhile in the stands the frustrated City fans were making their own entertainment with a repertoire of songs the best of which were: “Get the game off and Keane gets sacked”, “we never lose in the sunshine” and “We never score from a corner”.

The second half saw a seventeen minute interruption when the groundstaff were once again asked to clear the lines as the blizzard continued and players began to lose their footing. Once again Atwell decided that the game would go on (much to the delight of Sky no doubt – let’s not forget how much influence these paymasters can bring to bear on occasions like this) and soon after Miguel Vitor went down on the slippery surface with what looked like a serious injury. But despite this it became clear that this match was going to finish no matter what and Roy Keane would live to fight another day and it was equally clear that the only thing that mattered in this corner of Suffolk was three points. Football would wait for another day.
The other consideration (we are frequently told) is the fans’ safety but this seemed to go by the way when each opportunity to call the game off was turned down. Outside the roads were increasingly dangerous and, at times, impassable and getting worse with each passing minute, and City fans heading home were faced with a long and tricky journey.
The events at Portman Road shouldn’t cloud the fact the City were poor and lost this game because Ipswich showed a better attitude and ‘got on with it’. What is questionable is how little consideration was given to the supporters during the ‘finish it – call it off’ debates. If you paid on the day at this game it would have set you back £32.50 and for what? Certainly not a football match! But Sky were happy, Roy Keane was happy and you can’t help feeling that was all that really mattered.

Ipswich: Fulop, Zuiverloon, Smith, O’Connor (Edwards 77), Delaney, Leadbitter, Kennedy, Norris, Colback, Scotland (Livermore 69), Fallon (Wickham 62). Subs Not Used: Murphy, O’Dea, Peters, Brown.
Leicester: Kirkland, Davies (Hobbs 70), Vitor, Naughton, King, Dyer (Howard 28), Abe, Wellens, Cunningham, Gallagher (Fryatt 65), Vassell. Subs Not Used: Oakley, Weale, Moussa, Morrison.

Referee: S Attwell (Warwickshire). Attendance: 16,728. 

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