CITY 2 SWANSEA 1
Match Report by Eddie Blount
So at the third attempt City duly recorded their first victory of the new season. At one stage with less than an hour played we were coasting to three points with a 2-0 advantage and the ball on the penalty spot, rightly so after Okazaki had been tripped in the box. Unfortunately this was the high point, or perhaps given the torrential rain which fell in the second half, the high-water point for City as Mahrez’s spot kick was well saved by the Swansea keeper with the help of the post and scrambled to safety.
We were never as comfortable after that miss and a combination of Swansea’s doggedness and the levelling factor of a waterlogged pitch meant that Swansea actually came close to getting something out of this game which would have been a serious injustice.
The game kicked off in front of a slightly less than full capacity crowd due to Swansea’s failure to sell more than half their ticket allocation. Most Championship sides have a better travelling support though Swansea on the pitch deserve their Premiership status.
Although second best to City throughout the first half they were not totally lacking in attacking ambition and never seemed intent on a bus-parking strategy. Indeed in spite of the sort of possession stats that we regularly achieved last season Schmeichel had more saves to make than his counterpart, Fabianski. Our problem was that once we got down the flanks the quality of the ball across was lacking due in no small measure to our reluctance to get too many players forward, plus we do not start with a striker who excels in the air.
It took half an hour to break Swansea down and the way it happened was vintage City! Amartey, who had an excellent game in midfield, won a tackle in pure Kante fashion and instantly transferred the ball to Drinkwater whose first time pass over the top fell perfectly for Vardy who knew exactly where he should be. He bore down on the keeper at top speed and smashed the ball into the net off the near post – unsaveable!. Brian Clough was fond of saying that it only took a second to score a goal and this would have made him a happy man. The rest of the half was lacking in incident apart from a fierce drive from outside the box by Okazaki – of all people – which the keeper palmed away for an unproductive corner.
However the second half soon produced a very productive corner! Morgan and Huth both challenged at the far post for Albrighton’s well driven corner, the ball falling and bouncing ideally for Morgan who hammered it into the back of the net. This was very soon followed by the penalty as City were now totally dominant, but we had reckoned without the elements.
The last half hour was played in pouring rain augmented by booming claps of thunder and violent flashes of lightning. Indeed at one time it was not possible to see clearly from one end of the pitch to the other. It soon became impossible to move the ball any distance in large parts of the pitch and running with the ball was a non-starter. The effect was to bring both sides down to the same level but Swansea, as their name implies, proved better at adapting to the changed conditions.
With little over ten minutes to go Fuchs attempted a first time clearance which travelled no more than one-third its intended distance. Unfortunately it fell straight to a Swansea player in a less swampy area and his cross to the far post was headed home by the tallest player on the pitch, Leroy Fer. By this time City had made an unusual substitution as Schmeichel had been replaced by Zieler. Apparently Schmeichel has an operation booked for this Monday to correct a small hernia and he felt a little discomfort so no risk was taken. This news explains why he seemed to be favouring his left foot for clearances rather than his normal right foot kicking.
So amazingly Swansea were back in the game and a nervous finale played out. City had to do more than their fair share of defending – not surprising given that the Welsh get more than a little experience of rain bucketing down. The game might have been made safe for City as substitute Musa was played in on goal. Regrettably his water-sport ability is limited so his shot from just beyond the penalty spot barely reached the six-yard box. Steve Walsh may have been a great spotter of talent but he clearly never asked to see Musa’s swimming certificate.
The final whistle after four eternal minutes of added time brought as much relief as joy. This was exactly the sort of match that City have thrown away in the past but less so in recent times. Man of the Match – take your pick from Amartey, Drinkwater, Simpson and Ogazaki though I was impressed by their wide-right player, Barrow
City: Schmeichel (Zieler 57), Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Drinkwater, Amartey, Mahrez, Albrighton (Musa 75), Okazaki Ulloa 80), Vardy
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Amat, Kingsley, Fer, Cork (McBurnie 86), Barrow, Sigurdsson (Montero59), Routledge (Ki Sung-yueng 59), Llorente
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation