City 2 Barnsley 2
Report by Eddie Blount
It all began so well we should have known it could not last! After the hammerings handed out to Ipswich and Derby relegation-threatened Barnsley were a mouth-watering prospect, a view confirmed in the first ten minutes when City could easily have been three up.
First de Laet rose majestically at the far post to bring a fine save from their keeper, Steele, followed by Waghorn firing in a low shot which Steele turned round the post at full stretch. City in this mood, i.e. starting at a fast tempo, were not to be denied and took the lead after 8 minutes. The ball was twice played forward into a gap and on both occasions it was blocked by defender's tackles, rebounding eventually to the edge of the box to the unmarked Knockaert whose left foot shot found the corner of the net. We settled back for another comfortable afternoon. Fatal!
Before the action restarted the referee went off injured to be replaced by his senior linesman who went on to show what a difference a good referee makes. Unfortunately he was not a good referee!
Anyway we were one up, all was well with the City's world, Barnsley were as bad as we hoped they would be, so what could possibly go wrong? For the next 20 minutes the game meandered and we lost the total control we had earlier exercised.
Barnsley put a fifth player in midfield and compressed the spaces between the back four and midfield and midfield and the lone striker. They also fought competitively for every ball. They had decided to go down fighting. This rough northern approach was all too much for a bunch of southern softies and the pattern of the game changed.
City treated the change with disdain and carried on trying to play a passing game even close to our own goal. The first time this happened it looked like complacency, then it happened again. Schmeichel had the easiest of opportunities to clear his lines but unaccountably tried a very risky pass to Whitbread which went straight to a Barnsley player. His immediate cross was blocked out to the edge of the box, very similar to the move from which we had scored, and Dawson gratefully thumped it home. To say this was a totally unnecessary goal to concede is a huge understatement. Schmeichel accepted the blame and rightly so.
A few minutes later the unthinkable happened. Barnsley scored again! And again we were the architect's of our own misfortune as the goal came from a corner – yes the same situation from which we score once a season – given away quite needlessly by King.
The corner went right across our goal was headed back from beyond the far post – a move we never bother with – and swung in on the volley by Noble-Lazarus. Very appropriate as Barnsley had metaphorically come back from the dead. Their own fans could hardly believe their eyes. I use the plural but only just as in a crowd of 23 579 the 79 came from Barnsley. There were so few that some supporters thought they were Barnsley's substitutes.
The third quarter of the game was similar to the second in that we huffed and puffed without looking likely to score and on the odd occasion we had a possible chance the ball clearly had decided it did not want to go in.
Barnsley created nothing but never looked likely to concede. So what was wrong? I am afraid it was the same old faults we have had for some years now, headed by a lack of physicality, in midfield especially. You cannot expect to win games against physically tough opposition with midfielders who cannot cope with sand being kicked in their faces.
To name names King, Knockaert and Dyer are easily outmuscled by most opponents so in a tight midfield with space at a premium we lose the ball very easily. We cannot play the ball over the top as the strikers cannot hold the ball up nor are they good headers of the ball in that sort of situation – why do you think we hardly ever score from corners!
To give Pearson some credit he tried to remedy the situation by bringing on Marshall, Vardy and Futacs. This did not completely solve the problem but things definitely improved especially when Futacs arrived. Suddenly Barnsley could not clear the ball straight back into our half and we began to pressure their defence as we had at the start of the match.
Vardy had only been on the pitch for seconds when he set King up with a fine pass, only for the midfielder to spurn a golden chance. Perhaps it was appropriate therefore that Vardy grabbed a point sweeping home a loose ball inside the penalty area with a minute or so to go of normal time. Barnsley were crest-fallen or 'gutted' as they say up there. We attacked non-stop for the five added minutes but the ball had again decided it had had enough of nets for one day and it stubbornly refused to go in.
I hope the powers that be learn from this game or we can kiss goodbye to any chance of promotion this season by whatever route. Against physical sides like Barnsley we need physical midfielders. Drinkwater cannot do it all on his own. Frankly Danns and Wellens would have been better picks for this type of game than some of those actually chosen.
City: Schmeichel, de Laet, Morgan, Whitbread, Konchesky, Drinkwater, King, Dyer (Vardy 68), Knockaert (Marshall 60), Waghorn (Futacs 76), Nugent
Barnsley: Steele, Golbourne, Wiseman, Cranie, Stones (Perkins 80), Dawson, O'Brien, Greening, Buzsaky (Tudgay 68), Davies, Noble-Lazarus (Etuhu 80)
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