Leicester City 3 Birmingham City 2
Report by Paul Weston
City had not played consistently well this season but somehow we found ourselves in the top part of the table before the match. My optimism for a win against Birmingham to set our home form going after the bore draw against Leeds started to evaporate as soon as I heard that Morgan was an absentee. At least he was injured and not subject to another transfer bid from Forest!
That resulted in Whitbread partnering Moore in defence which made me nervous. I thought Whitbread had an unconvincing game against Leeds. Schlupp again filled in on the left, which, although he at times has defensive frailties, he is a skilful player with good ball control and great pace.
Konchesky was neither in the team nor on the subs bench after his move away from Leicester had collapsed which would help to reduce our wage bill in the new age of austerity. This needs to be resolved soon for everyone’s sake.
It was a completely one sided first half. Somehow, though, City found themselves 1-0 down after 12 minutes when Ferguson too easily beat De Laet and crossed from the left. It went over Moore’s head and Green volleyed in from close in.
Somehow you could not help thinking that, with Morgan in the centre, the ball would have been headed away to safety. This was Birmingham’s only attack in the first half! They were a very ordinary team and played typical safety first Championship football.
City continued to attack but with a lack of composure when an opportunity arose. Vardy had so many chances I lost count but, although his pace and movement got him into great positions he often seemed unaware of his team mates and wasted the opportunity to pass. Shots were blazed over also from James and Drinkwater.
Nugent was becoming very frustrated at times as chance after chance was wasted. Wood was having another poor game- with poor ball control and winning few balls in the air. This is becoming a real worry after his fantastic early form when he joined us.
Pearson no doubt was as frustrated as the crowd and, to his credit changed the formation and the team after half time with Knockaert and Dyer replacing Drinkwater and Wood. This created much more pace, fluidity and movement as City reverted to 4-4-2.
Schlupp and Dyer again linked up well. However, Knockaert was having a hit and miss game and De Laet seemed unable to pass to a team mate. James was strong throughout and kept winning the wall and pulling the strings. However, time ticked away.
Birmingham played to waste time at every opportunity and an incredibly incompetent referee added to everyone’s frustration. He seemed to unable to spot an obvious foul. There were only about 12 minutes left and it looked like Birmingham were going to go back with 3 undeserved points and we would rue a host of missed chances.
Then Lloyd Dyer did what he does best. He bombed down the left, beat his man and squared the ball back for Vardy to send in a great strike to beat the Birmingham goalie who had had a good game until then. It was a great finish and will do wonders for Vardy’s confidence.
All of a sudden it clicked for City and the crowd noise increased massively. The passing and pace moved up a gear and, from a great move down the right featuring Knockaert and Nugent, Andy King scored a superb goal on the run on his 250th game for City. 2-1 and an amazing turn around in ten minutes.
City were now rampant as the game moved on and Dyer and Schlupp were featuring well on the left. In injury time, from a great Schlupp move, Dyer moved onto a pass and was judged by the referee to have been brought down. A penalty but, to be honest, I thought it was a very harsh award but summed up the referee’s performance. He had been oblivious to fouls by Birmingham very close to the penalty box earlier in the match. Nugent scored confidently from the penalty. 3-1 and at last the score matched our dominance.
However, in the last minute of injury time, Chris Burke, on as a late substitute, cut in with little challenge from either Schlupp or King and curled a superb long range shot past Schmeichel. The whistle blew- thank goodness for a 3-2 win. The crowd went home happy after what had been a frustrating match at times.
The win sends City close to the top of the table and still unbeaten. In the end it was a convincing win against a poor Birmingham side, but there have been times in the past that we would have lost a game like this.
I am sure Nigel will realise that this win papers over some cracks that need sorting out. We will need to have a much more consistent performance and take our chances over 90 minutes if we are to beat the top teams in this division.
Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet, Drinkwater (Dyer 46), Whitbread, James, Vardy, Schlupp, King, Wood (Knockaert 46), Nugent, Moore. Subs not used: Waghorn, Danns, Bakayogo, Miquel, Logan
Birmingham: Randolph, Mullins (Burke 86), Burn, Robinson, Eardley, Spector, Elliott, Adeyemi, Ferguson (Bartley 78), Novak, Green (Shinnie 58). Subs not used: Ambrose, Doyle, Reilly, Allan
Attendance: 21,229
Referee: Eddie Ilderton – Incompetent referee- unwilling to book players for obvious fouls, Failure to give free kicks close to penalty area, Dubious penalty award
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