Down to Earth With a Bump

Charlton 2 City 1

Report by Kate Thompson

I travelled to Charlton with more optimism than was probably wise – after all, we had won three out of our four league games (plus the two cup ones) whereas Charlton had only one point from their three games and were losing heavily last week when the match was abandoned.

Silly me, I forgot that this was Leicester City but the scoreline nowhere near tells the story of one of the most ill-tempered games I have seen in a long time.

The team was probably the strongest possible, with Wes Morgan back from injury and those who were rested against Carlisle restored to the starting line-up.  Not for the first time this season City started slowly and seemed incapable of defending corners, so it was no surprise when former Leicester defender Michael Morrison scored from one in the 22nd minute.

Charlton could have scored more but for some wayward shooting and a master class from Kasper Schmeichel.  The woeful referee – who I learnt afterwards is well known to some City fans for his abysmal performances in our matches – had already incensed the Leicester fans by booking James for an innocuous looking foul (and Miquel for a poor one which I feared might be a red card).  He also missed several handball offences, especially in the second half.

His coup de grace, however, was the second booking for James, resulting in his being sent off for reasons which only the referee seemed to know.  After a shot on target by Drinkwater after the Charlton defence had been carved open by Vardy, James appeared to be fouled in the box; I’m afraid I didn’t see exactly what happened as the City fans leapt to their feet and my view was totally obscured.

I can only presume that the second booking was for dissent although in his post-match interview Pearson insisted that James did not swear at the referee.  In fact Pearson was extremely measured, as was Schmeichel in his interview, and it seemed that the players and management were all baffled as to what exactly James was sent off for and it will be interesting to see if they appeal against the red card. (Editor note: No appeals are allowed against a red card, being the consequence of 2 yellow cards)

City still tried to equalise and in fact played with more conviction now they were a man short, but their task was made harder when Kermorgant scored a second goal in the 58th minute.  It was inevitable that he should score against us yet again and one national newspaper suggested that it is time for the ‘boo boys’ to stop having a go at him as it just seems to spur him on even more.  Apparently both Schmeichel and Liam Moore were both fouled before Kermorgant scored but as it happened at the end furthest from the City fans, I wasn’t aware of this.

To their credit City did not give up and Drinkwater scored in the 61st minute.  The second goal didn’t come, despite some heroics, and the unbeaten record has now gone.  To be fair, Charlton could and should have scored more as we always looked vulnerable at corners and Schmeichel came to the rescue on several occasions.

So I think we just have to write this off as one of those days, but we do need to start games with more conviction and not start playing after going a goal behind.  I’m sure that Pearson will address this although I gather a certain section of our ‘supporters’ were slagging him off at half-time.

One final note.  There was an announcement over the tannoy asking the Leicester fans to sit down as the disabled fans sitting at the back couldn’t see the game.  To my disgust, some idiots started singing ‘We’re Leicester and we do what we like’ and several did not have the courtesy to sit down until spoken to by the stewards.  I was not the only person who was appalled at this behaviour and even remonstrated with them, but sadly the mindless minority will always spoil a game for the supporters who want to watch the match in a good atmosphere.

Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet (Knockaert 56), Morgan, Miquel, Moore, Drinkwater, King, James, Schlupp (Dyer 71), Nugent, Vardy (Wood 67). Subs not used: Whitbread, Danns, Bakayogo, Logan

Charlton: Hamer, Morrison, Dervite, Cort, Wilson, Stephens (Cousins 75), Jackson (Gower 75), Pritchard, Wiggins, Church (Pigott 90), Kermorgant. Subs not used: Evina, Sordell, Harriott, Pope

Attendance: 15,542                    Referee: Darren Deadman

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