CITY 4 FULHAM 3
Report by Eddie Blount
Both sides made significant changes from their previous starting XIs for this 4th round League Cup tie. And for the first half hour it showed! The decent 18 000 crowd had very little to enthuse about for most of the first half and could raise no more enthusiasm than the players who often seemed to be going through the motions.
Fulham had their noses in front at this stage having gone ahead in the 18th minute with virtually their first real attack, one more than we had mustered it must be said. Left back Riise had got clear down the left despite looking suspiciously offside and he had little bother finding Rodellaga at the far post for a simple tap-in.
This seemed ominous for a much-changed City side with changes at the back – Miquel in at centre back with Wasilewski moving to right back, where he did surprisingly well incidentally – in midfield where Hammond and James were brought in as a defensive shield in front of the back four and further up the pitch where Wood played as a lone striker with whatever support wide players Schlupp and Knockaert could provide.
City’s changes in personnel and in formation initially appeared doomed to failure but their first shot on goal after 30 minutes galvanised the side into more serious action and equally importantly gave the fans something to cheer. Equality was rightly restored on 41 minutes when a Knockaert free kick was parried by the keeper, who should surely have done better, straight into the path of Morgan following up. He made his scoring header look simple as indeed it was!
The force was with Leicester now and an outrageous piece of luck ensured that they went in at half-time 2-1 up. Senderos’s attempted clearance from a totally non-threatening position hit Konchesky on the head and rebounded to Wood a mere 8 yards from goal. He took careful aim and beat Stekelenburg with ease. This really got the crowd going and this slow burner of a match was finally ignited.
The second half was one of the best I have witnessed at the KP full of goals, incidents and sheer excitement from start to finish. We might have scored in the first minute when sub Dyer sliced horribly wide from a good position but we did not have long to wait. A left side corner drifted across goal to the right where Drinkwater collected it unopposed and put in an excellent cross to the near post. Miquel was perfectly positioned there and headed powerfully into the net. Cue pandemonium as the crowd realised that we really could win this game.
Totally in keeping with the twists and turns of this match Fulham went straight downfield from the kick off and eventually put in one of the highest crosses you are ever likely to see. Suffice it to say that I have been in planes which spent less time in the air! Schmeichel had time to have a second half time cup of tea and the City defenders clearly expected him to amble out and catch it but he didn’t and Rodellaga headed in unopposed from a few yards out. A very poor goal to concede.
Undaunted City attacked furiously and in one continuous attack Schlupp, twice, James and Dyer all had the chance to restore a 2-goal advantage but failed. The crowd gave City magnificent support as play swept from end to end with City looking the more likely to score. The presence of Hammond and James as defensive midfielders gave City a much more solid look at the back and Pearson must look carefully at this when selecting for difficult away games such as Watford on Saturday.
With three minutes of normal time left Fulham were given a free kick on the edge of the City box. It took an age for everyone to be positioned, expecting a dink over the wall. Wrong! Karagounis went for route 1 blasting the ball into the top left corner of Schmeichel’s goal like an arrow. The keeper will be disappointed to concede on his side of the goal but this was a thunderbolt of a shot perfectly placed – the sort of goal they score in the Premiership.
We now expected extra time but City were not done yet. Subs Vardy and Nugent combined to set Nugent free down the right and his perfect cross was thrust into the net by the supporting runner, Dyer. The City supporters were ecstatic and with every justification. Match won and now for a good draw in the next round.
City: Schmeichel. Wasilewski, Morgan, Miquel, Konchesky (Dyer 46), James, Hammond, Knockaert (Nugent 87), Drinkwater Schlupp, Wood (Vardy 87)
Fulham: Stekelenburg, Zverotic, Senderos, Hughes, Riise, Duff (Ruiz 56), Karagounis, Boateng (Sidwell 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