CITY 2 EVERTON 2
Report by Eddie Blount
City’s first match back in the Premiership after ten years absence was a thrilling 2 – 2 draw against an Everton side containing some big names and at times showing the class that gave them their usual high table finish last season.
In spite of losing Vardy, Albrighton and James to injury before the game and Drinkwater after 20 minutes or so with hamstring problems City made light of these handicaps to come from behind twice to salvage a hard-earned and deserved point with a goal by substitute Chris Wood 5 minutes from the end of normal time.
The atmosphere in the ground before the start was one of great excitement mixed with some trepidation. Everyone knows that City’s first 5 fixtures are incredibly tough and many before the game thought there was a good chance that we would still be pointless at the end of this sequence. Others saw the possibility of a point in this match and maybe another away at Stoke so they are smiling tonight.
The opening exchanges were fairly incident-free as the two sides sized each other up like boxers in the first few rounds. We saw a crowded midfield as both sides played a high line, City playing a 4-4-2 which switched to 4-5-1 as required. Everton closed us down efficiently and showed real threat on the break particularly down their left side where Baines and Pienaar were constantly in evidence. In contrast Konchesky at left back was relatively untroubled.
After 20 minutes without serious goal threat suddenly two goals! The first came after Everton were incorrectly awarded a corner which City initially cleared. The ball came back down the left flank, was crossed and Schmeichel made a fine block of a close-range shot for the ball to run to the left edge of the penalty area where McGeady took deliberate aim and scored off the post and bar with a stunning shot. The immediate consensus was that this would not have happened in the Championship!
No matter City swept to the other end and forced a corner. The ball escaped the near post defenders and in the mayhem that followed ran through to Ulloa who planted his shot firmly in the back of the net. Cue absolute bedlam! Ulloa by the way had an outstanding debut for City giving Jagielka and Distin not a moment’s rest, holding the ball up well and working his socks off. He will be popular!
The euphoria of City’s equaliser was muted shortly afterwards by Drinkwater pulling up clutching the back of his left leg. He left the field shortly after to be replaced by Hammond. So we now had a central midfield pairing who had not played together in the Championship playing in the Prem!
Given that Hammond is reported as on his way to Reading the question must be asked as to why we are so short of central midfielders at the start of the season. I can only assume that Pearson is working away quietly to sort the problem out. Drinkwater’s absence is a big blow and it could have had serious consequences today given that James was already on the injured list.
Things looked even bleaker just before halftime when yet another break down Everton’s left gave Baines the chance to pull the ball back from the byline for Naismith to hammer the ball into the net off the underside of the bar.
If the first half belonged to Everton the second was very much City’s. They made light of the enforced changes and worked with great spirit to turn the game round. A wonderful move started by Mahrez led to a great cross by Konchesky which Ulloa, unmarked at the near post, headed wide. The feeling grew that Everton were better going forward than defending and perhaps this encouraged City to press forward.
The replacement of Knockaert by Schlupp should have paid an immediate dividend. Mahrez again cut inside and slipped a great pass putting Schlupp in on Howard. The youngster’s first touch – literally – was excellent and he sped into the box as Howard advanced. Unfortunately Schlupp lost his head at the crucial moment and ballooned the ball many yards over the bar. A truly dreadful miss! Credit to the lad he didn’t let it upset him and his arrival sparked a major City offensive.
No defence likes dealing with pace and Schlupp is the nearest thing we have to Vardy in that respect. Mahrez – excellent in the second half – again weaved in from the right wing and was tripped on the edge of the box. His excellent free kick took a slight deflection off the wall and just missed the near post.
It seemed that this was not to be City’s day but this all changed with 5 minutes to go. Mahrez yet again forced his way across field and his ball inside was deflected to striker Chris Wood who had replaced the exhausted Ulloa. Wood only had Howard to beat and showed exactly how it should be done coolly sending the keeper the wrong way. Justice was done given the City’s second half performance.
It could have been made easier had the referee not bottled a crucial decision midway through the half. Barry had already been booked and deliberately tripped Mahrez as he threatened a potentially dangerous break. It was an obvious second yellow but the ref chose only to award a free kick – a very poor decision
So the game drew to a close with both sides drawing some satisfaction from the result. For City there were several positives. The centreback pairing of Morgan and Moore was outstanding, especially given that Lukaku cost £28M and looked hungry; Hammond, especially, and King worked valiantly in central midfield; Mahrez had a brilliant second half and Schlupp’s pace gave City an outlet when they needed it; up front Nugent was tireless and Ulloa gave everything he had. Tactically the manager deserves credit for reorganising the defence to stop the rampages of Baines that had caused so much trouble before the break.
All in all as good a start as we could have reasonably expected but we need the injuries to clear up quickly if we are to have aspirations beyond mere survival.
City: Schmeichel, de Laet, Morgan, Moore, Konchesky, Knockaert (Schlupp 64), Drinkwater (Hammond 39), King, Mahrez, Nugent, Ulloa (Wood 78)
Everton: Howard, Stones, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Barry, Pienaar (Mirallas 81), McGeady (Coleman 85), Naismith, McCarthy, Lukaku
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