Carlisle United 1 City 2
An excellent 2nd half display saw Leicester come back from a one goal deficit at the break to beat a determined and dogged Carlisle side and remain top of League One.
News of illness throughout the squad at Nigel Pearson’s Thursday press conference meant that many of the 1,100 fans making the very long journey north were unsure who to expect in the starting eleven. Fortunately the virus must have cleared in time as the only change from the win over Southend was expected; a calf muscle problem forcing Tunchev to miss out, his replacement Michael Morrison.
The first chances of the game came from mistakes by the Leicester defence. In the 2nd minute Hobbs dithered on the edge of the area, was dispossessed easily but fortunately Gilbert was able to block Graham before he could get a shot away. Martin then had a rush of blood to the head, storming out of his area to clear. However his clearance did not find touch, instead finding a Carlisle player on the half way line. Fortunately for the Scouse ‘keeper the attempted 50 yard effort at his empty net went only a tenth of the distance required and the away side survived.
After this nervous beginning, Leicester slowly started to come into the game. Their passing became slicker and the midfield, marshalled by the excellent Berner, started to take control. However for all their good approach play, the final ball was never quite there; Dyer the most guilty getting into several great positions to cross, but always delivering behind the onrushing Fryatt and Howard…..
With both defences on top, it was clear that the deadlock would only be broken by a wonder goal, or as the result of a mistake. Sadly for Leicester and for Morrison it was the latter. A weak header from the centre back was knocked back in to the unmarked Graham and although his attempted lob of Martin didn’t quite come off, there was sufficient contact to knock it past the Liverpool loanee, round him the other way and tap home from a yard.
Man of the moment Fryatt tried to redress the balance straight away but his long shot dipped wide, whilst just before half time he could only hook Howard’s knock down high over the bar. One nil down at the interval but with neither keeper having had to make a save, Leicester could consider themselves a tad unfortunate to go in behind.
Whatever was said at half time seemed to do the trick; Leicester produced a fantastic display with several great efforts. The first two came within seconds of each other; firstly a huge kick from Martin bounced perfectly for Fryatt who held off his marker to produce a fierce low drive – the angle though was too acute and Krul saved with his legs. The lose ball however was picked up by Berner; he laid it off to King who in turn teed up Oakley, the Leicester captain fizzed a low shot from 20 yards that went only a foot wide.
Davies replaced Powell on 56 minutes, with Berner switching to left back, before the game could have been all over had Carlisle taken one of their next chances. A Kavanagh through ball found Bridges but Martin spread himself brilliantly and blocked the shot – the follow up shot blocked by Morrison. The home fans would rue these misses within seconds
A Dyer run was pulled back to Howard, he set up King, and the man who only ever seems to score from 20 yards or so, did it again. With 30 minutes left in the game, the goal gave Leicester real impetus to go forward and grab a winner and they set about this task right from the re-start.
A penalty shout was turned down when Dyer’s cross was blocked by a Carlisle hand, referee Mike Jones deeming it ball-to-hand, but from the resulting corner from Oakley, the ball was whipped through the six yard box with only a touch needed for Leicester to take the lead.
The much improved Steve Howard then nearly got the goal that his recent efforts deserved. A Fryatt cross fed to the near post was struck on the half-volley by the big striker, and with Krul easily beaten it was the underside of the bar that came to Carlisle’s rescue. Berner retrieved the loose ball and won a corner from which Leicester took the lead in the 69th minute. Again Oakley crossed well, met at the back post by Howard and his knock down back across the goal was stabbed in by Berner, the man from Switzerland capping a man-of-the-match performance with his first goal for the club.
Carlisle stepped up the pressure in the last ten minutes, sending crosses into the area at what seemed like a near constant rate. The defence however had grown in stature since their earlier errors and were equal to every one. There was one last scare deep into stoppage time when freekick expert Kavanagh had a chance from 20 yards. As soon as his effort hit the wall though, the referee blew the whistle ending a fascinating contest.
Carlisle: Krul, Raven, Livesey, Keogh, Liddle, Taylor, Thirlwell (Bridge-Wilkinson 46), Kavanagh, Jeff Smith (Hackney 73), Graham (Madine 76), Bridges. Subs Not Used: Williams, Birchall.
Booked: Bridges, Taylor.
Leicester: Martin, Gilbert, Hobbs, Morrison, Powell (Davies 55), Dyer, Andy King, Berner, Oakley, Howard, Fryatt (Adams 90). Subs Not Used: Cisak, Edworthy, Dickov.
Booked: Davies.
Att: 7,085. Ref: Mike Jones
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