(With apologies to any readers too young to remember Doris Day)
City 4 Watford 1
A strong all round team performance and some brave managerial choices provided the basis for City’s second four goal haul in successive home games at a sun-lit Walkers Stadium.
City opened in a familiar 4-4-2, with Morrison, Hobbs, Brown and Berner at the back, Spearing playing right midfield, Gallagher on the left with Wellens and King in the middle, Howard and Waghorn were the striking pair, with Weale in goal.
Watford also opened 4-4-2, and for the first 20 minutes they matched City more-or-less blow for blow. City passed the ball well, Waghorn was quicker than his full backs, and Spearing and Wellens were lively. In opposition, Watford were direct on the break and both sides created half-chances in a flowing, entertaining game. Indeed, in the 29th minute Lansbury played a one-two and it took a good save from Weale, diving at the player’s feet, to prevent Watford taking the lead.
City began to look more threatening, with Waghorn shooting disappointingly high from the edge of the box when set up well by Howard. The opening goal, when it came, was from a key refereeing decision … Gallagher played a through ball inside the left side of the Watford penalty box, Wellens chased it well and was brought down by DeMerit's tackle from behind.
Mr Miller, the referee, had a long look at it before blowing for a penalty. My opinion? I’m not sure, I’ll duck the issue by saying it was a long way from me! Whatever the validity of the decision, Waghorn made no mistake from the spot, sending the keeper the wrong way to make the score 1-0 to City….
City stepped up a gear, and Watford down one, and four minutes later City added another goal. Gallagher has made a habit of scoring some spectacular goals this season and this was one of his best. Wellens did well to take and keep possession on the right wing, he crossed low to the edge of the box, Howard flicked it on and Gallagher hit it with the outside of his boot, on the volley – the ball flying into the goal from 20 yards to make it 2-0 to City.
That should have been that for the first half, but as the end of the additional two-minutes approached, Howard chased down a defender who was shepherding the ball out for a goal kick. Howard’s tackle was, to say the least, over-enthusiastic. I thought he got the ball and caught his man from behind with his “trailing” leg. It looked a clear yellow card offence. In fact, Howard was given a red card. It was an unnecessary challenge, and was a particular shame as Howard was having one of his best games for a while: not just in the air, but with a lot of determination and skill on the ground too.
2-0 up at half time, in a game which had been fairly balanced for at least the first half hour. Most managers, I think, would have settled for holding that and hoping to pick up three points. Pearson, however, must have sensed Watford’s weakness. His half-time substitution took off Gallagher, who had played well enough, and brought on Vaughan as an out-and-out striker alongside Waghorn.
The second half started, therefore with the unusual sight of the home team playing a “4-3-2” formation, against the opposition’s 3-5-2. Surely Watford’s two extra men in midfield would give them an upper hand? Well, for about 5 minutes that appeared a risk, and Watford made a tactical substitution – Helguson replacing Hodson. But, as early as the 52nd minute, Pearson’s positive approach bore fruit: Vaughan did very well to hold the ball up on the right side of the Watford box, from the ensuing scramble, the ball fell to Spearing 12 yards out to drive a hard shot into the far corner, via the ‘keeper’s glove. City were now 3-0 up, and Watford looked dejected about it. This could only be good for City’s goal difference in the push for a play-off spot.
Watford replaced DeMerit with Taylor soon after. Pearson then made another change with positive intent, replacing Wellens, who had battled well, with Adams (hardly a “tight defensive midfielder”) after 59 minutes.
Watford made a few half-chances and had long periods of possession, as might be expected given the teams' formations, but City looked likely to score more. Pearson made a third substitution after 66 minutes, with Kermorgant replacing Waghorn. It had been another strong and quick performance by Waghorn, and he got a rousing reception from the fans together with the obligatory chants of “sign him up”.
A minute later, a through ball had Vaughan racing shoulder-to-shoulder with his marker, and beating him by about two yards over a race of 25 yards. Vaughan then slotted the ball past the Watford ‘keeper with ease to make it 4-0; an excellent striker’s goal.
Watford immediately made their final change, replacing Cowie with Bryan. City were still looking the more likely to score, with Vaughan curling a shot over from 20 yards when released well by Spearing. It was noteworthy how much of the ball Spearing was getting, and he generally used it positively and well.
As the clock ticked on, City began to tire a little and for some reason, Kermorgant dropped back a little giving City a slightly odd “4-3-1-1” formation. Vaughan, too, was clearly tiring – understandable as he had run and run throughout the second half – and Watford began to have a period of dominance.
In the 78th minute, Weale did well to dive to his left to tip a goal-bound shot around the post. From the resulting corner, substitute Taylor used all of his considerable height to head in a consolation goal: 4-1.
Watford created another decent chance, saved by Weale, and Berner quite clearly handled the ball in his own penalty box, but the referee theatrically waved “play on”. Berner had already spent a couple of minutes off the pitch to stop the bleeding from a cut on his head. He then went off again, to return with a bandage on the wound for the last five minutes.
With three minutes to go, Vaughan made a silly two-footed, studs-up lunge chasing back for the ball. He got the ball and did not get the Watford defender, but it was the sort of challenge which looked more worthy of a red card than Howard’s in the first half. Mr Miller chose to show his first yellow card. Vaughan was a little lucky in my opinion, but one could not doubt his willingness to chase for the City cause.
Watford continued to press, and Taylor almost mimicked his goal from another corner, but could only find the side netting. City still managed one more good chance, with Spearing shooting wide in added time from a position when he might well have scored.
The final whistle went, and even news of Blackpool’s 3-1 win over Forest could not dampen the enthusiasm of the City fans.
It was a good team performance. With the exception of Kermorgant, who had a couple of good moments but otherwise looked a little out of place, the whole City side played notably well. Spearing was probably man-of-the-match … just; Hobbs did not put a foot or head wrong all game (again) and ran him close. Vaughan looked a good, strong positive centre forward … indeed I could make a positive note on all of the others too.
Watford played creditably for the first half hour or so, but could neither create nor complete many good chances.
So, are City Wembley bound? The fans were singing “Que Sera Sera” for much of the game, but as everyone knows: it’s never over until Doris Day sings. They played well today though, and Pearson showed – again – a positive and determined tactical approach.
Leicester: Weale, Morrison, Brown, Hobbs, Berner, Spearing, King, Wellens (Adams 58), Gallagher (Vaughan 46), Waghorn, (Kermorgant 65), Howard. Subs Not Used: Logan, Solano, N’Guessan, Bruce
Watford: Loach, Hodson (Helguson 50), DeMerit (Taylor 56),Bennett, Mariappa, Cowie (Bryan 69), Eustace, Jenkins, Harley, Graham, Lansbury. Subs Not Used: Lee, McGinn, Hoskins, Noble
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