City 1 Coventry 1
After the mid-week reverse at Cardiff, the Foxes faithful were looking forward to an emphatic victory against struggling Coventry City, who had lost their last 5 games on the road and only one win in their last 12 games, to continue the Foxes impressive home form since Sven arrived.
Listening to the live commentary on 5 Live of the Swansea v Leeds match driving along the A1/A47, with Swansea well in command and taking the 3 points, it was all set up for the Foxes to draw level on points with our West Yorkshire play-off rivals, with only an inferior goal difference keeping us in 7th position in the Championship.
Bruma partnered Bamba in the centre of defence, Ben Mee sitting on the bench after 2 impressive performances before the Cardiff game, and Abe returning to midfield replacing Oakley. Vassell returned with Yakubu up front, goals expected from the pair.
The Foxes started well against a nervous Coventry defence, Vassell putting Yakubu through, but the Coventry keeper and skipper, Westwood, saved well to deny an early opener. Then Naughton outpaced the Coventry left back, found Yakubu, and surprisingly, the striker scuffed his first time shot with the ball being cleared. When will the opening goal come?
Naughton and Van Aanholt were marauding down both flanks at will, but after 15 minutes of constant pressure, the visitors took the lead. Jutkiewicz received the ball down the Coventry right, easily rounded Van Aanholt and sent a low cross into the Foxes box that found Marlon King 8 yards out. King swivelled and his low shot seemed to be saved by Ricardo but the ball squirmed under the keepers body and rolled into the net….
This goal stunned the home side and Coventry then had 2 easy chances to extend their lead. A hopeful cross into the Foxes box again found Marlon King, and as Ricardo advanced, King took the ball wide and as a goal seemed inevitable, King managed to fire the ball into Row Z. Phew!
Marlon King was showing his strength on the ball as Bruma, in particular, found him a handful, with King's every touch being booed by the East Stand. The Foxes recovered and Wellens put Yakubu through, but Coventry's centre back, Woods, made an excellent tackle in the box, his timing had to be perfect or a penalty would have surely have resulted.
Ricardo then had to save a Jutkiewicz shot from a narrow angle. The game was very open and going from end to end. Gallagher finally had a shot that went well over, then from a Coventry corner, Keogh's header hit the crossbar with Ricardo seemingly beaten, the ball cleared to safety.
Wellens was doing well, spraying the ball all over the park. A defence splitting pass put Andy King through but his first touch was poor so a shot on goal was missed. Then Wellens put Abe through and with cries of "Shoot" echoing around the Walkers, Abe fired the ball just wide of the right post, so his opening goal for the Foxes still evades him.
Cries for a penalty as Westwood tripped Yakubu were waved away by the Referee, but as half-time approached, the impressive Naughton received the ball on the right, he advanced towards the Coventry box and from 20 yards fired a left foot (yes left foot) drive past a diving Westwood into the top left hand corner of the net – a Screamer!!! The equaliser.
After the interval, the Foxes went all out for the winner, with Naughton causing havoc down the Coventry right. His passing, close control and running with the ball was excellent, and the Coventry defenders had difficulty staying with him, with 3 yellow cards resulting, Cranie being one of them, and he was constantly fouling his opponents in every tackle.
A Gallagher cross found Yakubu and his header was well saved by Westwood, the ball falling to Bamba, but his thunderbolt from a narrow angle hit the post and the ball rebounded to safety.
It became obvious the next goal would win the game for either side, as the Foxes had a majority of the possession, but with Marlon King upfront for Coventry, every time he received the ball anything could happen, and although Ricardo had little to do, he made a hash of a cross, punching the ball clear, but luckily it fell to a Foxes player and not a Coventry forward.
Dyer came on for Gallagher and Waghorn for Vassell. Could they turn the game in the Foxes favour? Several corners taken by Waghorn were poorly crossed to the near post and cleared. Oakley came on for Abe. Van Aanholt was seeing a lot of the ball down the Foxes left, but his shooting from silly distances is nowhere near Naughton's quality, Sven must get him practicing on the training ground!
With a minute of normal time left, Cranie upended Waghorn and it was no surprise when a yellow card was followed by a red card – when the Referee could extract the cards from his shorts! 4 minutes shown on the overtime board.
Yakubu found Van Aanholt on the left and his pin point cross found Dyer on the edge of the 6 yard area, but his lunge fired the ball over the cross bar much to the Foxes fans disbelief. Game ends and the mood in the crowd was one of disappointment after seeing 2 points go astray.
With 60% possession, the Foxes had a majority of the game but could not force a winner. Andy King did not have one of his best games, perhaps with the talk of an Everton bid ringing in his ears. Vassell played well with some good runs and close control, but seems afraid of shooting when well placed on the edge of the penalty area. Yakubu drifts in and out of the game, and if the injured Howard had been on the bench, he may have connected on one of the many crosses with his head.
As to Ricardo, there were ironic cheers when he actually held the ball from a Coventry cross. The unfortunate Weale, who was dropped after 2 very good games, must surely get a recall, as Ricardo is costing us and if Sven's loyalty loses the Foxes valuable points at this important stage of the season, the fans may well turn on the Manager – let's hope not!
The next 2 games, away to league leaders QPR and home to fourth placed Norwich City will surely determine the remainder of the season. Automatic promotion, that looked possible 10 days ago, with Swansea in good form, now seems unlikely, so the dreaded play-offs are our best chance, although the in-form Burnley may have something to say about that!
Leicester City: Ricardo, Naughton, Bamba, Bruma, Van Aanholt, Gallagher (Dyer), Abe (Oakley), King, Wellens, Vassell (Waghorn), Yakubu. Subs not used: Weale, Vitor, Mee, Teixeira.
Coventry City: Westwood, Keogh, Wood, Cameron, O'Halloran (Clingan), Berll, Cranie, Baker (Eastwood), Gunnarson, King, Jutkiewicz. Subs not used: Hussey, Ruffles, Ireland, McSheffrey, O'Donovan.
Attendance: 25,356 Referee: G. Scott
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