Leicester 0, Newcastle 0 – Match Report, Reflections & Highlights(!)
Posted on January 31st, 2010 | 31 Comments |
Upon finding my seat, I looked around the Walkers Stadium and thought it was ‘nice’, nothing else, just ‘nice’. Perhaps it suffers from ‘new stadium’ syndrome – the syndrome where it seems grounds built in the last 20 years lose the atmosphere that the previous grounds had. I was sitting towards the rear of the stand anyway so I held out some hope of a good craic.
After hearing the team news, my fear that Nicky Butt would be playing was confirmed. Again, another away day, another game with just 1 striker and a less than mobile Kevin Nolan in support. I was buoyed however, by the fact this was my first chance to see recent signings Routledge, Williamson and Patrick Van Aanholt, making his debut. The team looking like;
Harper, Van Aanholt, Williamson, Coloccini, R Taylor, Guthrie, Smith, Butt, Routledge, Nolan, Carroll.
The game got underway and the Toon Army started singing, particularly giving some barracking to Sunderland’s Martyn Waghorn (called ugly by a teenage girl in front of me, and called much, much worse by me!) who is currently on-loan at Leicester. The 3,000-strong away following nearly had an early reason to cheer as Kevin Nolan spun in the penalty and cracked a shot into the side-netting. With not much happening after that the game was fast becoming a very stale affair, briefly livened up by a red card for Leicester’s Richie Wellens on the half hour mark, the player earning his 2nd yellow for a tug back on Wayne Routledge.
With 60 minutes remaining against 10 men, I was expecting Newcastle to push on and try to get the win but it was Leicester who could have taken the lead. With the United defence retreating and inviting Matty Fryatt onto them, he cracked a 12 yard shot that looked like it had the beating of Harper, only to be blocked by the debutant Van Aanholt. Immediately after that, Van Aanholt went straight up the other end and fired off a 20 yard shot which was tipped over by Leicester ‘keeper Ian Weale, Alan Smith seeing his angled diving header from he resulting corner cleared of the line by Bruno Berner. Other than that, a tame half which probably deserved the score of 0-0.
The 2nd half started with a bit more tempo and with the home side still showing attacking ambition, despite them being down to 10 men and us still having only 1 striker on the pitch. It was Leicester who had the first chance to score, a Paul Gallagher free-kick being deflected wide. On 50 minutes it was Newcastle’s turn to attack, Kevin Nolan beat ‘keeper Weale to the ball after a cross from Van Aanholt only for his header to land on the roof of the net.
It wasn’t until the introduction of Nile Ranger, replacing Alan Smith on 63 minutes, that we had 2 strikers against the 10 man Foxes, yet it was winger Wayne Routledge who had the next chance, nicking the ball away from Ian Weale and lobbing on the turn, only to see his effort go wide.
So into the last 15 minutes then, still at a stale-mate. Nolan was taken off to be replaced by Pancrate and we started to turn the screw in search for a winner. Van Aanholt having a shot on 78 minutes and Ranger prodding wide on 81 minutes. One of the loudest cheers of the day came with 5 minute remaining and was for the introduction of a debutant for Leicester City, someone called Nobby Solano, who recieved generous applause form all sides of the ground, and chants of his name – something that the Leciester fans took on board and will no doubt use in future!
Despite our numerical advantage and keeping Leicester pinned in their own half, the dead-lock remained unbroken and the whistle went for a 0-0. Disappointing! A missed opportunity to open up a gap at the top and you have to wonder how many chances are we going to get?
Ratings
As for the players, I’ll rate them below;
Harper – 6 – Never really had much to do, safe when called upon.
Van Aanholt – 7 – Nervy first 15 minutes, but soon settled and offered an attcking threat.
Williamson – 6 – Done for pace but excellent in the air.
Colo – 7 – Never really put a foot wrong.
R Taylor – 5 – Shocking in the 1st half, not much better in the 2nd.
Guthrie – 6 – Some good touches, linked well with Van Aanholt but is not a winger.
Smith – 6 – Anonymous apart from his header being cleared off the line.
Butt – 3 – Should never be in the 1st team. Only gave him 3 as he didn’t balls up in the last 10 minutes! Awful in the tackle, no pace, and should cut out the 50 yard FA Cup final balls!
Routledge – 7 – Great pace, good tricks. Caused trouble for Leicester on numerous occasions.
Nolan – 5 – Loss of form, lacking pace and needs to stop arguing with referee’s.
Carroll – 6 – Well shckled by the Leicester defence. Never really got a sniff.
Subs:
Ranger – 6 – Opened play up and created space for others. Good finish for his offside goal.
Pancrate – 6 – Still to find his best position but did OK when called upon.
Summary from the stands…
In summary, I’d have taken a point at Leicester before kick-off, especially hearing that Forest had dropped points. The way the match panned out however means I can’t help but be disappointed that we couldn’t break down a team playing with 10 men for just over an hour. Nicky Butt needs to retire, R Taylor needs to get his footballer head on and Nolan needs to get back to his previous form. The Leicester central defender, Andy King, had Carroll in his pocket all game, and it’s not often Andy Carroll doesn’t win many headers! On the plus side, I’m impressed with Williamson aerially, Routledge and his pace and tricks, and Van Aanholt who made a steady debut and should perhaps be signed until the end of the season. I still can’t help but be impressed with Colo! It would have been easy for him to sulk and pout to try to force a move, but his attitude has been 1st class and I can’t fault him.
All in all, a trouble free day out. Some of the Leicester fans are right gadgies but it was all good humoured. Besides, I was suitably charvered up meself like! Maybe that put them off?!
Post-match reactions
Reflection from the respective sides came from both managers –
Leicester boss, Nigel Pearson had this to say about the game:
“I thought we were the better side with 11, and the better side with 10, but it is only one point.
“We still have aspirations to be involved in the play-offs. We have been in a bit of a rut recently so today was an important stepping stone for us.”
Speaking about the Wellans dismissal and a couple of pentalty claims, Pearson added:
“I’ve not reviewed the incidents but I will be having my say on them later on.
Hughton was also reflective on a day when we missed the opportunity to go a couple of extra points clear at the top:
“I’ve mixed emotions about the game. They were down to 10 men for so long and it’s disappointing we were not able to capitalise on that.
“But they played with great spirit and what often happens when you go down to 10 men it galvanises the team.
“The sending off also seemed to lift the crowd who felt aggrieved at what had happened.”
Highlights
Here’s a link to highlights of the game and the Toon game starts around 14:40 but just don’t expect to much…
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Pathetic. Hughton’s a caretaker, not a coach. Starting Butt? You see what I mean?