2010-11 Match Report CCFC v LEICESTER

22.2.2011

CCFC 2 v 0 LEICESTER CITY

Tonight the Cardiff City Stadium played host to a Championship showdown between Malaysian  Vincent Tan Chee Yioun’s Berjaya Corporation AFC (known locally as ‘The Bluebirds’) and Thailand’s Asian Financial Investments Consortium XI (aka Leicester City) managed by the man voted Britain’s Third Most Annoying Swedish Import after ABBA and IKEA, former Notts County Supremo Mr Sven Goran Eriksson . The Leicester squad must be the most cosmopolitan in the Championship, boasting 14 separate nationalities. The entire Cardiff squad on the other hand of course came through the local schools and Academy structures and all were born within earshot of the peel of the Llandaff Cathedral bells. Apart from the Hungarians, Israelis, Nigerians, English, Scots & Irish.

It’s all a long way from ‘Small boys in the park, jumpers, skull caps and pashminas for goal-posts.’

Leicester were another of the division’s form teams, not having lost at all in 2011 and having won their last 5 games. We needed to bounce back after the Forest defeat. Another defeat on an evening when Forest & Norwich had home games against relegation-threatened opposition would leave us perilously close to dropping out of the play-off zone. Ali did his best to reassure us with his pre-match singalongs ‘Three Little Birds’(Don’t worry ‘bout a ting, every little ting gonna be alright) and ‘Mr Jones & Me’.

The Foxes started very brightly and for the first 15 minutes we were like beagles tracking their scent. Yakubu, on loan from Everton, was a powerful presence up front and true to the chant ‘Feed the Yak and he will score’ was being fed some tasty morsels from an efficient, mobile midfield.

It was very much against the run of play and a huge relief when we took the lead. Following some good work from Quinn on the right flank, Olofinjana found Chopra in space in the box who swept the precision pass first time past Portugal’s Ricardo. 1-0!

The rest of the half was fairly even with few chances at either end. Leicester continued to stroke the ball around and picked up a number of loose balls in midfield (why can we not keep hold of the ruddy ball?!) but were becoming less effective up front as the central defensive partnership of Hudson and Keinan took charge.

Ali fired up the crowd for the second half by quoting Aristotle – something about greatness becoming habit forming. (Interestingly, The Bloke Behind is a keen advocate of the famous Socratic Paradox ‘I only know that I know nothing’.) I was reminded of the Monty Python Philosophy International sketch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiZt79UKUFQ&feature=player_embedded

Anyway, back to the game...five minutes into the second half Chopra, who apparently has a hairline fracture in his ankle but will continue to play on, was beginning to struggle and was substituted by McPhail. JE-T, starting in Bellamy’s position out left, moved in to partner Bothroyd. The turbo-charged JE-T was playing his best game for the City and his use as a utility player once again came to the fore when the injured Olofinjana left the game and he moved temporarily into central midfield. Then when Parkin came on after 75 minutes JE-T deployed his propelling nozzle and headed back out for another sortie on the wing. It’s always handy to have someone with such a good internal combustion reaction engine in your team.

Ramsey’s goal on 51 minutes was the culmination of some neat build up work and a fine run and cross from McNaughton. Another cool side footed placement into the corner. 2-0!

Sven decided to ring the changes bringing on Darius Vassel to partner Yakubu. If that sounds intimidating, it didn’t seem to bother Hudson or Keinan who completely neutralised any threat with an imperious display. They are looking like the best pairing since Johnson & Loovens and another clean sheet is testimony to their effectiveness.

The Swede made two more quick tactical substitutions to freshen things up, but despite the disruption caused by our forced substitutions we soaked up everything Leicester had to offer and as the game wore on The Foxes went to ground. In fact they were never in the hunt.

The pre-match pessimism has dissipated as a mixed set of results from our nearest challengers has left us not only once again securely in the play-offs but still realistically challenging for an automatic spot. 13 games left and all to play for! Next up the trip to Hull and back.