MATCH REPORT – City Could Not Send Baggies Packing

Fan Match Report by Scott Davies

West Brom came to the KP on Tuesday night full of confidence from their weekend 3-2 win over Crystal Palace. Leicester were buoyed by their late late show v Norwich and we’re looking to regain their 5 point lead over their closest rivals.

Simpson regained his place in the starting line up and King replaced the injured Kante who is expected to miss a couple of games, but King has stepped up in the past and is a model Pro.

City started brightly, however found themselves 1-0 down on 11 minutes after a through ball found Rondon who brushed Huth off with relative ease, the German should have done better as should Schmeichel who was slow out off his line allowing Rondon to fire through his legs to put the Baggies in the lead.

On 14 Okazaki had a glorious chance to draw level, however fired his shot over when it was perhaps easier to hit the target. However, on 30 City were level with a very fortunate deflection from a speculative Danny Drinkwater shot. He drilled the ball towards goal and it bounced up and looped over Foster into the top corner. We’ll take them however they come!

City were on top and West Brom only had set pieces to really threaten the Foxes with, on 37 Vardy cannoned an header against the bar as City went in search of a second. Leicester’s pressure paid off on the stroke of half time with a sublime passage of play. Albrighton picked the ball up on the left and delivered a pin point cross field pass. What happened next was breathtaking, Riyad Mahrez flicked the ball back to King with a superb piece of skill and the Welshman hit the ball first time on the half volley past the helpless Foster to make it 2-1 at the break.

City were cruising, however soon after the break, Mahrez gave away a silly free kick for handball and Craig Gardner did the rest. Schmeichel set up his wall to cover the right of his goal and he stood to the left, where he remained as a spectator as Gardner placed an unstoppable shot into the top corner to draw level.

City continued to push for a 3rd and they went so close on 57 as Shinji Okazaki hit a powerful header goalwards from an Albrighton cross, but his header hit the bar and harmless out for a goalkick.

Ranieri made changes on 63 with Schlupp and Ulloa coming in for Albrighton and Okazaki. Vardy was causing all sorts of problems for the Baggies backline. On 70 he chased down McCauley and dispossessed him when he had no right to win the ball. The England number 9 had to go alone as he was just too quick for his team mates and his shot was blocked to the left of the goal by Foster and out for a corner.

Schlupp went close just 2 minutes after coming on, as Vardy chased down the left channel keeping the ball alive on the byline before laying the ball back to Schlupp whose shot was deflected into the path of Foster with the England stopper not knowing much about it, but kept it out nonetheless.

Damarai Gray came on for Fuchs to bolster the attack, but it just wasn’t happening against a stubborn West Brom rearguard. Morgan drew a good safe from Foster late on and Mahrez tried a spectacular effort in the final minute with an overhead kick, but it was way off target. The Algerian was smarter a minute later as he headed a ball across goal towards Ulloa but the Argentine couldn’t connect and the game finished all square.

2 points dropped or a point gained? TalkSport said City had bottled it, how they came up with that conclusion when we had 23 shots. 11 corners and 65% possession is beyond me. Before Christmas, we hadn’t played anyone, our bubble was going to burst, now they say that our play suits the bigger games and we will struggle against so called smaller teams. How have we got to 57 points then?

24 hours later any disappointment of the draw had disappeared as Spurs, Arsenal and Man City all lost their fixtures and failed to make ground on City. Arsenal and Man City got a bit of a roasting on the radio, however Media Darlings Spurs hadn’t bottled it, they just looked tired.

3 points clear, 10 to play. Whatever happens, this has been a superb season. Watford away is tough, but no reason we cannot beat them. Spurs play Arsenal so someone is losing points in that one.

Man of the Match – Danny Drinkwater.

Listen to Alan Young and the rest of the 100%LCFC crew chatting about Norwich, West Brom and looking forward to the trip to Watford by clicking on the image below….