november city games

No fireworks from City in this disappointing display against a defensive minded Leicester side who came for a point and went away with three. Manager Royle's decision to play safe, leaving Bishop and Kennedy on the bench failed once more.They were brought on only after the visitors took the lead 9 minutes into the second half. The two images above show the goal - the top one the free kick being lined up. Lennon squared it to Savage and though Wanchope blocked the first attempt the rebound was driven past Weaver by Savage. Leicester had been scoring at less than a goal a game yet were in third place. It does not auger well for England with Leicester's manager Peter Taylor to be the caretaker manager of the national side. As for City, a goalscorer and goalmaker are required urgently. Charvet made a useful debut as a wing right back and crossed a few dangerous balls but the game was not the best of spectacles and City rarely tested both Flowers and Royce (subbing for the injured Flowers in the second half).

Above, the teams enter the arena for the 135th Manchester derby, the first for 4 years. Thanks to the interests of Sky TV the kick-off was at 11-30 in the morning and it was evidently much too early for Weaver and his co defenders as Beckhams free kick after 94 seconds spelt disaster for City. As you can see from the pictures below the non existent wall and the insane belief that nobody could score from this range despite Beckhams excellent record at this soccer skill. One wonders what sort of briefing the team got before the game !
Despite the early lapse and some incredible misses by Yorke in particular, City kept United from scoring again and in fact might have even drawn with a bit of luck. However I did get the feeling that if City had scored United would have stepped up a gear. I cannot see anyone stopping them this season. From the prodigious kicking Barthez to Beckham they look pretty unbeatable. The atmosphere was great and the hard working City must have felt disappointed at the result. City must have been pleased with the form of Wright-Phillips who ran at the United defenders with gusto and not a little skill. Shame he is so small but a low centre of gravity can have advantages and there have been great players in the past who have lacked height - Collins and Johnstone to name but two.

Ipswich opened the scoring after ten minutes when a Clapham centre was headed past Weaver by Stewart marked by the diminutive Wright-Phillips! So where was Howie ? Still loping his way back having been beaten by Scocroft in midfield and Prior was poorly positioned .

A left wing corner was headed past Weaver in the 31st minute by Hreidarsson (no, its not a spelling mistake - he's from Iceland - pity he didn't stay there.) 2-0 at half time and the boos started. It was not the best of displays by City and Joe Royles team selection in playing both Bishop and Kennedy and leaving out Whitely,Wanchope and Tiatto looked to be a gross error of judgment. I am all for picking an attacking side at home but playing Dunne who looked uncomfortable at fullback in preference to Tiatto was baffling. Bishop deserved a go from the start but he had a shocker and Charvet who always looks as though he is playing in his best suit was often caught out of position . One could see why Newcastle let him go! To be fair he had little support at times. I even heard cries to bring Edghill back ! At half time Tiatto replaced Dunne , but worse was to follow. About ten minutes in the second half with Bishop lying injured in the Ipswich half a long Holland cross found Stewart who rounded Weaver easily to score the third with the City defenders waiting for the whistle to go for offside. Incredible defending !

City's revival began with Wanchope and Whitley replacing Dickov and Goater who had largely been ineffective. With twenty minutes to go Wanchope shook off the attentions of Scales and Venus to give the supporters some hope(above pic). With ten minutes remaining Howie headed in from close range following a corner but Ipswich were able to withstand the City pressure and to return to East Anglia with three points and third place in the Premier League whilst City hover dangerously near the bottom three. With the defence leaking goals and an unconvincing attack Joe Royle has a lot to do to keep City up this season.