LFL: MAN CITY

This was a great battling performance from the whole side and we deserved the draw. We even had a few chances to win it but I’m certainly not going to moan as I’m delighted with a point.

BEFORE

I'm not expecting us to get anything from this evening's match so what have we got to lose? Man City have a great team and have won at least six league games on the trot but defensively they're by no means infallible, as Fulham proved not long back, so we might just get a goal or two. I'm not expecting any big change in our starting line-up from the Leeds game. Having thought that we'd be without Ballard for maybe five weeks it seems he may well return sooner than that, which would be great if it happens. I'll be at the game before returning to London tomorrow morning and my match prediction is a 2-1 defeat (while secretly fantasizing about a late winner in the Ji Dong-Won tradition).

I called in at ALS Towers before I got to the ground and on checking the team-news I saw that there was one change with Mayenda starting in place of Rigg and I was pleased about that. Rigg was on the bench where he was accompanied by the returning O’Nien. There were two changes for Man City since their last outing with Ake and Savinho replacing Gvardiol and Reijnders. It was a chilly evening so ALS were doing good business in the glove department. I was in my seat in the Upper East Stand at 7.25. In an earlier kick-off Crystal Palace and Fulham had drawn 1-1 and that was the best result for us. My friends’ match predictions were universally negative; 1-2, 1-3 and 0-4. There was a good turnout of Man City fans. We had a minute’s applause in memory of all of those associated with the club who’d died in the last year and both sets of fans joined in.

THE GAME

It was a lively opening couple of minutes with both sides showing bursts of attacking speed. This was brought to a halt by an injury to Ake, who was down for a short while but was able to continue. We conceded the first corner in the fifth minute and when it came across Bernado Silva got it into the net from close range but thankfully it was ruled out. Savinho was looking a real menace down our right and we were defending in depth as City pressed us back. We had a chance in the sixteenth when Hume received the ball as he burst into the right of their box but his low cross was intercepted. Soon City had another corner but a shot went well wide to jeers from our fans. Mayenda was having a good start, getting really stuck in and managing some jinky runs. In the nineteenth Brobbey got on the end of a long ball and let fly a shot but Donnarumma in goal blocked it and it ended up going out for a corner. We wasted the corner as it came straight across and went out for a goal-kick. We were soon attacking again and looking dangerous but this time Hume’s shot went over the bar. It had been a decent opening quarter for us and our fans were roaring us on.

Both sides were taking no prisoners with their tackles and plenty of our fans thought we weren’t getting much change out of referee Jarred Gillett. Gonzalez was down injured for a while and this also didn’t go down well with our fans. Haaland was receiving very close attention from Alderete and Mukiele and so far he hadn’t had a sniff. A deflected Mayenda shot brought us another corner, on our left, but we couldn’t convert it. Haaland got his first chance in the thirty-seventh but Roefs was there to block his low shot. City won another corner and when it came over Mayenda headed it off a City player to get us a goal-kick. The game was going from end to end and our players were giving it their all. I was expecting a fair chunk of added-time and five minutes were duly announced. City had been starting to press more but we had a great chance when Hume headed a cross from the left narrowly over. Adingra was yellow-carded for a foul on Foden and that was it for the first-half. I’d been pleased with the way we’d played and only hoped it would remain goalless at least at the full-time whistle.

Rodri had replaced Gonzales as we kicked off again and was that a collective groan I heard going around our fans? City almost took the lead about a minute into the half but Savinho skied his shot from close range and soon it was Haaland’s turn to sky one as City broke forward again. Mayenda continued to create chances but unfortunately when his pass reached Brobbey on the edge of the box he slipped over and the chance was lost. We were pressing forward and causing them real problems before winning another corner in the fifty-third. Savinho was subbed following an injury and I was very glad to see the back of him. A low Mayenda shot was blocked by Donnamarumma and our fans were going wild. O’Reilly was replaced by Gvardiol and at the same time we brought on Isidor for Brobbey. With thirty minutes on the clock I was starting to feel that we could nick a goal. Alderete seemed to be all over the pitch and he was getting stuck into everything, usually coming away with the ball. City won another corner in the sixty-fifth after a good block from Roefs and it eventually went out for a goal-kick.

We entered the final quarter with both sides going for the winner. We had our backs to the wall for a few minutes but were defending stoutly with Alderete battling like hell at the heart of it all. In the seventy-second we brought on Mundle for Adingra. A collision in our box left Alderete down for a minute but he recovered, as you’d expect. Ake was booked for a foul on Mayenda and the game was becoming a real tussle all over the pitch. The ref was getting loads more stick from our fans with, “You’re not fit to referee” echoing all around. Ten minutes to go and it was anybody’s game as both sets of fans made a good racket. Hume went down injured so Xhaka kicked the ball into touch. He managed to get to his feet and play was resumed. Reijnders replaced Bernardo Silva. We survived tremendous pressure and then there was only one more minute to go. Four minutes of added-time were announced and I think we were all happy about that as we could sense a winner. The excitement never let up till the whistle went and we’d earned a great draw. There was a loud roar from all around me. Many people were stamping along to ‘Glad All Over’ and it was by no means only because they were cold.