|
Chelsea: De Goey, Ferrer (Flo 64), Thome,
Leboeuf, Harley, Petrescu (Poyet 46),
Deschamps (Ambrosetti 46), Wise, Di Matteo,
Zola, Weah.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Terry.
Goals: Wise 85.
Leicester: Arphexad, Sinclair, Elliott, Taggart,
Gilchrist, Eadie, Zagorakis, Oakes,
Gunnlaugsson (Guppy 51), Marshall (Fenton
37), Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Flowers, Thomas, Stewart.
Booked: Fenton.
Goals: Taggart 41.
Att: 35,063
Ref: G Barber (Tring, Herts).
|
|
Chelsea 1 Leicester City 1. 15.1.00
Unlucky City 'Held' at the Bridge
Peter Gilbert. 15.1.00
We haven't won at Stamford Bridge since 1965 but when you consider
that Chelsea could have fielded 11 non British players , all
expensive imports and City could have fielded a team of 11 Brits.
many of whom have come through the Youth Team it just makes it
all worthwhile somehow.
In the final analysis as the dust settled on this game, as we
drifted away surrounded by glittering brash opulence one has
to say that the major sentiment was one of disappointment. We
could; indeed should have won this one.
Leicester's goal in the 41st min. was a rather scrambled affair
finally despatched into the goal by Gerry Taggert after his first
effort came back off the post as De Goew flapped on the floor
like a stranded giraffe. It was no more than was deserved.
Ironically just before Chelsea equalised , Leicester
had two good chances to settle the matter and on one occasion
Emile Heskey only had to square the ball to Darren Eadie for
a certain goal but he elected to shoot and it wasn't to be. That's
the hidden skill of a striker, he knows when to shoot and when
to pass, when to shield and when to lay off. However
I am not about to criticise Emile Heskey. H e brings
so much to any team he is a part of and the proof of the pudding
for any would be critics is the fact that if he were put up for
sale tomorrow every Premiership side would be waiting in the
car park and that's not to mention the Europeans. Emile:
I love you - keep on doing it.
The Leicester heroes came up with the goods on the day and were
never overawed by the Chelsea 'Superstars'. They competed
in every aspect of this game and they battled away over every
blade of grass. There wasn't a player in the City side who did
not give his all in every way.
And with only 5 mins. left it looked as if we had done enough
and that Lady Luck would smile kindly on us. In fact Chelsea
had hit the bar with 6 mins to go and miraculously the ball didn't
cross the line and the Mammoth effort looked as if it was going
to reap the rewards we deserved and then in the 85th minute our
luck deserted us when Wise headed the equaliser.
On this occasion City were missing Lennon, Izzett and Savage
but Oakes and Zagorakis emerged supreme in a City line up which
basically featured 7 reserves. Eadie turned in another solid
performance Gunnlauggson was neat and intricate, Fenton was busy
and enthusiastic, Gilchrist showed great composure, Arphexad
proved reliable and Guppy came on to signal a possible end to
our current injury crisis.
However we shouldn't over emphasise our injury crisis as it only
serves to take away from the 11 players who were on the pitch
battling away for the cause.
If I were to single out any City player however I would have
to mention Stefan Oakes , still only 20, a young lad who less
than two years ago shattered his leg in 10 places when playing
for the youth team.
He ran and ran. He passed with great imagination displaying
a mature level of composure and at one time it was thought
that he might never run again.
Let us also mention the manager's part in all this; Martin O'Neill
appears to dredge performances out of his players that totally
contradict what any sane student of the game might expect. If
only he hadn't won the Manager of the Month award we might not
have had such a disastrous December and we would be far better
placed than our current position of 8th place.
So disappointment settled on us like a rain cloud but looking
to the future we have every reason to be optimistic in the second
part of this season which should see us coming away with something
substantial to put on the sideboard.
|