Man United v Leicester City. Saturday 06/11/99
Man United (1) 2 Leicester (0) 0 FT
Cole 30,83
If Only.........
Peter Gilbert. 6.11.99
How wonderful it is to see that Leicester City have not lost any
of their fighting spirit despite background interference in the
shape of business men who want to run things. I am
happy to announce that Martin O'Neill turned sharply on Alan Hansen
over the Matt Elliott/Michael Owen clash and told him in no uncertain
terms that 'Leicester City don't need you accusing their players
of assault.' Martin was merciless and it was on TV
too. He picked Hansen up, gave him a good shaking and
spat him out. It was a delicious TV moment. Mr
O'Neill is rapidly becoming the new Brian Clough when on TV.
'But I'm a Leicester fan ' quipped Hansen 'Hey I'm a shareholder.'
Martin gave him a withering look and I for one remembered
the occasion when Hansen suggested that Emile Heskey would be
better at a decent club like Liverpool. Hansen needed slapping
down he was clearly rattled, but he'll try and make his reply
when Martin isn't there. But he's been told now that 'Martin is
watching you.' Speaking as a shareholder myself I would have to
say that simply being one is not a clear indication of your motives.
I'll leave it there.
The night after Bonfire Night dawned rather drier than the previous
evening but a cruel Autumn wind buffeted the remaining leaves
off the trees and piled on further Railtrack misery. Burned
out bonfires and fizzled out fireworks decorated the suburbs as
we approached the ground. What would we see in this football match?
Would it be fireworks from Leicester? Or
would Manchester United behave like a giant express train marooned
by the Autumn elements? Who would be The Phoenix from
the flames?
City were able to field an unchanged team which is undoubtedly
our 1st X1. Man Utd had Stam, Yorke P.Neville Solskjaer
and Scholes back but Beckham was out suspended. Bosnic retained
his place between the sticks. Yorke was my main
worry - he teased us apart the last time the two teams met.
So neither side would holding back at all and we would be able
to say afterwards whatever the result; 'That was our best team.'
What we wanted to see was Leicester City having a
go, refusing to lie down, be put down by TV pundits even when
faced by limitless resources. We knew that we would
be fielding '11 good men and strong' and we wanted to see them
reflect their manager's fighting spirit.
The wind swirled and the game kicked off with City in the shape
of Emile Heskey starting brightly and the Theatre of Dreams became
momentarily quiet but not for long as Cole fired in followed swiftly
by Solskjaer but Flowers held firm. Phil Neville miskicked
which let Cottee in and he forced a corner. City piled
on further pressure and Emile frightened Silvestre horribly, showing
his class and strength. Guppy was having a great time
down the left and he too showed his England credentials. Taggart
after his goal scoring feats of last week got forward with menace
at free kicks. After 15 mins. City's chase and hassle
game was clearly unsettling the 'Brylcreem Boys.' Clearly
the United fans were wary too, being seriously subdued and grateful
to win even an off-side decision. Lennon and Muzzy Izzett were
certainly not over-awed and they gained possession of the ball
with conviction.
Man Utd sent up warning flares in the shape of Cole and Giggs,
but they were snuffed out by Flowers and Sinclair respectively
and it was gratifying to hear United scream for a penalty. Desperados?
Heskey blistered away from Giggs and ran at the goal unleashing
a left foot shot which flew just wide.
Seconds later a swift move down the right saw Solskjaer cross
to Cole delivered in an overhead kick from some distance and the
ball flew into the goal via the inside of the post, a moment conjured
out of nothing against the run of play and something that will
surely be a contender for goal of the season. United
are at their most dangerous when they're winning.
Cottee replied with a near post header,just wide. Suddenly
Keane appeared from Lennon's shadow and Scholes shook off Izzett
and we were hanging on to a game we were at one time dominating.
The pitch was cutting up badly. Apparently it had been
recently re-laid and it was below the expected standard. Savage
shot with his left foot after winning the ball but once again
we were off target. That was the difference at this
point of the game. Impey fed Heskey from height and
he couldn't control the ball.
Further pressure saw Izzett have an effort but high and wide again. United
fans woke up and taunted us with the score but we gave it back
with interest and a great atmosphere was created by the 55,198
people who were locked in. We were 1-0 down to a goal which
you just can't defend against but we were not out of the game.
Guppy had gone out of the game which was focussed down the centre
of the pitch which suited United's direct style and they were
as quick as lightening on the break. The very entertaining
first half came to an end and we were grateful that there was
still time to salvage something from this game otherwise we would
be destined to be described as plucky triers who kept shooting
wide.
I suppose Martin couldn't really change anything at half time
or throw tea cups around but he could expect some more accurate
shooting in the second half and I for one no longer felf that
a defeat was inevitable against such aristocratic opposition.
The second half started well for City with two dangerous crosses
and a corner. Playing against United you have
to believe in yourself and an early City goal would make things.........
'interesting'. A City attack had to launched in the
knowledge that it could initiate a United break. Midfield
was a platform of combat between Keane,Scholes,Izzett and Lennon.
It was good to see United field another product of their youth
policy in the form of Higginbottom replacing G. Neville with Wes
Brown being injured.
Tentative passing from Gupppy was cut out by Solksjaer and United
flooded forward with six players and Flowers was called into action
again.
The action became frenetic with both sides working hard,closing
down, breaking out and surging forward.
Heskey muscled past Stam , broke forward rounded a slithering
Bosnic and shot for goal but saw his effort hacked away for a
corner by Silvestre. But City with 25 mins left began to turn
up the pressure on the reds.'Come on Leicester Come on Leicester
!!'
We were entering the time when we might throw caution to the wind.........go
for broke and risk conceding another goal or peg them back. Higginbottom
went off and May came on to replace him. At the same time Walsh
replaced Cottee and inevitably Elliott pushed up......a situation
I personally find embarrassing in terms of resources available.
I would prefer to see a more natural striker come into the
fray.
10 mins. to go and it was now a question of what we could conjure
up with a makeshift line up.
Berg came on to replace Neville and the game began to lose shape.
City had a momentary lapse in concentration which Cole latched
on to. He got forward , shot against the post but fortunately
for him the ball came straight back to him for an easy goal.
Heskey powered forward yet again and fed Guppy who bizarrely sliced
wide. Walsh began to move forward too. Certainly City
weren't going to give up and they deserved more and would have
achieved more had their shooting been accurate and Heskey's team
mates had been able to convert his efforts into something tangible.
Hanson's words rattled round my brain 'Heskey should move
to a good team !'
With 5 mins to play United 'fans' got bored and decided to go
home to Essex and other football deserts after having failed to
get behind their team all afternoon.
Disappointment greeted the final whistle in our end. We'd
played well, had no luck and frustratingly we hadn't taken our
chances............back to the drawing board after an 'if only'
afternoon.
Man United: Bosnich, Neville (Berg, 83), Stam, Silvestre,
Higginbottom (May, 79), Solskjaer, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Cole,
Yorke.
Subs not used: Van Der Gouw, Cruyff, Greening.
Leicester: Flowers, Sinclair, Elliott, Taggart, Impey, Savage, Lennon, Izzet, Guppy, Heskey, Cottee (Walsh, 79).
Subs not used: Gilchrist, Arphexad, Oakes, Zagorakis.
Attendance: 55,191.
Referee: P Durkin (Dorset).
