Wow, who saw that coming?
We all expected a response to the no-show at Molineux but such was the lack of City belief in deepest darkest Black Country, it felt a bit of a stretch to see that response yielding three points.
But one swoosh of Jamal Lewis’ left boot and some jiggery-pokery from the sticklers of Stockley Park, and City were celebrating only their second Premier League win of 2020.
And what a relief.
The guttural roar that greeted that final blast of Craig Pawson’s whistle told the story. If they’re going to go down, we want them to go down fighting, not waving white flags, and that’s what we got last night.
And, of course, who knows what can happen if that one win can turn into a couple and, for the first time this season, we find ourselves with that scarce commodity called momentum.
But that’s for another day, and there’ll be no three-word tropes from me that begin with The and end in Escape. Nor will there be images of Steve McQueen astride a motorcycle, staring wistfully at a large, barbed wire fence. A lesson learned.
Instead, I’ll be savoring the win for what it was: gutsy, defiant and bold.
That Jamal Lewis emerged the hero added a dash of surreality to the evening but, having endured a tricky season and a subsequent dip in confidence, that goal could be just what he needs to find his top level for the run-in. And for inspiration, he only has to look fifty metres to his right to his mate ripping it up down the right flank.
Not for the first time, the evening threatened to turn into the Max Aarons show, with for long spells our right-back operating more as a winger than a defender.
Not until I had chatted to a Leicester fan this week for the MFW match preview had I sussed that Ben Chilwell isn’t universally loved by the King Power faithful. Questions remain around his ability to defend one-on-one apparently, and so it was no surprise that Team Farke had altered the shape a little to allow Max to get up close and personal with the England international.
And lo and behold. As one tweeter succinctly put it, Aarons had Chilwell on toast all night, just as he did for the goal.
Talking of which, almost lost behind Aarons whizzing past Chilwell as if he were on sand and Lewis fading that perfect strike inside Schmeichel’s post, was Ben Godfrey’s pearler of a pass to pick out Max in the first place.
Godfrey has not had the easiest of seasons and one or two brows have been furrowed at his defending at times (as they were again last night), but there’s a very good player in there, one who is still learning, but who can also ping a pass onto a sixpence if needed.
I’m sure the fact three of our brightest young things combined for the goal won’t have been lost on numerous heads of recruitment across the country but, equally, they can all feel free to s0d off, at least for a couple of seasons.
We can’t, of course, ignore the fact that but for the intervention of VAR we would most probably be mulling over another narrow defeat this morning, but how lovely was it that just for once we came out on the plus side. Leicester will no doubt feel aggrieved as we would do (and have done) in the same circumstances. But… who cares. We’ll take it.
It’ll have been a relieved Ben Godfrey who watched Pawson eventually reverse his decision and award a free-kick after another interminable wait for the white smoke of Stockley Park. To have let that ball bounce and then get the wrong side of Iheanacho was an error; all part of the aforementioned learning curve.
But it did seem to galvanize City. The surge of adrenalin trigged by that lifeline can’t be underestimated and that sense of back-from-the-dead felt in the stands must have been ten-fold in the hearts and minds of the players. And for Leicester, not in the finest of fettle, it must have felt like a full-on whack in the cojones.
Like I said… who cares.
The Foxes will argue they should have been ahead at half-time, and there were spells when it was by the seat of the pants stuff as Barnes and Maddison probed and Perez and Iheanacho misfired, but rarely was Tim Krul left unguarded. He did what he had to do with the minimum of fuss and, as a defensive unit, City looked ever more assured as the minutes ticked by.
That Krul didn’t have a save worthy of the name to make once City had edged themselves ahead speaks volumes for those in front of him – including one Emi Buendia who took his defensive responsibilities very seriously; like one who was proving to his coach that he has been listening.
He also, along with Ondrej Duda, formed City’s creative hub in that stirring second half. Both were prominent as the Canaries turned the screw.
So, three points. Three beautiful points even if the football that earned them couldn’t always be labelled as such. For weeks now, we’ve been saying that we’d give anything for a battling 1-0 that didn’t necessarily come with all the bells and whistles. And that’s what we got.
Lovely ol’ job.
Now bring on the Spurs.
I have one complaint, I can never get to sleep after a rare win (even after or maybe because of a large Port). Still can catch up with my sleep whilst pretending to watch Brighton v Palace.
Buendia – 3 Pts.
Very enjoyable evening where Max proved he’s as good as any full back in the league and better than most.
Emi more than held his own in comparison with Madders and Jamel brightened his season.
The one big unsung hero in our recently improved defensive performances is Grant Hanley. Like Tettey he appears to have improved technically under Farke. Finally we have somebody in central defence who attacks and clears crosses which prevents the previous chaos and subsequent goals being conceded.
The combination of Hanley and Godfrey works well as one has defensive experience and the other has exceptional pace for a central defender.
Hope has returned!
Hi John
I was “injured” last night and couldn’t get to the game [more briefly about that tomorrow] but trust me to miss a fantastic performance like that. Sod’s Law in full effect.
Totally agree with you about the Hanley and Godfrey combo, although the latter had a couple of dodgies but compensated with that sublime diagonal to Max.
Zimbo [and even Klose] will find it difficult to get back in.
So many Spurs fans have been raving about Max on their sites that departure seems inevitable. We’re all the same – there’s only one match on a Friday night and every bugger watches it!
Martin, I’m a fan of Zimbo’s effort but for a man of his size he’s very weak in the air. Hence he is often caught out being unbalanced with his hands dangerously above his head.
An excellent game and all round team performance. Now for the footballing gods to serve up a bunch of L’s for those around us.
It was also the first time I’d felt confident VAR was going to rule in our favour, but I still want rid of it.
Nevermind…
I’m so pleased with the win and so pleased that Farke got his tactics correct, right down to taking Cantwell off at 70 mins. The boy has done brilliantly this season but his decision making fades as games progress and as the season progresses he’s clearly feeling his workload. And who can complain, he’s being asked an awful lot of!
Rupp proved to be the correct sub – solid, shoring things up, able to attack without too much risk. And then we got the goal. Good work all round. We can do it!
I had the benefit or watching on Sky and the Leicester goal was never going to stand as it appeared to hit his arm twice. Norwich played with huge commitment but Duda really should have put his close range chance away. He blasted straight into Schmeichel’s hands who didn’t have to move his feet at all, when if he’d rolled it either side of him he would have scored. So it should have been a lot more comfortable, but ecstatic with a 1-0 win
Hi Gary
An enjoyable read.
It was mentioned last night that Sky werent letting Delia near a microphone as last night was the anniversary of her rant at the Man City game.
Lewis got his first league goal and VAR finally gave a decision in our favour, so a good night all round and we still live in hope of the great escape.
Sky coverage at the end showed Delia grabbing a flag and waving it with a little gusto. Being a bit of a cynic, I just wonder if she noticed the cameras on her.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Great 3 points, and overall well deserved I think.
Have to say, what a difference Buendia made, and as you say Gary, his defensive shift alongside Aarons pretty much nullified Leicester’s Chilwell/Barnes threat.
And what is it about Jamal Lewis and the live TV cameras?? Only 2 senior goals, but what a superb strike from him last night.
Brighton have just lost, so it could well be the weekend when the unmentionable (according to Mr Gowers) actually started!
O T B C
Oh dear John [bet you’ve heard that before] – we’ve got the Seagulls at home yet.
You never know. You never know.
Brenda Rodgers was, as expected, not happy with the VAR decision, much to the amusement of Wolves fans. Apparently, Brenda was fully supportive of the VAR decisions in Leicester’s game at Molineux, which cost Wolves the game. Personally, I don’t like the new interpretation of the handball rule. It should be the same for both forwards and defenders, but it isn’t, and VAR pronounced on it accordingly. Sorry Brenda, but we needed the three points more than you.
I thought Tettey handled Madison really well. Must be the result of having played against him in training! Several people on the Pink’un forum moaning about Duda, but I thought he had a good game. He held the ball up well, and was tough to shake off it. Shame he passed up the chance of his first goal for us.
In the flesh now seen three times as many wins as losses at Carrow Road this season. A friend living in NZ predicted a thrashing. At the result – one word from him – ‘Astonished’.
Really enjoyed last night, the lads played well and gave the impression of having more possession than they did.
For once ‘We love VAR’.