Match Report: Lloyd banks City crucial three points

[Olé]

A match short on quality between two poor sides was swung decisively in favour of City by a stunning performance from Lloyd Kelly, who kept his head while all around were losing theirs, to create two goals and contribute to another, in a crazy nine minute second half spell.

A fixture neither struggling side wanted to lose was played out as a scrappy end to end game both wanted to win, committing players forward at both ends albeit short on quality up front. It wouldn't amount to much for City until Kelly, a class above all others, took hold of the game.

He raced down the left three times in less then ten minutes to deliver two equalisers and then a winner - first overlapping an Eliasson run to slide a low ball in for Diedhiou to bundle home, then freeing Eliassson to setup Paterson, before his driving run teed up Diedhiou's winner.

City started convincingly, determined to get the opener, inside 2 minutes Webster - at his old club - ran at Ipswich, before an intricate set of passes freed Weimann but his cut back found no support. A minute later the classy Walsh hit a dipping 20 yard shot that was tipped over. 

Within 60 seconds it was a third chance as Paterson seized on a loose ball only to fire over. Inside five minutes and so far plain sailing for City. It wouldn't last long. Walsh got dispossessed 30 yards out a minute later and Sears slammed a low shot past Maenappa and the post.

The game became scrappy and after ten minutes Paterson got clattered  while skipping past midfielders in front of City's bench, home manager Lambert arguing with his opposite number as the game boiled over. At the mid point of the half Kalas too was hacked down by Jordan.

But before that City showed flashes of the purpose that would eventually serve them well: on 20 minutes intercepting an attack for Walsh to break forward, his long ball out to Eliasson on the right driven into the box where Weimann came close to turning home, but adjudged to be offside.

It was all in vain as after the half hour City blinked. Stepping up to attack and with 4 forward, City lost the ball, then hesitated to press, letting Ipswich to play out before releasing Sears on the left who ran at City, turned Pisano inside out, and then curled into the bottom corner. 

To LJ's credit he hauled off Adelakun at the interval, almost a passenger in the first half and profligate with the ball, an opportunity to switch Eliasson to link up with Kelly, while introducing Diedhiou as a far more direct focal point up front. It was decisive for City's fortunes.

Before City could get going, the effective Walsh went off injured inside six minutes of the second period, challenging bravely in City's own box. It meant the introduction of Morrell, much needed energy for a City side struggling to use possession. And inevitably minutes later City scored.

The ball was played out to Eliasson on the left, who drew a defender, then fed Lloyd Kelly on the overlap, the young City star drilling a wicked low out swinging cross in front of the keeper - pushed into Famara's path, the Senegal striker bundling it back - and wide - but in off the keeper.

But within two minutes City were behind again, Ipswich crossing deep from the left to the far post, a header back across goal leading to a shot, blocked and spinning to the edge of the box, Sears again with all the time in the world to pick a corner and drill home low through a crowd.

Amazingly the game swung end to end, in a minute City were level again. Once more Kelly roamed down the left, he released Eliasson to beat a defender with a turn of pace, swinging a deep ball to the far post, Paterson unmarked to half volley into the ground and up over the keeper.

Comically Ipswich almost retook the lead, a free kick on City's left resulting in a mad scramble in the box, the ball almost fired in at close range but blocked for a corner. And then to the delight of an increasingly noisy 290 away followers, the visitors actually stole into an improbable lead.

This was the best of the lot for the classy Kelly, picking the ball up just inside the Ipswich half just beyond the hour mark, he weaved through defenders on a confident driving run, before lifting the ball over the defence for Diedhiou to break the line and steal in to nod home and celebrate.

City were finally good value for their lead, and fifteen minutes from the end Morrell collected the ball in his own half after an Ipswich move broke down, fed Diedhiou through the middle, who quickly sent the hard working Weimann away right, his low cross met just too late by Paterson.

In the final exchanges Ipswich went close with ten to go from an overhead kick after a beautiful defence splitting pass out to the left, and then in the final minutes of normal time City again broke through the relentless Eliasson who patiently worked it to Paterson to smash wide from 25 yards.

City in the end were comfortable with their lead over six minutes added on -  Kelly now stepping up convincingly into his defensive duties. He would be the star of the show, elevating a battle of two limited sides into a comfortable victory headlined by his efforts at both ends.

 

Maenappa 6 Couldn't do much with the goals but slow to get down to low shots

Pisano 5 Some good headers but slow to close down the opener

Kelly 9 Best player on the pitch by some considerable distance 

Kalas 6 Most dominant in the final 25 with something to defend

Webster 6 Generally solid and one great run early in the game

Pack 5 Poor form continues, looked slow and nervous, wasted a few passes and didn't break up much

Walsh 6 Our best player before he got injured, a driving influence out of midfield and put himself about all over the pitch

Adelakun 4 Poor game after Saturday, careless with chances to control the ball and uncertain what to do with it

Eliasson 7 Linked up well with Kelly second half and simply never stopped running - wants it more than most

Paterson 6 Like Leeds a relatively improved performance but still massively hit and miss, from drifting into fantastic positions to being muscled off the ball in midfield without getting close to getting it under control

Weimann 6 Bags of energy and works his proverbials off but no support or pace so also rarely a threat individually 

 

Diedhiou 7 Finishes both fortuitous (one deflected the other from a deflected through ball) but his movement and interplay from as deep as the halfway line sharp and more composed than recent weeks and his reaction to winner shows the criticism has stung

Morrell 7 Unlucky with the loose ball for Ipswich's second but otherwise looked like he had been playing first team football for years, hard working, energetic and tidy

Hunt 5 Didn't play for long

[cheshire_red]

Cheers

[hoxton casual]

Great report Ole. I would put Webster at fault along with Psano for the first goal.

The 2 strikes from Sears were clinical and showed why he was so well rated as a youngster.

If Kelly does not get taken by a decent Premier club I would be gobsmacked. A privilege to watch him.

I thought Patterson is getting back to his best and I would give him a 7. A pest and one of few on the pitch with a creative spark.

Weimann was everywhere!!

[Dullmoan Tone]

Having just got back from a rare away trip, I find myself agreeing with nearly everything.

But I think you were too kind on the defence - we always looked exposed vs a very poor Ipswich who gave the ball away consistently across the pitch and Pisano [3] felt like an accident waiting to happen, I know he's been out a while but Hunt should have started.

Also Pack's miserable form hardly warrants a five - I hoped sitting alongside the effervescent Walsh would help him, but I'm starting to wish we could give him a break from the first team to rediscover his mojo - he is half the player of last season a 4 at best.

[italian dave]

Yep, spot on @Olé as ever. Ironically, thought Kelly had a poor first 15 defensively, but perhaps he was fortunate that it was the other side from where we were sat! Second half it was a joy to watch him closer up!! 

Mention for Diedhiou too: made a huge difference, a physical presence, and for all that they had an element of fortune, he was in the right place and stuck away both goals. We’d have lost without him tonight, I’m sure of that. 

 

[Up The City!]

Your match report made the game sound far more entertaining than it was. 

This has to be one of the worst performances I have seen us put in whilst scoring 3 goals. 

It seemed that in this game every shot on goal was a goal or almost a goal. 

Normally a game that ends 3-2 is normally quite entertaining, this simply wasn't entertaining at all.

I felt like I was watching a league two game in all honesty. It was actually that bad.

[Red Army 75]

Ole great report. Do you go to every away game. Unbelievable commitment 

[Jacki]

Great report as ever. 

We would have all taken the result at the start of the game without question, so that’s positive in itself. The performance however was still a worry. 

One thing that stood out for me was just how poor Maenappa is on crosses. At least 4 times he punched (flapped) the ball away when it was right down his throat....  it would have far been easier to catch it than try what he did. What is it about modern keepers that makes them do that? Having seen quite a bit of him now I’m afraid he looks to me to be an accident waiting to happen  

[t_b]

I thought Pisano was poor and between Eliasson & him the positioning on the right hand side was all over the place. Massive gaps for their first goal - I'd looked down at my phone to text someone the exact same thing before I look up and see Ipswich break down in front of us away fans and just skip along in the gaps.

Immediately after our goal I serious doubted my interpretation of our formation as Pisano seemed to be slotting in at right CB alongside the other two, with Kelly & Eliasson playing wing backs. That just meant a complete muddle of the front 5 in my mind. That said; the remainder of the first half was so disjointed we could well have been playing a "plan b" and just not executing it at all.

Pisano was so welcoming for Sears he poured him a cup of tea and offered him a blanket as he let him in last night. 

[redsince1994]

27 minutes ago, Jacki said:

Great report as ever. 

We would have all taken the result at the start of the game without question, so that’s positive in itself. The performance however was still a worry. 

One thing that stood out for me was just how poor Maenappa is on crosses. At least 4 times he punched (flapped) the ball away when it was right down his throat....  it would have far been easier to catch it than try what he did. What is it about modern keepers that makes them do that? Having seen quite a bit of him now I’m afraid he looks to me to be an accident waiting to happen  

I'd bring Frankie bacck in when he's ready. Nikki continually put it out of touch ans flapped at crosses so don't see what he offers over Fielding, who is IMO a better shot stopper.

[robin_unreliant]

It looked like a League 1 game to me, so poor by both teams.

I watched the Villa highlights after this game and it just emphasised the difference. Forest scored some great goals and look like a proper footballing side. Contrast with our performance which was woefully short on quality.

I don't think we are anywhere close to being out of the woods yet.

[Midlands Robin]

I look forward to reading your reports @Olé. Thanks again.

[pongo88]

A good report, but it can’t convey how poor, and and lucky City was. The first City goal was a deflection  from Diedhiou that was going wide until the Ipswich keeper flapped it into the net. The keeper was then poor for the second and Diedhiou’s header for the third came from a lucky deflection from Kelly’s shot. They all count, and the 3 points are welcome, but it doesn’t inspire me with much confidence for the rest of the season. 

[Major Isewater]

1 hour ago, Jacki said:

Great report as ever. 

We would have all taken the result at the start of the game without question, so that’s positive in itself. The performance however was still a worry. 

One thing that stood out for me was just how poor Maenappa is on crosses. At least 4 times he punched (flapped) the ball away when it was right down his throat....  it would have far been easier to catch it than try what he did. What is it about modern keepers that makes them do that? Having seen quite a bit of him now I’m afraid he looks to me to be an accident waiting to happen  

I don't believe Maenpaa is back to his preinjury level .

He seems to have lost a bit of confidence.

He is still a good keeper.

 

[Major Isewater]

One huge thing from this game was the mentality of the players . They didn't let their heads drop when being pegged back and they looked up for the fight.

 I have been very critical of their lack of spine but last night they came through.

They actually believed that they would win , something missing from recent performances.

Now they should believe that they can beat a Millwall side on a very poor run .

Another win on Sunday and we can put the " Johnson Out " threads on hold for a few weeks, no ? 

 

[Maesknoll Red]

Another great read, didn’t see the game so can’t comment on it, but the concern must be the continuing lack of quality.

[BRISTOL86]

6 hours ago, Up The City! said:

Your match report made the game sound far more entertaining than it was. 

This has to be one of the worst performances I have seen us put in whilst scoring 3 goals. 

It seemed that in this game every shot on goal was a goal or almost a goal. 

Normally a game that ends 3-2 is normally quite entertaining, this simply wasn't entertaining at all.

I felt like I was watching a league two game in all honesty. It was actually that bad.

And yet the second half vs Stoke was as good as I’ve seen us play all season and we got nowt. 

Funny old game. But I know which I’d rather have! 

[Sturny]

So do people think we should drop Pack for Smith as soon as we can? 

[italian dave]

1 hour ago, Jacki said:

Great report as ever. 

We would have all taken the result at the start of the game without question, so that’s positive in itself. The performance however was still a worry. 

One thing that stood out for me was just how poor Maenappa is on crosses. At least 4 times he punched (flapped) the ball away when it was right down his throat....  it would have far been easier to catch it than try what he did. What is it about modern keepers that makes them do that? Having seen quite a bit of him now I’m afraid he looks to me to be an accident waiting to happen  

To be fair, they were at least decent punches last night. I agree he tends to punch when I’d rather he caught, but I guess he’s the one out there making the judgement. Flapping is not doing either, and I didn’t think he was guilty if that. 

I think he is what he is: a fairly late, semi-panic signing, when we failed to land our first, second and third choice keepers during the summer. I’d fully expect that position to be near the top of the list again next summer, and that’s if we don’t get the American in Jan. 

[1bristolcity]

1 hour ago, robin_unreliant said:

It looked like a League 1 game to me, so poor by both teams.

I watched the Villa highlights after this game and it just emphasised the difference. Forest scored some great goals and look like a proper footballing side. Contrast with our performance which was woefully short on quality.

I don't think we are anywhere close to being out of the woods yet.

The Villa Forest game was full of errors too, 10 goals conceded proves that, but goals are entertaining, and the highlights look better than the game itself. However teams with a solid defence win things, boring but true. 

We are not even 'in the woods' as you suggest, our first seven games netted 14 points, a season is 46 games. Plenty of games left for a challenge for a top 6 at the very least, look at Fulham last season.?  

LJ does need to find the right blend though, as yet he has not, he has the tools he just needs to know how to use them example was last night not to start Fammy nearly cost us,  desperately need to look at Pack's position, his lack of form is one of the reasons we are struggling.

[ashton_fan]

Hopefully this will start a run of wins as earlier in the season when we scored 3 at QPR when they were bottom then won the next 3.

[ExiledAjax]

I wouldn't agree that Kelly was the one shining light. He links well with Eliasson and had a good game but I thought that in the second half it was Diedhiou, Paterson and Webster that won us the game.

Agree that Johnson should get credit for realising that Adelakun was, shall we say, "struggling" and that hooking him at HT changed the game.

[Harry]

Agree that Kelly was the best player on the pitch. Had a few tricky defensive situations early on with Edwards but he did well, kept in solid positions and cut out a few crosses. Then, going forward he was superb and had a hand in all of our goals. Brilliant. 

Pato I thought was showing snippets of what he is about and certainly gave plenty of energy to the game too. Weimann also gives the energy but he seriously lacks any idea of what to do with the ball when he gets it. 

Pisano looked exactly what he was - out of the game for months. 

Eliasson was excellent. He’s often had his off the ball work criticised but last night he worked his socks off, seemed stronger in the tackle and did excellent work going forwards and delivering dangerous balls. 

Walsh was certainly very ‘busy’ until his injury but he did have a couple of moments where his touch let him down and he lost the ball in his own half. 

Pack had probably his quietest game ever for City. He’s usually given the ball through almost all of our possessions and it’s usually he who sets the tempo. Last night, whether it was just the whole scrappiness of the game or if it was an intended game plan, but the ball just didn’t go through him as much as usual. Our attacking moves were much quicker and generally built down the flanks, and we didn’t look for the slower ball retention through the centre midfield as we usually do. I also noticed that whilst Pack didn’t get as much of the ball, he also seemed to be operating further forward than usual. So he wasn’t stationed solely in that DM position but was more of an orthodox CM. This could be a reason Sears had lots of space to come inside for his first goal, as our DM would usually be shutting down this kind of space forcing the player to stay wide. Overall, I think this was Packs quietest game ever in a City shirt - would be interesting to see the stats for him last night for his amount of touches,  I’d imagine it’s a lot less than his average. 

Interstingly, Pack looked more comfortable when Morrell came on. I’ve always said that Pack & Smith are a great partnership and that Pack & Brownhill are not. I’m thinking Pack also struggles with Walsh but perhaps has a better partnership with Morrell? Don’t know. Too early to tell, but it’s an inkling I have. 

All in all, a scrappy game, we took our chances but could easily have ended up as a loss or a draw. Kelly & Eliasson the two standout players. 

[Fatalist]

8 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

I wouldn't agree that Kelly was the one shining light. He links well with Eliasson and had a good game but I thought that in the second half it was Diedhiou, Paterson and Webster that won us the game.

Agree that Johnson should get credit for realising that Adelakun was, shall we say, "struggling" and that hooking him at HT changed the game.

I thought it was telling that Kelly seemed the only one to try driving runs through their defence, reminiscent of Joe Bryan at his best.

Yet Kelly is primarily a defender. Why don't /can't our attacking players do that, especially against poorer defences? It opens up space and makes things happen, instead of hoping they might.

[Red 90]

Without Kelly & Eliasson in the team it's hard to see where any kind of purposeful attack will come from.. by far our best players this season, both massively improved and taken that step up to both be the first names on the team sheet for me.

[The Original OTIB]

13 minutes ago, Red 90 said:

Without Kelly & Eliasson in the team it's hard to see where any kind of purposeful attack will come from.. by far our best players this season, both massively improved and taken that step up to both be the first names on the team sheet for me.

It would be nice if our Head Coach kept Eliasson LEFT side.

[Olé]

8 hours ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

Also Pack's miserable form hardly warrants a five - I hoped sitting alongside the effervescent Walsh would help him, but I'm starting to wish we could give him a break from the first team to rediscover his mojo - he is half the player of last season a 4 at best.

I agree, but I'm also conscious that I've been often accused of having an agenda against Marlon in my scoring and that I continually under-rate his contribution*, so I stop short of being too down on the bloke now, even if he has been practically the weakest link for about 2 months. He looks a shadow of himself and last night looked particularly slow and out of form (as @Harry says elsewhere in this thread, I also think he was being asked to sit in yesterday, slightly different role, as a result less forward play was going through him). 

*The view that he is being under-rated of course mostly stems from the massive over rating he's had since Pep made an off the cuff remark where he needed to think of the name of one of our players as an example and chose Pack, which everyone I think took as a specific recommendation! Yes Pack has that one killer pass, yes he's been as important for us for 5 years and as close as we have had to a playmaker, but the truth is we're starved of real quality, his speed of thought and consistency are being shown up alongside Walsh.

[The Original OTIB]

7 minutes ago, Olé said:

I agree, but I'm also conscious that I've been often accused of having an agenda against Marlon in my scoring and that I continually under-rate his contribution*, so I stop short of being too down on the bloke now, even if he has been practically the weakest link for about 2 months. He looks a shadow of himself and last night looked particularly slow and out of form (as @Harry says elsewhere in this thread, I also think he was being asked to sit in yesterday, slightly different role, as a result less forward play was going through him). 

*The view that he is being under-rated of course mostly stems from the massive over rating he's had since Pep made an off the cuff remark where he needed to think of the name of one of our players as an example and chose Pack, which everyone I think took as a specific recommendation! Yes Pack has that one killer pass, yes he's been as important for us for 5 years and as close as we have had to a playmaker, but the truth is we're starved of real quality, his speed of thought and consistency are being shown up alongside Walsh.

I'm looking forward to Bakinson & Morrell with Walsh. I think Bakinson will prove to be a gem.

[Northern Red]

1 minute ago, The Original OTIB said:

I'm looking forward to Bakinson & Morrell with Walsh. I think Bakinson will prove to be a gem.

For those with nothing better to do on Saturday night, Newport are on BT against Wrexham in the FA Cup. Hopefully Bakinson, Semenyo and Pring will all be involved.

[ExiledAjax]

6 minutes ago, Olé said:

He looks a shadow of himself and last night looked particularly slow and out of form

Genuine question but is there a chance he is affected by a drop in status in the dressing room pecking order? Let me explain my complete guesswork.

For the past three seasons we had a core of Flint, Bryan, Pack, Reid, Smith and Fielding. Well known to be mates on and off the pitch. In particular Flint, Pack and Bryan were regularly seen to be good mates off the pitch, golfing together, those Vegas trips, I think even Flint and Pack's other halves are sisters or cousins or something? I personally met Pack and Flint (Wright, Steele and Paterson as well) in a pub in London towards the end of last season and it's obvious how tight they are.

Now, translate that to the dressing room and you get a tight group who I suspect dominated the social order. They were the "cool kids" that everyone else looked up to. They were the Alphas.

That group has been shattered. Flint has moved hundreds of miles away, and Bryan and Reid are now literally in a different league to Pack. Smith and Fielding are long term injury lay offs, and Fielding has by all account been very seriously ill.

In short Pack now exists in a dressing room that has a very different dynamic. He is likely no longer part of a dominant and tight knit group of guys. He is now just another bloke in the team, albeit a senior and long-standing member of that team, but he's without those strong allies.

Essentially his best mates have left or are out of the first team. Maybe I am imagining  all of this but I can understand how such a loss of status could affect your confidence in both yourself and other players, and therefore affect your form.