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Match Report: It's getting boring as dominant City convert again


Olé

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Bored of this now. 8 wins in a row, two goals conceeded and 14 unbeaten - these aren't Mickey Mouse teams we're playing, Blackburn matched us for attacking intent, swift passing and interplay, yet City dominated 80 of 90 minutes and rightly won.

It isn't just that Lee Johnson's side have found a rich vein of form, they're suddenly making this division look relatively easy. Win after win, rarely conceding - the only twist was that after a one sided first period, Rovers did actually rally second half. 

But Johnson, now in the managerial form of his life, rolled the dice with three bullish attacking substitutions, and once more he reaped the rewards as City hit a new gear and deservedly contrived a late winner via of all people Pisano, powering in a corner.

From kick off City went at the hosts: Pack, a strong candidate for man of the match, rolled it into Brownhill, who turned a man to see a first minute shot blocked. After 9 a Wright backheel put Brownhill in space, setting O'Dowda away to win a corner.

Within minutes O'Dowda again sprung the Blackburn offside trap, wasting his square ball in the box, and a minute later a deep  Weimann crossfield ball found Famara in space to win a corner, from which Callum fired well over from their half clearance. 

Blackburn's first real chance followed with their next attack, good work from Dack at a left wing throw in allowed the Blackburn star to flash a dangerous ball across the face of goal, Da Silva and Webster doing brilliantly to stop Reid applying the finish.

At the midway point of the half a fast ball upfield from City put us 3-on-3 against back tracking home defenders, the lively O'Dowda beat a defender and then tried to feed Diedhiou behind the last man, but his run through was desperately blocked. 

It was City that were dominating chances, and yet another followed quickly as from a deep cross from Paterson out on the left, Wright arrived with a towering header at the far post that was crashing goalwards only for them to desperately head clear. 

Five minutes on and O'Dowda headed on to give Weimann room to run between the lines and he lasered a low shot to the far corner that the keeper tipped wide. Next O'Dowda won a free kick which Brownhill curled over the wall but into the keeper. 

This was largely one way traffic and inside the last ten minutes of the half there was chaos in the home box from a corner, City with multiple chances to turn in, the ball spinning to Fam whose volley was beaten away, Pack drilling wide from a clearance.

Blackburn rallied with some half chances but after 39 O'Dowda went clear down the left channel but always stretching to make a weak low shot. Soon after Kalas took off on a barnstorming run down the left to win a corner, at which Diedhiou headed over. 

Ironically for all City dominance - winning every second ball - Blackburn came out in the second period being much more direct and straight from the kick off they caught City napping, putting Dack clear from the right, whipping a fierce ball across goal.

The hosts were suddenly all over City and in a mad 30 second spell they attacked us from both flanks, putting our six yard box under siege - Reid meeting a loose ball at the far post, arrowing a shot across goal, just one of a spate of goalbound strikes. 

But you always felt that City still had the better football, and a brilliant give and go by Pack on the right got the midfielder to the byline, and his cross found Diedhiou rising beyond the far post, heading down, the ball bouncing up, forcing a tip over.

City again rallied and on 53 brilliant skills from De Silva at a Blackburn free kick saw him break out from his box, beat a player, then reversed play long out left to release Paterson, his cross finding Weimann with just keeper to beat, only to handle the ball.

Almost immediately Brownhill was sprung down the right and chopped down by Travis - already booked - and referee Linnington unbelievably decided he wouldn't produce a second card, bottling the red, the hosts instead withdrawing him themselves.

It forced the official to also ignore protests for a second card for Bailey Wright at the other end - also withdrawn - as the game entered a ten minute scrappy spell. But at the midway point of the 45 Dack rounded a defender to draw Fielding's best save.

If anything the second half had produced a closer contest - but Lee Johnson wasn't finished and clearly sensed a win was still within his grasp, throwing on ex-Blackburn loaner Kasey Palmer and Matty Taylor, for a 20 minute push for a deserved winner. 

It nearly paid immediate dividends as out on the left Diedhiou somehow managed to stick a boot out behind him and divert the forward ball to Taylor, who returned it with a touch back to Fam to look up and lash a shot over from 20 yards: sublime interplay.

Sub Palmer initially looked careless with a ball to feet, but he was clearly keen to put his mark on ex employers, and his forward running added an additional impetus. City duly won another corner and with just ten to go sub Pisano hooked in at close range.

Another away game, yet another delerious reaction right in front of all City's travelling fans - just as it had been at Birmingham, Brentford and Forest. Following Johnson's men away from home is certainly offering memorable celebrations for supporters.

The final ten minutes were comfortable for a largely dominant City, indeed Diedhiou, Palmer and Taylor kept the visitors moving forward right to the end. With just minutes left Palmer's low shot forced the final save after good work by Taylor and O'Dowda.

The national media will probably say this was a smash and grab 1-0 win away at a similarly on form Championship side. But that would not do justice to City's latest imperious performance, dominating most exchanges and good value for their win.

Blackburn were lively in the final third and stepped up a gear in the second half after a one sided first period, but in truth it was rare that City ever looked in danger of the game running away from them, against a good side that had won 4 in a row at home.

City convincingly extended their stellar run of results, built on neat and tidy defending across the back four, Pack's best game of the last month at the base of midfield, and spritely forward runs by our forward trio. If anything it was closer than it should have been.

 

Fielding 7 Flawless, calm and composed without too much to do

Wright 6 Some surprisingly neat touches on the ball but loose with a few tackles

Da Silva 8 He is making the place his own, wins the ball or creates space against his opponent where he has no right to do so, and tidies up problems towards the end a lot better than many full backs (see a lot of our meltdowns last season) have done

Kalas 8 Was class throughout, you could almost say he and Webster are competing to be the better centre back week to week and today it was definitely Kalas that gave us more of a Webster display than Webster

Webster 7 Some crucial and composed interventions, but by his own very high standards some careless touches on the ball and not as good as Kalas

Pack 8 For me his best game for us this season - has his customary misplaced pass second half but his range of passing, and his give and go movement at the base of midfield, ran much of the game and brought others into play throughout

Brownhill 7 Not as much of an attacking threat as he can be, lots of good touches in central midfield and first to every loose ball

Paterson 6 Always energetic and tireless without the ball, but easily our weakest link - and physically so - without it, giving the ball up too easily several times

O'Dowda 7 Easily our most involved player going forward but final ball questionable and didn't always have the finish, but an utter nuisance from start to finish

Weimann 7 Often made his runs down the opposite flank to where City had got their players attacking, so did very well without much support, tireless again but without much end product

Diedhiou 7 Didn't always have the control to match his effort but for the most part he was indispensable to the space which O'Dowda and Weimann found, and was a brilliant foil when Taylor and Palmer came on, teeing up countless forward breaks

 

Pisano 7 Solid, reliable replacement for Bailey Wright and did brilliantly not long after coming on for today's match winner

Palmer 7 Far too loose initially with balls to feet but grew into the game and started to dictate the pace as he got room to run with the ball and pick gaps in the Blackburn midfield and defence

Taylor 6 Several bright touches and a much needed nuisance in the six yard box at corners, which we had wasted for most of the match before he was involved  

 

No match report for our trip to Norwich as made mistake of sacrificing my first away game in two years for a footballing trip to Germany. May need to plan my excuses...

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Nothing to argue with there @Olé. I've posted on other threads similar comments about Pack. He was the reason their swift passing and interplay kept breaking down on the edge of the box. He was superb. Likewise that unbelievable decision not to give a second yellow to their 27. Whether BW should have had one is down to different views on the challenge, but the challenge by the 27 was identical to the one BW had already been booked for.

i thought we were unbelievable calm and composed after we scored (so different from last season). They just couldn't get the ball off us. 

Enjoy Germany! 

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2 minutes ago, miser said:

Hopefully for Norwich, you can just post this one with a few name changes.

If- huge 'if'- we can win the next 2 league games then we will have made a real statement.

I know we're already on 6 in a row, but none have been the top few sides. A couple were teams around us (Blackburn, Swansea, Forest).

We are, despite this form, still not really being seen as contenders by other clubs fans (not an issue for me mind), but an away win at Norwich would, I think, be the result that makes people take us a bit more seriously.

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9 minutes ago, Olé said:

Bored of this now. 8 wins in a row, two goals conceeded and 14 unbeaten - these aren't Mickey Mouse teams we're playing, Blackburn matched us for attacking intent, swift passing and interplay, yet City dominated 80 of 90 minutes and rightly won.

It isn't just that Lee Johnson's side have found a rich vein of form, they're suddenly making this division look relatively easy. Win after win, rarely conceding - the only twist was that after a one sided first period, Rovers did actually rally second half. 

But Johnson, now in the managerial form of his life, rolled the dice with three bullish attacking substitutions, and once more he reaped the rewards as City hit a new gear and deservedly contrived a late winner via of all people Pisano, powering in a corner.

From kick off City went at the hosts: Pack, a strong candidate for man of the match, rolled it into Brownhill, who turned a man to see a first minute shot blocked. After 9 a Wright backheel put Brownhill in space, setting O'Dowda away to win a corner.

Within minutes O'Dowda again sprung the Blackburn offside trap, wasting his square ball in the box, and a minute later a deep  Weimann crossfield ball found Famara in space to win a corner, from which Callum fired well over from their half clearance. 

Blackburn's first real chance followed with their next attack, good work from Dack at a left wing throw in allowed the Blackburn star to flash a dangerous ball across the face of goal, Da Silva and Webster doing brilliantly to stop Reid applying the finish.

At the midway point of the half a fast ball upfield from City put us 3-on-3 against back tracking home defenders, the lively O'Dowda beat a defender and then tried to feed Diedhiou behind the last man, but his run through was desperately blocked. 

It was City that were dominating chances, and yet another followed quickly as from a deep cross from Paterson out on the left, Wright arrived with a towering header at the far post that was crashing goalwards only for them to desperately head clear. 

Five minutes on and O'Dowda headed on to give Weimann room to run between the lines and he lasered a low shot to the far corner that the keeper tipped wide. Next O'Dowda won a free kick which Brownhill curled over the wall but into the keeper. 

This was largely one way traffic and inside the last ten minutes of the half there was chaos in the home box from a corner, City with multiple chances to turn in, the ball spinning to Fam whose volley was beaten away, Pack drilling wide from a clearance.

Blackburn rallied with some half chances but after 39 O'Dowda went clear down the left channel but always stretching to make a weak low shot. Soon after Kalas took off on a barnstorming run down the left to win a corner, at which Diedhiou headed over. 

Ironically for all City dominance - winning every second ball - Blackburn came out in the second period being much more direct and straight from the kick off they caught City napping, putting Dack clear from the right, whipping a fierce ball across goal.

The hosts were suddenly all over City and in a mad 30 second spell they attacked us from both flanks, putting our six yard box under siege - Reid meeting a loose ball at the far post, arrowing a shot across goal, just one of a spate of goalbound strikes. 

But you always felt that City still had the better football, and a brilliant give and go by Pack on the right got the midfielder to the byline, and his cross found Diedhiou rising beyond the far post, heading down, the ball bouncing up, forcing a tip over.

City again rallied and on 53 brilliant skills from De Silva at a Blackburn free kick saw him break out from his box, beat a player, then reversed play long out left to release Paterson, his cross finding Weimann with just keeper to beat, only to handle the ball.

Almost immediately Brownhill was sprung down the left and chopped down by Travis - already booked - and referee Linnington unbelievably decided he wouldn't produce a second card, bottling the red, the hosts instead withdrawing him themselves.

It forced the official to also ignore protests for a second card for Bailey Wright at the other end - also withdrawn - as the game entered a ten minute scrappy spell. But at the midway point of the 45 Dack rounded a defender to draw Fielding's best save.

If anything the second half had produced a closer contest - but Lee Johnson wasn't finished and clearly sensed a win was still within his grasp, throwing on ex-Blackburn loaner Kasey Palmer and Matty Taylor, for a 20 minute push for a deserved winner. 

It nearly paid immediate dividends as out on the left Diedhiou somehow managed to stick a boot out behind him and divert the forward ball to Taylor, who returned it with a touch back to Fam to look up and lash a shot over from 20 yards: sublime interplay.

Sub Palmer initially looked careless with a ball to feet, but he was clearly keen to put his mark on ex employers, and his forward running added an additional impetus. City duly won another corner and with just ten to go sub Pisano hooked in at close range.

Another away game, yet another delerious reaction right in front of all City's travelling fans - just as it had been at Birmingham, Brentford and Forest. Following Johnson's men away from home is certainly offering memorable celebrations for supporters.

The final ten minutes were comfortable for a largely dominant City, indeed Diedhiou, Palmer and Taylor kept the visitors moving forward right to the end. With just minutes left Palmer's low shot forced the final save after good work by Taylor and O'Dowda.

The national media will probably say this was a smash and grab 1-0 win away at a similarly on form Championship side. But that would not do justice to City's latest imperious performance, dominating most exchanges and good value for their win.

Blackburn were lively in the final third and stepped up a gear in the second half after a one sided first period, but in truth it was rare that City ever looked in danger of the game running away from them, against a good side that had won 4 in a row at home.

City convincingly extended their stellar run of results, built on neat and tidy defending across the back four, Pack's best game of the last month at the base of midfield, and spritely forward runs by our forward trio. If anything it was closer than it should have been.

 

Fielding 7 Flawless, calm and composed without too much to do

Wright 6 Some surprisingly neat touches on the ball but loose with a few tackles

Da Silva 8 He is making the place his own, wins the ball or creates space against his opponent where he has no right to do so, and tidies up problems towards the end a lot better than many full backs (see a lot of our meltdowns last season) have done

Kalas 8 Was class throughout, you could almost say he and Webster are competing to be the better centre back week to week and today it was definitely Kalas that gave us more of a Webster display than Webster

Webster 7 Some crucial and composed interventions, but by his own very high standards some careless touches on the ball and not as good as Kalas

Pack 8 For me his best game for us this season - has his customary misplaced pass second half but his range of passing, and his give and go movement at the base of midfield, ran much of the game and brought others into play throughout

Brownhill 7 Not as much of an attacking threat as he can be, lots of good touches in central midfield and first to every loose ball

Paterson 6 Always energetic and tireless without the ball, but easily our weakest link - and physically so - without it, giving the ball up too easily several times

O'Dowda 7 Easily our most involved player going forward but final ball questionable and didn't always have the finish, but an utter nuisance from start to finish

Weimann 7 Often made his runs down the opposite flank to where City had got their players attacking, so did very well without much support, tireless again but without much end product

Diedhiou 7 Didn't always have the control to match his effort but for the most part he was indispensable to the space which O'Dowda and Weimann found, and was a brilliant foil when Taylor and Palmer came on, teeing up countless forward breaks

 

Pisano 7 Solid, reliable replacement for Bailey Wright and did brilliantly not long after coming on for today's match winner

Palmer 7 Far too loose initially with balls to feet but grew into the game and started to dictate the pace as he got room to run with the ball and pick gaps in the Blackburn midfield and defence

Taylor 6 Several bright touches and a much needed nuisance in the six yard box at corners, which we had wasted for most of the match before he was involved  

 

No match report for our trip to Norwich as made mistake of sacrificing my first away game in two years for a footballing trip to Germany. May need to plan my excuses...

You could cut and paste from previous week's - to save yourself some time!

As always, a great report.

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29 minutes ago, italian dave said:

Nothing to argue with there @Olé. I've posted on other threads similar comments about Pack. He was the reason their swift passing and interplay kept breaking down on the edge of the box. He was superb. Likewise that unbelievable decision not to give a second yellow to their 27. Whether BW should have had one is down to different views on the challenge, but the challenge by the 27 was identical to the one BW had already been booked for.

i thought we were unbelievable calm and composed after we scored (so different from last season). They just couldn't get the ball off us. 

Enjoy Germany! 

That was very noticeable. I expected a backs to the wall, hanging on for dear life last 10 minutes but aside from a couple of moments in injury time we were in control and If anything looked more likely to score again.

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14 minutes ago, Fiale said:

 

Was watching til he said 'Bristol City, a side we're probably better than'.

Based on ******* what? The fact we dicked them earlier in the season and have just beat them away from home now? Or how about the fact that we've been established in the Championship for a few years now and are occupying a play off place?

 

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1 hour ago, italian dave said:

Nothing to argue with there @Olé. I've posted on other threads similar comments about Pack. He was the reason their swift passing and interplay kept breaking down on the edge of the box. He was superb. Likewise that unbelievable decision not to give a second yellow to their 27. Whether BW should have had one is down to different views on the challenge, but the challenge by the 27 was identical to the one BW had already been booked for.

i thought we were unbelievable calm and composed after we scored (so different from last season). They just couldn't get the ball off us. 

Enjoy Germany! 

Disappointing.....

....could t find a stream for SL, bar 15 minutes either side of h-t.

I was really intrigued to se the Pack v Dack match-up. Looks like Pack has a good one....but I can’t base it on 30 minutes viewing on a stuttering stream.

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33 minutes ago, ZiderEyed said:

Was watching til he said 'Bristol City, a side we're probably better than'.

Based on ******* what? The fact we dicked them earlier in the season and have just beat them away from home now? Or how about the fact that we've been established in the Championship for a few years now and are occupying a play off place?

 

Gotta be gutting to lose to Bristol City. Probably sent his mum out for a Venkys to cheer him up?

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1 hour ago, ZiderEyed said:

Was watching til he said 'Bristol City, a side we're probably better than'.

Based on ******* what? The fact we dicked them earlier in the season and have just beat them away from home now? Or how about the fact that we've been established in the Championship for a few years now and are occupying a play off place?

 

Was watching until then too. Before I turned it off heard him also say we are tough at our place even though we have been a better away side all season. Is what it is though. He clearly just chucks that together to talk about his team. None of them care about anything he says about opposition I imagine. 

Thought they were a decent side today but not good enough to break us down. They had some action in our box but FF was never overly threatened. Found Mowbray’s substitutions odd though. 

Today was much like other games. Didn’t feel like we would concede and always felt we had a chamce to score. Nowhere near our best going forward but still got 3 points away from home against a top half side. Very happy today and looking forward to another tough match at AG on Tuesday. QPR have goals in them so we will need to get a couple I think

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At last Lee Johnson is doing what he should have done a long time ago, playing to our own strengths and not tinkering with the side to counteract the opposition. 

If the team needs a bit of tweaking then do it in the final third of the match, we have a strong bench now. Lee is thankfully doing this now to great affect, particularly with double or triple substitutions.

Well done Lee

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Hey Ole, magic report as always.

I picked up on a really good post earlier about the magic of Ljs subs bit was blasted by the usual dipsticks on here. Glad you highlighted this too in a very detailed and passionate report on how dominant we have become.

I love the line 'we came under pressure for 30..... seconds!!' It used to be 30 mins away from home but not under this Lj side.

See ya soon (Leeds) and enjoy Germany!

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8 hours ago, Alan Dicks said:

At last Lee Johnson is doing what he should have done a long time ago, playing to our own strengths and not tinkering with the side to counteract the opposition. 

If the team needs a bit of tweaking then do it in the final third of the match, we have a strong bench now. Lee is thankfully doing this now to great affect, particularly with double or triple substitutions.

Well done Lee

He has said that he sets up to counter the opposition, but think you’re right, we’re now playing to our strengths.

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As ever, quality report Ole and Groundhog Day indeed.

I'm not sure we were 80 minutes dominant: first half was easily ours, second I'd say they largely had the more significant possession but with or without the ball we were easily the superior outfit.

If you haven't seen us of late it's difficult to overstate just how good a defensive unit we are,  by that I mean quality individuals who, when combined, are better than the sum of their parts. Magnificent again yesterday and despite allowing them possession near our box that translated to little by way of chances. Fearless is becoming adapt at that 'concentrating spectator' role, making sure on the one or two occasions he is required he's 100% there.

Mids again linked it together nicely, closed down, dug in when necessary. Nothing spectacular to report, hugely effective, just as I like it. 

And to those slow on the uptake, it's about improvement. So despite the fantastic performances and results we deliver despite not having a striker, rather than benefitting from ones services. Didgeridoo turned in a Didgeridoo performance, he huffed, puffed but never looked like troubling their defence or netting. Patterson was a passenger and none of us in discussion on the way back could fathom what he brought to the table at Ewood? A striker would also have meant last ten when the game became stretched and we had the opportunity to pick the final ball and score, we might have done so rather than squander decent opportunities on the break. But there are worse problems to have and my comments are reported more as a case of what might have been?

IMHO Taylor rated higher, not for anything he did with the ball but rather his attitude and movement. At dead ball situations he really, really got under their skin and it became personal. He created distraction causing them to lose focus. Of course little of that will appear on the showreels, the delays where the ref had to intervene, but as any great striker knows ( and I'm not including him here,) it's ultimatley what delivers goals. Shearer is remembered for a shed load of goals, few recall his obnoxious, dirty cheating that created many of them. Taylor nicked us one yesterday.

Big up, too, for the steak pies in the bakery across the road, what quality and at £1.50 a pop bargain of the season.

 

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7 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

Special mention to O’Dowda for his corner for Pisano’s goal. It was inch perfect, out of the reach of their keeper and right into the danger zone. Callum had a really good game and was a thorn in the Blackburn side all afternoon but that cross was the game winner. 

Blackthorn?

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The actual version is somewhere between Sky Sports highlights and Ole. 

We certainly didn’t dominate for 80 minutes. But they weren’t all over for us - bar a spell after half time for ten minutes. 

First half we were probably the better side with both teams having chances. Bit of a lack of quality in final 3rd let us down. 

Second half we didn’t create much but looked better once Kasey and Taylor came on. It was heading for probably a fair draw until Pisano scored. And a draw would have been a good result at a team who have a great home record. 

At the moment, we make the other teams work very hard to score against us. I mean even that Bolton goal was a fluke cross that went in.  This means you always have a chance of nicking it and it’s what we’ve done in several games like Birmingham. 

Long may it continue. 

 

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10 hours ago, Alan Dicks said:

At last Lee Johnson is doing what he should have done a long time ago, playing to our own strengths and not tinkering with the side to counteract the opposition. 

If the team needs a bit of tweaking then do it in the final third of the match, we have a strong bench now. Lee is thankfully doing this now to great affect, particularly with double or triple substitutions.

Well done Lee

What was the reasoning for starting O’Dowda in the 10 and playing Paterson LW?  A bit of tinkering???  It appeared to benefit O’Dowda in the first 45, but Pato fairly poor according to radio.  Second half he switched it around with COD quieter as a result.

Any other views.

8 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

Special mention to O’Dowda for his corner for Pisano’s goal. It was inch perfect, out of the reach of their keeper and right into the danger zone. Callum had a really good game and was a thorn in the Blackburn side all afternoon but that cross was the game winner. 

Radio said how poor his corners had been up to then.

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