Saturday 13th August
2005, Barclays Premiership, City Of Manchester Stadium
Kick-Off 3:00pm
|
Manchester City |
0 - 0 |
Albion |
| |
42,983 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
Half-Time Score |
0 |
|
52% |
Possession |
48% |
|
8 |
Shots On Target |
3 |
|
7 |
Shots Off Target |
10 |
|
3 |
Corners |
6 |
|
13 |
Fouls Against |
11 |
|
5 |
Offsides |
4 |
|
2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
|
0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
 Manchester City: James,
Mills, Sommeil, Jordan, Thatcher, Sinclair (Croft 85), Barton, Reyna, Musampa
(Sibierski 92), Vassell (Wright-Phillips 70),
Cole. Subs not used: Onuoha, Sun Jihai
Vassell
23 (foul), Mills 89 (ungentlemanly conduct)
Albion:
Kirkland, Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Clement, Robinson,
Gera, Wallwork (Chaplow 89), Inamoto, Greening (Watson 80), Kanu
(Kamara 60), Campbell.
Subs not used: Kuszczak (gk), Earnshaw
Gaardsoe 68 (foul), Wallwork 89 (ungentlemanly
conduct), Kamara 93 (timewasting)
Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)
Assistant Referees: Robert Lewis (Shropshire),
James Tattan (Merseyside)
Fourth Official: Tony Bates (Staffordshire)
Conditions: Cloudy with
spells of rain
After
what seemed a longer than usual pre-season it was finally back to business
at the very impressive City of
Manchester Stadium,
unfortunately though the weather was not so impressive. Heavy rain showers
brought back memories of last season’s trip to
Manchester, thankfully though the performance was totally different.
Prior
to kick-off most of the talk was whether Andy Johnson would be brought
back into the starting line-up or whether Junichi Inamoto would get the
chance his pre-season form deserved. Much to the relief of the travelling
fans it was to be the latter. For me the team selected was probably our
strongest one available although a few fans questioned the decision to
play Kanu and Campbell up front. Perhaps those fans had not seen
the dire performances put in by Earnshaw and Horsfield during pre-season.
Horsfield proved last season that he is not good enough for the
Premiership, his lack of pace and his habit of conceding numerous
free-kicks each game makes him a liability at this level whilst Earnshaw
to me is clearly more of a threat coming on towards the later stages of
games rather than starting them.
Albion started the game brightly playing some decent football although
City did look dangerous on the counter attack with Cole and Vassell
proving a handful for our defence. Former England striker Cole should
really of given City the lead on 11 minutes but could only head a good
chance straight at Kirkland in the Albion goal. It was to be the first of
a number of fine saves that the on-loan keeper would have to make. For the
first time in two years we actually have a goalkeeper that both the fans
and our defenders actually have faith in. On this form he looks a
certainty for Sven Goran Eriksson’s World Cup squad providing he stays
injury free.
Albion should have taken the lead 10 minutes before half-time when the
normally reliable Gera headed wide from a Jonathan Greening cross when it
seemed easier to score. It wasn’t the best of days for the Hungarian
captain, although his work-rate can never be questioned his passing was
poor and he failed to pose a real threat to the City defence.
Albion had another golden chance just minutes into the second half when
Kevin Campbell found himself through on goal with just David James to
beat, unfortunately for the visiting fans he could only hit his shot
straight at the England keeper. That was to be the last real chance Albion
had, City were the slightly stronger side in the second half with the
lively Musampa and Cole both looking impressive.
The
first substitution of the game came on the hour mark when new signing Diomansy Kamara was handed his Albion debut in place of Kanu. Although
Kamara has undoubted pace and skill he also appears to have a tendency to
run straight into opposing defenders, hopefully he will improve as the
season progresses.
Although City continued to press for a winning goal Albion’s defence held
out well with Neil Clement having one of the best games this writer has
seen him have for some time. Winning everything in the air,
tackling well and using the ball sensibly
he would have won my man-of-the-match award had it not been for Kirkland’s
heroics.
In
the end the game fizzled out and was only livened up by a skirmish
involving Ronnie Wallwork and surprise surprise Danny Mills. After what
Jonathan Greening and Liam Ridgewell got sent off for at
Villa Park back in April then Wallwork and Mills could both
consider themselves lucky to have not received red cards.
All
in all it was a decent performance from
Albion, admittedly nothing special but certainly a major
improvement on the last time we visited the stadium back in December.
MAN OF THE MATCH:
Chris Kirkland
PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Kirkland
8 - Made a number of
fine saves and kicked well throughout.
Albrechtsen 6 - Decent
game although Musampa gave him a few problems.
Gaardsoe 6 - Generally solid
although he made one almighty gaffe that almost gifted Cole a goal.
Clement 8 - His best game for
a long time, good in the air and tackle, passed the ball well too.
Robinson
6 - Solid.
Gera
6 - Worked hard as usual but
not his best game for the club, missed easy chance.
Wallwork 7 - Worked hard and
passed the ball well.
Inamoto 7 -
Continued his pre-season form, worked hard and passed ball well.
Greening 6
- Good start but faded.
Kanu
6 - One or two nice touches
but didn't look like scoring.
Campbell
6 - Should have scored,
worked hard.
SUBS:
Kamara 4 - Continually ran into opposition defenders.
Watson 7 -
Showed some nice touches.
Chaplow 5 - Not enough time to get into the game.
REF WATCH
Chris Foy 7 - Fair to both sides, chose not to send off
Mills and Wallwork when others might have.
FAN WATCH
Albion 4 - Surprisingly very quiet.
Manchester City 5 - A few half-hearted chants
but that was about it .Mark Thomas
As an
early-season indicator of fortune, this stalemate may have been wholly
inconclusive, but in the superb form of West Brom goalkeeper Chris
Kirkland, loaned to Bryan Robson's club for the season after seemingly
becoming surplus to requirements at Liverpool, the game may have witnessed
the renaissance of a once-promising, but lately injury-blighted, career.
This being the
opening day of the season, City supporters were in generous mood when it
came to welcoming into their midst a new boy of their own in Andy Cole.
Never one of the most popular of visitors when with Manchester United -
not that there is ever a popular United player in the blue half of
the city - Cole's signing this summer was a bold step by manager Stuart
Pearce.
The immense
void left by the sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips will take some filling for
City supporters and, in PR terms alone, Cole will have to go some to so
do. Nevertheless, his name was met with genuine warmth by City fans in the
pre-match introductions, and the fact that the centre- forward made a
lively contribution to the early exchanges did his cause no harm.
In fact, it
was Cole's glancing header after 13 minutes, following a telling left-wing
cross from the impressive Kiki Musampa, that almost gave City the lead -
Kirkland, actually starting in place of the injured Russell Hoult, dived
smartly to his left to catch the attempt.
Cole's link-up
play, with strike partner Darius Vassell, a fellow debutant, and Musampa
was also praiseworthy. Moments after his header on goal, Cole was involved
in a flowing move that resulted in Neil Clement producing a fine
clearance, before Cole, this time played in by Claudio Reyna, unleashed an
off-balance shot into the side netting.
Kirkland was
again tested and again proved equal to the examination when Trevor
Sinclair cut in to the area from the right and pulled the ball back for
City midfielder Joey Barton - he of the turbulent summer - to conjure up a
first-time shot that was destined for the bottom right-hand corner until
the keeper's intervention. Later still, Kirkland's best save of all saw
him deflect Reyna's shot around the post.
Not that
Albion were mere cannon fodder. Jonathan Greening and Ronnie Wallwork had
early shot, and Kanu showed neat footwork in the box only to be halted by
David Sommeil's well-timed challenge. Most memorable of all, Zoltan Gera
met a cross from Greening late in the first half, yet, despite being
completely unmarked, missed the target completely with a six-yard header.
The Albion
resistance continued after the interval and should have brought them an
opening goal after only three minutes as Kanu's flick forward allowed
Kevin Campbell to steel a few yards on a flat back four and advance on
David James, but the goalkeeper made his first real save of the contest in
exemplary fashion, spreading himself to block the shot.
Kanu, also,
was guilty of profligacy, as his shot from an Albion free-kick soon
afterwards proved wayward and ill-advised, and Gera almost made up for his
first-half error with a teasing right-wing cross that the back-pedalling
James was forced to push to safety, one-handed, via his crossbar.
City responded
but struggled, as they had done all day, to get past their poor finishing
and the excellent
Kirkland.
Musampa headed wide from close range in the 78th minute and, within
seconds, Barton's run past Paul Robinson ended in a ferocious shot that
was saved, superbly once more, by the Albion keeper.
The
Observer
Bryan Robson:"We're a bit
disappointed, especially because of Zoltan's header in the first half,
which was probably the best chance of the match. That could have won it
for us but there were a lot of pleasing things that came out of our
performance. I thought we looked very solid as an away team.”
"We could have passed
the ball a bit better and I wanted us to step up a gear and go for the
game, even though we were away from home. It's good not to get beaten in
an away game but we try to approach every match by going for the win.
However, I think most away teams see not getting beaten as a reasonable
result."
Chris Kirkland:
"We're pleased with a
clean sheet because any clean sheet away from home is good but we're a
little bit disappointed because we thought we had enough chances to win
it. Then again,
they also had a few chances.”
"I feel good but I've
still got a lot to work on because I've missed a lot of football and a lot
of training. It
will take time and games but today was a good start.
My confidence has been knocked a lot because of all the
comebacks from injuries I've had to make - but today was just what I
needed."
"Hopefully, it's all
behind me now and I can go ten to 15 years injury-free, enjoy my football
and contribute to West Brom.”
Stuart Pearce:
"I'm
probably a bit disappointed but I'm pleased we haven't conceded a goal,
I'm disappointed we haven't won the game, we set out all week to try and
win the match. We had a good opportunity to win the game but credit to
West Brom I think they are a bit more battle-hardened than they were last
season. I think they'll be a tougher side to knock over this year and I
think they are a touch more organised, credit to their manager and
coaching staff."
Chris Kirkland, Diomansy Kamara and Steve Watson all make their
Albion league debuts.
Junichi Inamoto starts his first league game for the
club.
|
