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 Saturday 10th December 2005, Barclays Premiership, The Hawthorns, Kick-Off 3:00pm
Albion: Kuszczak,
Watson (Albrechtsen 60), C Davies, Clement, Robinson, Greening, Wallwork,
Inamoto, Kamara (Carter 93), Ellington (Campbell 38), Kanu. Subs not
used: Kirkland
(gk), Earnshaw
Manchester City: James,
Sommeil (Ireland
60), Dunne, Distin, Thatcher (Wright-Phillips 87), Sinclair, Reyna (Croft
69), Barton, Jihai, Vassell, Cole. Subs not used: De Vlieger (gk),
Sibierski
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Assistant Referees: Mike Cairns
(Northamptonshire), Chris Sarginson (Staffordshire)
Half-Time: Albion
1-0 Manchester City
Attendance:
25,472
Conditions:
MATCH REPORT
BY: ALBION TEAM NEWS: Albion boss Bryan Robson kept faith with the team that started the last two league games; away at Middlesbrough and at home to Fulham. Kanu was declared fit after shaking off a knock whilst Chris Kirkland was named as substitute keeper after finally recovering from the bruised kidney suffered at Bolton.MANCHESTER CITY TEAM NEWS: City boss Stuart Pearce had no new injury worries and named the same side that beat Charlton Athletic so convincingly at The Valley last Sunday. EASY FOR ALBION AGAINST TEN MAN CITY Manchester City fans must really dread this fixture. Whilst Albion have struggled to pick up points against virtually every other team during the club’s three Premiership campaigns, for some reason they have taken a liking to playing City, today’s victory meant that we have now taken 11 points from the six meetings between the two sides. With Stuart Pearce’s men hitting five past Charlton last week Baggies’ fans could have been excused for feeling a bit pessimistic before the game but in the end it turned out to be one of the easier games we have had this season. The team news brought little in the way of surprises with Albion boss Bryan Robson keeping faith with the team that started against both Middlesbrough and Fulham. Much to the relief of most Albion fans Nigerian star Kanu had recovered from the knock suffered against Fulham whilst the only decision facing the Baggies’ boss was whether to recall on-loan keeper Chris Kirkland in place of Tomasz Kuszczak. In the end Robson decided to keep faith with the ‘Pole in goal’. Albion started well with Diomansy Kamara in particular looking dangerous. Kamara was poor last match against Fulham and needed a good performance to silence the critics and he most certainly produced one. Having already tested David James in the City goal with a 20 yard effort he gave the hosts the lead on five minutes with one of the goals of the season. On receiving Junichi Inamoto’s excellent crossfield pass he flicked the ball over defender Ben Thatcher’s head before firing past keeper James in the City goal. Although the former England keeper did slip it is doubtful whether it made any difference such was the quality of the finish. Albion continued to press with Kamara, Kanu and Nathan Ellington all looking dangerous. Former Wigan star Ellington went close twice in the space of five minutes with close range shots and then turned provider by setting Kamara clear through on goal, the Senegal star being denied by James when he should really have done better. Ronnie Wallwork then tried his luck with a shot from 18 yards after a neat one-two with Inamoto only to see James once again deny Albion. The hosts suffered a blow on 38 minutes when the lively Ellington was forced off with what appeared to be an eye injury. The returning Kevin Campbell was the man that replaced him although the majority of home fans felt it perhaps should have been Rob Earnshaw. Despite possessing Andy Cole and Darius Vassell City looked strangely toothless up front and not once during the first half did they seriously test Kuszczak in the Albion goal, and for this Curtis Davies and Neil Clement must take a good deal of credit. Davies simply gets better and better each game; sure his passing might not be the best but boy can he defend. City started the second half much better and almost snatched an equaliser in the 50th minute when Trevor Sinclair’s 20 yard shot was deflected into the path of ex-England striker Cole who with just Kuszczak to beat blazed wide. That was to be the closest City would come to scoring and five minutes later they were made to pay for the missed chance when Kevin Campbell headed in from close range following excellent work by Paul Robinson and Kanu. It was no more than Albion and Robinson deserved. The ex-Watford man was simply outstanding today and without a shadow of a doubt he is more than deserving of an England call-up. With the exception of Ashley Cole there is not a left-back in the country as good as or as committed as Robinson. With Albion now two up City looked demoralised and began to lose their discipline. Left-back Thatcher was first in referee Mike Dean’s book following a blatant obstruction on Martin Albrechtsen. Thatcher could perhaps consider himself lucky to be on the pitch at all following a very poor first half challenge on Kamara which Dean missed. Albion midfielder Wallwork and City ‘bad-boy’ Joey Barton were next to be shown yellow cards after the pair were involved in a scuffle following an off the ball incident. Richard Dunne soon followed the pair into the ref’s book after a shocking challenge on Kanu but the headlines would be written by Andy Cole who received his marching orders at The Hawthorns for the second season running. Having been booked just two minutes previously for a late tackle on Albrechtsen, Cole brainlessly clattered into Kamara from behind and was deservedly shown a second yellow card. City had basically fallen apart although with time running out Barton did test Kuszczak with a 20 yard free-kick - probably the only real save the Polish keeper had to make all afternoon. For me it was our best performance of the season and if we can continue this form there is no reason why we cannot pull away from the relegation zone. Remarkably the win was Albion’s first ever in the Premiership during the month of December and with trips to Old Trafford and Anfield coming up the victory was absolutely vital. MAN OF THE MATCH: Paul Robinson PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Kuszczak 6 - Never seriously tested although did spill Barton’s free-kick
towards the end.
Watson
6 - Another useful performance, starting to look a quality signing.
SUBS:
Campbell 6 - Took goal well but otherwise quiet. REF WATCH
Mike Dean 4 - Not a good performance. Missed
Thatcher's poor challenge on Kamara and seemed to lose control of the game
during the last 15 minutes.
FAN
WATCH
wba.co.uk
Bryan Robson :"It was a spirited performance from us right from the start. Kamara was in good form today and he put City on the back foot which gave us a platform on which to play.” “The players defended very well throughout the game. We created a few chances in the first half and could have gone in at half-time further ahead. Our passing could have been a bit better but I suppose that's being greedy.” "That was our best overall performance this season because City are a decent side. They've got some good players so to put in a performance like we did was good. The thing that pleased me more than anything was that we scored a couple of good goals and there was a lot of spirit about us." "Ellington's vision was blurred from a knock he took to the head. But I'd have thought Nathan will be okay to start training again on Monday or Tuesday. I was tempted to put Earnshaw on instead of Campbell when Ellington went off but the problem was that City send six players up for set plays all the time and are brave. I felt I needed Kevin's presence as far as defending set plays was concerned. I'm delighted it worked out for Kev because he scored with a terrific header from a good move by Paul Robinson. That will be good for Kev's confidence." Source: wba.co.uk
Stuart Pearce: “Last week’s a distant memory now to be quite honest. We weren’t good enough, too many players weren’t at the races today, both physically and wanting the ball. That’s what you get in the Premiership if you’re not. It’s disappointed me greatly and it’s disappointed the players greatly." “You don’t get anything if you don’t apply yourself week in, week out, and at the moment we’ve got to try and do that. We’ve got to try and unlock that little thing that’s going to give us seven out of tens every week. It was a poor performance out there today. Too many players were not on song, we gave two sloppy goals away to start with. We didn’t want the ball enough to pass the ball and that’s what you get – a bad result.” “The City fans who came here today deserve better than that. It’s disappointing, I don’t think to myself this is acceptable, far from it, it’s my job to make sure it’s not acceptable amongst the players. They’ve got to go away and think to themselves ‘why did we do well this weekend and not so well this weekend?’" Source: mcfc.co.uk
Jonathan Greening makes his 50th league appearance for Albion.
Diomansy
Kamara scores his first league goal for the club. |
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