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| SHEFFIELD UNITED 0-1 COVENTRY CITY BY KEV MONKS Boosted by scraping through a tricky Worthington Cup tie at Peterborough to face Chelsea at home on October 10,City made their way up the M1 to Sheffield. Thankfully there was not that much traffic on the roads and our trip to Yorkshire was far quicker than our last visit for the game at Bradford and saw us in the pub by 12pm. Although the mood definitely is anti-Richardson, there were no protests against him, probably due to the police not allowing the distribution of leaflets outside of the ground and the fact that there was a minute silence who those who perished in the attacks on New York and Washington. Roland Nillson again included himself and brought in Ivan Guerrero for Barry Quinn. Back by 1000+ strong City support, the Sly Blues could have been one up as early as the fourth minute, but referee Mike Pike ruled out a David Thompson shot that flew past Blades keeper Simon Tracy for an offside decision. City had made their intentions known and they looked to push forward at every attempt, playing some neat short passing football. Julian Joachim had two excellent chances in the 26th and 28th minute to give the Sky Blues the lead their effort deserved but both were wide of the mark. As in common with every team City have played in the league this season, the home side were poor and the only time they looked dangerous was when Peter Ndlovu was on the ball. City boss Nilsson was forced to substitute himself in the 29th minute when he picked up a knock that left the former Swedish international limping. Richard Shaw looked comfortable in his position alongside Konjic and Breen. City did force Tracy into a fine save, when he parried a Lee Hughes shot away in the 35th minute after a corner. Four minutes later, Julian Joachim hit a shot that was deflected out for a corner Into the second half and City controlled a United side that were waiting for Hedman to make his customary flap. This he did on a couple of occasions but thankfully, the ball either went wide or City's defence were on hand to clear the danger. Thankfully, the main threat - Peter Ndlovu was replaced early on and left the field to standing ovation from the City followers. Nilsson introduced Jay Bothroyd for Ivan Guerrero after an hour and playing three up front gave City the advantage. In the 68th minute, Julian Joachim raced through on goal but as he raced across the goal, the United custodian raced out and took him out. The City fans screamed at the referee for a penalty but these calls were ignored. Joachim writhed around the floor in agony and he was lifted off the pitch. It was evident that it was far more serious that it looked and a stretcher was called for. Two minutes later Joachim had just been placed on the stretcher and just as he was being carried round in front of the City support, the corner was taken. The ball flew across the box and was headed back by Jay Bothroyd. Coming in was Lauren Delorge, who had just replaced Joachim and the former Anderlecht player smashed the ball past Tracy into the net from 6 yards with a ferocious drive. Everyone went mad, Delorge decided to celebrate his first ever first team goal with his shirt over his head, whilst the City support went crazy. The goal finished off United and many of their fans in the 16,168 gate had passed through the exits long before, a Jay Bothroyd flew just wide and the out of sorts Lee Hughes bottled a one on one with Simon Tracy and fired wide of the goal in the dying minutes. After 94 minutes, the referee decided that he had played enough time and the victory was ours. Manchester City who beat Birmingham 3-0 today will be a stiff test on Wednesday night but after this performance, City fans and players will go into that match with far more confidence. TEAM 13 Hedman, 24 Nilsson (5 Shaw 29),3 Hall,6 Breen,22 Konjic,27 Safri,7 Thompson,8 Carsley,19 Guerrero (21 Bothroyd 60), 9 Hughes,10 Joachim (off 68,28 Delorge 70) SNU 30 Goram,14 Quinn RATINGS 13 Hedman 7/10 Clean sheet might do him good but still looked dodgy 24 Nilsson 7/10 Battled well before having to retire hurt 3 Hall 5/10 Ran ragged by Ndlovu 6 Breen 8/10 Another good performance, shame he won't be here next season 22 Konjic 9/10 Cool,calm and collected, never fazed or bothered 27 Safri 7/10 Battled well, but again looked tired towards the end 7 Thompson 8/10 One of his better games 8 Carseley 7/10 Got stuck in at times and quiet at others 19 Guerrero 6/10 Not match fit and did not live up to his form in pre-season 9 Hughes 6/10 No confidence in front of goal 10 Joachim 7/10 Still played like a headless chicken,although we probably won't see him for a while 21 Bothroyd 8/10 Good performance and tried very hard 5 Shaw 8/10 Excellent replacement for Nilsson and looked good going forward 28 Delorge 8/10 One touch, one goal. Proved Nilsson was right to stick him on the bench |