Stockport County 0 Leicester City 0 ( 1-3 on penalties) League Cup Round 2- Tuesday 23 August 2022

 

 

 

 

There are bruises that hurt and still feel good,

As well as defeats that feel like triumphs!

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And at Edgeley Park last night Mia W`s words rang true and still do next morning.

We had all witnessed a tremendously heroic battling performance from County, yes…they exited the League Cup but for 94 minutes made Premiership Leicester City look very ordinary indeed, and most of the blues first team regulars were on the bench!

It made no odds, County defended like tigers absorbing wave after wave of attacks from the expensive collection of highly paid stars, and even with James Maddison on for 34 of the above-mentioned minutes they could not prize open the blue cover, which with Ash Palmer thankfully restored alongside Lewis looked fantastically solid.

Bringing Quigley, Sarcevic and Wootton on with 20 minutes remaining gave County added options and impetus, and the last 10 or so saw some really hairy moments for City as County got the whiff of possible victory in their nostrils.

It was not to be of course.

Leicester still could not buy a goal after 94 minutes, but with the game going to penalties, which were taken at the Railway (Away) End, County could not claim the win that most of the 10000+ people present thought they deserved, losing 3-1 on penalties - Croasdale the only man in blue to net one.

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Back to 7.45, or to be more precise 7.30, it will surprise absolutely no one reading this to hear it was another visit to ``Trauma City` for me as it became apparent that the Club had sold the ticket they sold to me to someone else also.

My purchased ticket had me seated half way up the C/E and would have been an excellent view- I finished up in a Row A seat where to say the least the view isn`t. To say the ticketing system is not fit for purpose arguably overstates matters…but I will say it anyway!

 

 

 

 

 

No matter, on with the report and it must be conceded that Leicester set their stall out in County territory early- but would they be able to swat County`s resistance aside like straws in a hurricane?

Short answer….no, and we got a flavour of how it would pan out when the first shot on goal came in from City. This did not materialise until 5 minutes in so comprehensive was the blue cover but the highly rated Kelechi Iheanacho`s shot was well wide of target.

Leicester were camped in blue territory for a fair while- Palmer shadowing Dennis Praet  ensuring the eventual cross from same carried less lethality about it than it might- Crankshaw was able to usher the ball to safety.

Then Albrighton probed the County left only to be well policed by Rydel.

It was fully 12 minutes in before City`s second shot came about, and it was another of their established mega stars Youri Tielemans who made it only to see it disappear into the cauldron that is the Cheadle End.

It then got a touch ridiculous as in their desperation probably someone in insipid yellow tried to lob Jaros from distance with him safely on his line- the doubtful strategy did not work!  

County began to stretch their legs up the park on 14 minutes Kitching forcing the visitors to find touch under pressure.

Leicester soon returned to the attack but with no more result than earlier – Palmer doing well to block a shot by Praet a minute later.

County absorbed a great deal of pressure in the 6 or 7 minutes that followed that last action.

From 25 minutes County returned to the attack again Evans making it to the by-line . A Crankshaw run had the Cheadle End roaring but he was halted by a foul and keeper Iverson kept it out for Leicester.

Creditably County continued to press and the 30^th minute saw Iverson in action once again pushing a decent strike by Camps round a post.

County were looking lively and beginning to unsettle Leicester when they could get on the front foot.

Eventually the Premier League outfit replied and it was Jaros`s turn to make a save to keep a shot from Thomas out, after Lewis had blocked an effort by Vestergaard.

Bravely County responded but found City not unwilling to foul their man when under threat and that`s what they did as the blues broke up the park on 35 minutes. We had a free kick albeit not in a scoring position, but did not make it count, Kitching`s header flying wide.

With half time approaching County had more pressure to absorb- Hippolyte doing well to concede a corner at one point that saw Palmer and company keep it out magnificently.

Lewis followed this with great work to block Barnes progress, and Jaros made a good catch to thwart the same player shortly after.

County continued to look comfortable Brown joining Lewis and Palmer for major kudos under pressure- Leicester`s only moments of note were really not that noteworthy- Iheanacho run ending with a shot of lesser quality, and Thomas failing to test Jaros sufficiently with his shot deep in added time.

It was 0-0 when the teams went in at the break- a truly excellent performance from County!

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Ryan Johnson was on for Rydel when the game resumed with Leicester forcing a corner. County kept up the superb defensive work under pressure but just could not work the ball clear and cause the visitors a problem or two.

That said, Leicester were not setting anything ablaze with their work- Thomas dragging a lack lustre effort wide when better beckoned for Brendan Rodgers team.

In fact County were coping extremely well with all that their opponents could come up with- their cover was holding up well -just some threat to make the visitors think a bit was lacking.

A foul on Hippolyte gave County a chance to change things via the free kick. It was 10+ yards outside the box so provided notional possibilities. The kick crossed the park to Crankshaw whose quick turn inside had the visitors defence scrambling to respond. They were powerless as Ollie pressed the trigger but a veritable screamer fizzed inches over the angle of bar and post to keep it at 0-0.

It went on…Crankshaw to the fore again 2 minutes later but flagged offside.

It was beginning to look like a crisis situation might just be looming should DC `s team be allowed to keep adding to their repertoire thus we saw Maddison introduced along with Castagne for Leicester on the hour.

Did the changes make a difference?

Not noticeably although the pressure did increase again as City passed the ball about ad nauseum looking for an opening that County just would not present them with. Corners proliferated for the visitors -they were defended stoutly….a free kick….it flew harmlessly out- absolutely nothing was working for County`s opponents . We all maybe wondered if   they might nick a lucky one at some point due to the volume of play in County`s half, but hey….County still had every chance to do some nicking themselves and this possibility was considerably enhanced by the inclusion of Quigley, Sarcevic and Wootton with 20 minutes left to play for Evans, CJ and Hippolyte.

Leicester upped the pace a touch at this point though forcing a decent save from Jaros on 72 minutes.

And County were unlucky not to get a free kick as Crankshaw was considerably mistreated as he threatened on the break. Referee Barrett allowed play to run and Leicester to turn defence into attack. Things probably looked good at this moment for the large away following with Iheanacho on the ball but he disappointed them, his drive clearing the bar.

Both teams took turns attacking the other- Lewis denying Leicester… a County break similarly dealt with.

Maddison did fancy his chances on 77 minutes disappointing the away end again by shooting wide.

Leicester really did not deserve to progress, we were 12 minutes from the game`s end and there had still not been an `oooh` moment where those in the Railway End could truthfully say their team was unlucky.

Did I say that County were attacking? Well they were and Quigley did well to get his cross in from the by-line. Palmer went for it but was blocked – the Cheadle End was ablaze with excitement as County looked on the brink of something special but Crankshaw couldn`t get a shot in at the crucial moment, Wootton could but it was underpowered  and Leicester escaped via Iverson`s stop.

Into the last 10 minutes we went with Leicester looking to snatch it, but a shot came out off the line- off either Lewis or Kitching I could not tell which- it was a vital save though!

County were defending ever deeper now, by necessity ,and as a consequence Jaros was a busy lad pushing a shot from Maddison around the post one moment, tipping a shot by Tielemans over the bar brilliantly the next.

Twice in this period Tielemans had a dip, missing the target on both occasions with excitement building.

Then with 2 minutes left to play Brown won possession in brilliant fashion in front of the Danny Stand- he was clear and it looked a real moment of significance for the blues until the Referee intervened to bring play back for  A FREE KICK TO COUNTY! What nonsense was this? Brown was clear and now we were hamstrung by a free kick way deeper that reflected a foul in the build up but totally failed to engage and allow any advantage- in short, he saved the Premier League side- simply shocking!

Leicester did not look at all comfortable now, but the Referee`s calumny was added too as Cranshaw saw his shot blocked following the kick.

Croasdale came on for Camps with penalties in mind on 90 minutes, but there was no sign of Madden our penalty taker extraordinaire.

We were into 4 minutes added time now and Leicester were rocking, County`s pressure bringing them a free kick in a central position after Sarcevic was hauled down. All Leicester seemed to be lined up inside the box, and this worked as Sarcevic`s kick hit the wall before being half cleared.

The ball just came back as blue shirt after blue shirt piled into the job of getting that late winner, and the Cheadle End fancied we had a gilt edged opportunity when the ball appeared to strike the hand of a Leicester man- Tielemans I think, but the Referee would have none of it.

The closing seconds saw Leicester making last gasp efforts to win the game , but Jaros stood tall with  a very confident save under pressure.

         It was straight to penalties now and credit to Jaros he saved one, and to Croasdale who scored one, but County`s kicks were generally poor, sent at a comfortable height to the keeper`s right each time and saved.

It was a disappointing end to a magnificent performance, and I wondered again about why we did not bring Madden on at the death, as our penalty taker he surely was must, and I thought we got the CJ/ Quigley bit wrong too, we would have been better served in my view if we had started with Quigley and brought CJ on later for his penalty kicks.

But…all that said, nothing should detract from a fantastic showing by County. To shackle a Premier League side, albeit one who has struggled so far this season, and keep them goal-less for 94 minutes was truly excellent.

This should give us the lift we need to start making some headway in the league now.

See you back at Edgeley Park for Swindon Town on Saturday then!

 

Stockport County line up :-

Jaros, Brown, Palmer , Lewis, Rydel( R Johnson 45),Kitching , Camps( Croasdale 90), Hippolyte ( Sarcevic 70), Evans ( Wootton 70), C Jennings ( Quigley 70), Crankshaw.

Subs not used: Hinchliffe, Horsfall, Madden, Newby.

 

Leicester City line up:-

Iverson, Albrighton ( Perez 71), Vestergaard, Soyuncu, Thomas, Mendy ( Castagne 60), Tielemans, Praet ( Dewsbury- Hall 71), Barnes, Iheanacho, Daka ( Maddison 60).

Subs not used : Ward, Justin, Ndidi, Brunt.

Attendance :10301

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