With yesterday’s second-half collapse rendering a bad goal difference worse, the dark clouds that seemed to be receding last weekend are scudding back across the West Riding.The better side at the start of both halves, Leeds even scored first and should have been two up within 10 minutes. Something akin to Birmingham’s 5-3 defeat at Middlesbrough last Saturday looked on the cards, but the visitors were dealt an increasingly unkind hand and in a critical period midway through the second period when Bryan Hughes and Mikael Forssell scored in the space of three minutes, their defending became as bad as the home team’s – which took some doing.”In general we played well,” claimed their manager Eddie Gray, who received a pithier summary of the proceedings when he encountered his old mucker and minder Norman Hunter in the press room “We gave them the goals very cheaply,” Gray added “We’ve got to concentrate for 90 minutes. It’s going to be difficult now and results like that don’t make it any easier.”His opposite number, Steve Bruce, has given up alcohol for Lent but much of his team’s work at the back, especially in the first half, was enough to make him pour a stiff one. Lady Luck takes the blame for as many football matches being lost as referees do – even Liverpool games – but she is not as fickle as it sometimes appears. These things tend to even themselves out over a period of time and in this instance, in the course of a single week. Leeds United, beneficiaries of outrageous fortune in winning the first match under a new regime, at home to Manchester City on Monday, found the ball running the wrong way yesterday and were left stuck in the bottom three of the Premiership with eight games to play.
Winning the four at home, against Leicester, Everton, Portsmouth and Charlton, although not impossible, would still take them to only 37 points, necessitating at least a couple of gritty draws from more demanding visits to Blackburn, Arsenal, Bolton and Chelsea.
But Coleman declared himself well pleased with a point and graciously predicted that City would survive. As yet, however, it would be unwise to stake the mortgage on it.. David James presented the first, spilling the ball under a challenge from Hayles, and luck favoured the goalkeeper when Steed Malbranque’s shot struck his body and ran to safety.The home side’s football deteriorated in the second half to the extent that Arthur Cox, standing in for Keegan, replaced Anelka and Fowler with Paulo Wanchope and Jon Macken.It was Macken who went down, seemingly tripped by Goma, but Cox conceded that City had not done enough: “I can see why people thought it should have been a penalty but it was not given and we didn’t have enough quality in the final third to say we should have won,” he said.Fulham might have done, conspiring to produce the best move of the game and almost a goal when Sean Davis linked with Malbranque and Hayles before stretching James. Van der Sar dived full length to his left to grab hold of a Robbie Fowler header in an early City attack and it took a strong tackle by Carlos Bocanegra to deny Nicolas Anelka a chance after Antoine Sibierski, a bright influence for City, had floated the ball cleverly over the top.Fulham’s shape and discipline served them well, no matter that they created barely more than one chance in each half. It would only take 60 seconds and it would sort it out so there is no argument.”Fulham’s defensive approach drew City’s sting yesterday. Chris Coleman’s team, having themselves seen Sylvain Distin given the benefit of the doubt against Luis Boa Morte’s late penalty appeal, would have left feeling mugged had City stolen the points.Television replays suggested both claims were fully justified, leading Coleman to revisit the argument for a second “referee” in the stands, with a video replay available, to support the officials on the field.”I’ve seen both incidents and I feel Jeff probably evened it up in the end but referees have big decisions to make with a lot at stake so they need to get it right,” Coleman said.”I think it is time for a video playback to be used.
In the absence of manager Kevin Keegan, recuperating at home after treatment for a back problem, a patchy display by the home team hardly deserved victory in the face of a disciplined performance from the London side. But City will feel referee Jeff Winter did their survival cause no favours when he failed to award what looked like a clear penalty against defender Alain Goma midway through the second half.
They could also highlight the two saves Edwin van der Sar made from Paulo Wanchope and Jon Macken in the frantic final stages as evidence of some measure of superiority but there was no breaking down the solid defensive barrier Fulham maintained throughout. Moores doesn’t need to listen to him – or take any of the advice offered by Hawkpoint But, in the interests of the club, he should do both.. Fulham’s determination not to lose effectively nullified Manchester City’s anxious efforts to win as the vast home contingent at the City of Manchester Stadium suffered 90 minutes of frustration. Although he lives in Jersey, he was born and raised on Merseyside, where he worked his way through the building trade to create the hugely successful housebuilders, Redrow.
He subsequently sold up and is regarded as a shrewd, cool operator But also a committed one. His interest in Liverpool is genuine and he has only got involved through disappointment and frustration and not personal aggrandisement. The telecoms millionaire has the money – and has already flirted with investing in Fulham – but will not want to make the significant commitment Liverpool need. Borrowing money may be Moores’ only alternative in blocking his adversary. And that may be dangerous, especially given the club’s growing debt.Morgan, undoubtedly, represents the most secure option. It will be intriguing to see what alternatives are presented. It may simply be that Moores is waiting for another major investor to step forward, although if he is hoping that will be the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra he is likely to be disappointed.
