The Football tourist

This Sunday I took the whole day out of my life and go on a trip through the Women’s football on offer in Manchester at the WSL level. This of course meant heading first to Wigan and then on to the little village of Leigh a 25 minute bus ride away. My destination was Leigh Sport’s Village and my first game of the day was Manchester United Women vs Tottenham Hotspur Women.

This was 3rd in the league hosting the team just below them in 4th, there was nothing separating the teams on points coming into this one and only settled into their respective league places on goal difference. I was expecting a competitive game once I get there, but first I did have to get there.

Getting to Leigh in time for the noon kick-off meant getting up early enough on a Sunday to get a 9:13am train out of Lime Street to get to Wigan for 10am and then get either the 9 or 10 bus towards a place called Higher Folds. That is an hourly bus service and as such missing one bus would’ve meant not getting there for kick-off and I couldn’t risk that. I chose the 10 over the 9 because the bus stop for the 10 was right outside North Western station, whilst 9 was across the road and round the corner so imagine my annoyance seeing the 9 head off up the hill and off to Leigh whilst I was left waiting.

Luckily I wasn’t waiting long as 5 minutes later my bus turned up and after a scenic journey through Lancashire I got to the ground with just over an hour till kick-off. With no club shop to go buy a keyring from and no programme sellers outside the ground I went for a walk in the nearby woods before taking a lap of the stadium and heading inside.

The lap of the stadium was interesting in that it revealed the huge car park on the other side of the stadium that I hadn’t explored yet, that also serves Leigh college next door and the large Morrisons across the road from the stadium. The stadium seemed more set up for rugby league games than football games though and the statue outside the West Stand was of a rugby league player just referred too as ‘Woody’, who seemed to be a club legend for Leigh in rugby league. This statue was right outside the main entrance to the stadium, but this entrance looked more like the entrance to a shopping centre than one to a football stadium.

The turnstiles were at least normal for a football stadium though and whilst I used an E-Ticket to gain entry there is also a ticket office selling paper tickets at the stadium, so you can pick your preference. Once inside the south stand I headed to the food kiosk at the far end of the stadium to grab some food and pick up a programme before heading into the stand itself to find myself a seat.

The seats were first come first served and this made the way that the food kiosk was managed particularly annoying. There was one steward managing the queue who decided that the one queue for the two tills was too simple and so decided to split it into a queue per till. Perhaps this would have worked better than the single queue if the steward in question had then let people choose which queue they wished to join instead of assigning each person a queue as they arrived. He seemed determined to always direct people to whichever queue was moving slowest at the time and woe-betide anyone who dared try to use their own initiative to pick a queue for themselves. It was truly infuriating, but I kept my cool and after a needlessly long wait I had my pie and programme and went to grab a seat.

The seat I chose was half way up the stand behind the goal in line with the left side of the 6 yard box, with the only screen in the stadium away to my right and the dugouts away in the stand to my left. For this game the East Stand away to my right was closed as was the North Stand at the other end of the ground to me, but the two open stands were both at least 75% full and this was a promising sign for the growth of the Women’s game.

The strange thing about the location for this game though was that it was not taking place in either a non-league Men’s team stadium or in a purpose-built stadium for the Women’s game. Perhaps this had something to do with the lack of proper use of the stadium’s screen, which showed the first 6 starters for the visitors and then cycled through 6 different screens in quick succession and then was never used again in the match other than to show the current score. The tannoy was not much help in working out the squads either as it was certain that Man United were starting with 2 players wearing the number 12 shirt. I had to go to google to find the actual team sheets for the match and the second number 12 for the hosts was actually their number 17.

These few problems sorted though the teams were ready for the off with the visiting Spurs shooting towards the fans stand in the first half, whilst Man U were saving this advantage for the second half. The orange clock that was actually tracking the game was not nearly as prominent as the large red clock that was not being used so the timings, till I noticed the clock in the 39th minute, will be approximations. The timings from then onwards will be exact.

Despite these two teams possessing some of the best attackers that the WSL has to offer, including Ella Toone, Alessia Russo and Leah Galton for the hosts and Jessica Naz and Rosella Ayane for the visitors, the first ten minutes were completely devoid of any attacking threats from either team. Every time either team came forward in the opening minutes of the match the respective defences were able to cut out the move before it developed enough to become a chance for the attacking team to score.

This extremely disjointed opening to the match was not helped by the referee who was blowing up and interrupting the match for even the smallest infraction from both teams. This was in line with the laws of the game, but it was draining the momentum from the game. It took till the 12th minute for either team to create a chance that actually threatened. The home team created this chance with a pass through to the right corner of the penalty area that forced the Spurs keeper to get down to her left and gobble the ball up at her near post. From this save Korpela set Spurs on the break down their left which finished with a slide-rule pass across the 6 yard box from Jessica Naz, only for it the be called back for an offside against Naz.

The next two presentable chances came from free-kicks and it was one per team. First the hosts created their first threatening chance through a free-kick on the right which was flicked on in the box and slides just wide of the left-hand post in the 16th minute. Then came Spurs free-kick chance in the 24th minute from the right-hand touchline that got cleared to the edge of the box and was then sent back in with venom only to be deflected out for a throw-in. This corner was put behind for a Spurs corner and from that corner Untied broke upfield. They worked it to one of their strikers, at the far end of the pitch from me, who shoots high over the bar from 20 yards out.

This was the closest either team would come to scoring for a while as the game settled back down into it’s previous midfield battle as it has been up till this point. The 29th minute bought the first card of the game and it went to Ella Toone of United. She went into the book for blocking off Naz on the left hand side of the pitch as the Spur’s player looked to turn and run at the United defence. It was an unnecessary card for Toone though as Naz was not turning her with any speed at all and, like most of the game so far, the attack looked to be completely threat less.

Given the lack of excitement in the first half hour of the match it was almost a relief to have a break in play that allowed the game to reset. I say almost because this break in play came due to a Spurs player being down in the visitors penalty area needing treatment. It’s never a good thing to see a player down injured and needing treatment, but this break in play seemed to do all the players the world of good. The player needing treatment was able to continue after her time with the physios.

This break seemed to recharge the hosts more than their visitors though as it was them who had the best chance of the match so far in the 37th minute. This came from a deep freekick that landed to Toone on the left hand side of the box, who flashed a powerful shot right across the face of goal which skimmed the post on it’s way behind for a corner.

From this corner, in a game of so few quality attacking moves so far, we had the first goal of the game. United’s corner from the left was turned home in the centre by their number 8, Vilde Boa Risa, but I only know this thanks to the announcer over the tannoy as I was so amazed by the chance a minute earlier that I was making a note of it safe in the knowledge that nothing was then likely to happen until half-time. Whether I saw it or not though United had scored the first goal of the game and now lead 1-0.

In the aftermath of this goal and determined to focus more on what was happening on the pitch, this is when I spotted the dim orange clock on the railings of the deserted East Stand and was now able to tell for certain how far through the match we were and thus when things were actually happening.

This is how I know that having taken so long to take the lead it took just 4 minutes for the hosts to double their lead, I saw this one. United found space down the left and the cross into the box was pin-point perfect to the waiting Hayley Ladd in the centre of the goal who had the simple job of directing it into the goal off the left-hand post. I may not know exactly how United took the lead, but their goal to make it 2-0 was a move of sheer quality.

It was also the last action of note in the first half and a first half that was sorely lacking in excitement and quality for the first 36 minutes ended with 2 goals for the hosts and a lead that would prove to be unassailable for the visitors. It certainly shows why you should never leave the stands early at the end of a half. The two goals for United at the end of the half were perfectly timed to change the half-time team talks for both managers and take all the momentum away from their visitors in a way that they would never be able to recover from.

Despite the lack of quality attacks from their side in the first half, the Spurs dugout decided against making any changes at half time. Man U for their part also decided to stick with their team from the first half, though given their brace at the end of the half this was perhaps more understandable.

In half time I joined the queue for food, but with just one kiosk working and having not moved an inch after 10 minutes I decided to cut my losses and head back to my seat for the second half. I hoped it would be more entertaining than the first, but with the last 10 minutes of the half fresh in my mind it was going to have a lot to live up too.

The second half started well though as the hosts went on the attack in the 47th minute and really should have had a third goal. A mistake in defence by their visitors gifted the ball to Russo and her delicious cross picked out Galton 2 yards out in the centre of the goal. It was the easiest tap-in I have seen at a football match but somehow, with the goal at her mercy Galton managed to send the ball over the bar. It will go down as one of the miss of the season in the WSL without a doubt.

Having nearly taken a 3-0 lead at the start of the second half the hosts almost gifted the visitors a way back into the game just 3 minutes later. Mary Earps in the United goal tried to clear the ball upfield, but the clearance was a little wayward and the ball smashed straight into the face of Jessica Naz. She was able to continue without needing treatment though and luckily for the hosts the ball ricocheted out for a throw on the right hand side.

These two early chances in the second half were a good sign that this half would be a much more exciting half than the first. Unfortunately not as for the next 10 minutes the game reverted to the midfield battles of the first half and it looked like the game might fade out to the end with United happy to settle for just the two goals and a win that would move them clear of their visitors in the table.

Imagine my relief then when Russo wrestled the ball free from a melee on the right and surged forward with intent. Her cross found Galton at the near post, but her deft finish at the near post was kept out by Korpela who stopped it going in. However, she could not paw it behind and the ball flew across the face of goal where there were no waiting United players to turn it home for a third goal.

This was the last straw for the United bench who decided the time was finally right to make changes. They decided on two at this point with Kirsty Smith and the exceptional Alessia Russo replaced by Martha Thomas and Hannah Blundell. No movement from the Spur’s bench yet though.

These changes had the desired effect within minutes for United as they were gifted a third goal by their visitors. Galton won the ball on the left and put in a dangerous cross on the edge of the 6 yard box. Luckily for the hosts though Neville looked to be in the perfect place to clear the ball away, but in going for the clearance she got her feet caught underneath her. The keeper had switched off, relying on Neville to clear the ball and this left Vilde Boe Risa with the simplest of tap-ins from the centre of the goal. This one went in and now it was 3-0 to United and game over.

This finally sparked movement on the Spur’s bench as, in the 65th minute, they removed Josie Green and bought on Angela Addison, their most dynamic midfielder, and not before time. United made a substitution of their own as this point too bringing on Jackie Groenen, but a mishap in my notes means that I have no idea who she replaced.

These changes did nothing to help Spurs as they almost gifted United a fourth goal in the 69th minute. A simple pass to the keeper was allowed to run across her body by Korpela and then she slipped as she went to clear upfield with her right boot. Galton was on the ball and rushed in looking for the goal her play so far deserved, but the keeper recovered to poke it off her toes just in time.

By this point in the match United were easily on top and barely having to try in order to maintain possession. They were also attacking with speed and intent now and looked likely to score every time they came forward. That said Spur’s had not completely given up and they threatened on a rare break in the 72nd minute as they found space on the left, then worked the ball out to Ayane on the right. Ayane let fly in an attempt to beat Earps at her near post, but the United keeper was equal to this effort.

This excellent chance for Spur’s would also be the last involvement in the game for Rosella Ayane as she was substituted 5 minutes later with right-back Asmita Ale coming on in her place. This change freed up Ashleigh Neville to move forward into her more natural winger position, with Ale taking the defensive role on at right back.

This change almost bore fruit for Spurs in the 79th minute as they broke down the right. The cross to the back post from deep was pin point and the onrushing Rachel Williams met it with purpose, but her header knocked the ball just wide of the post as she collided with the post instead. Thankfully she was just a little winded and was able to carry on after treatment.

This chance bought the game into it’s final 10 minutes and with United clearly feeling that the game was now won they removed Leah Galton from the action, to a standing ovation, and bought on Ivana Ferreira Fuso in her place. This was an excellent call from Untied as it was Fuso who had the last chance of the match.

In the 86th minute Fuso came close to setting up a goalal that would’ve put all the other goals in the game to shame. She picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area and then proceeded to turn 4 Spurs defenders inside-out, bamboozling them with an exquisite show of skill that would have graced any game in any competition in the world. Her whipped cross across the 6 yard box was just begging to be turned home by any of her teammates, but the defence beat them too it and the best move of the match was denied the finish it deserve, keeping the score at 3-0.

This was the last chance of the game as the action faded through the final 5 minutes, with both teams just waiting for the match to end. When the game would end though was not made clear to anyone though as no board was put up for the added time at the end of the 90, leaving the 1,518 spectators in the stands none the wiser as to how long remained in the match.

Not even the match clock was any help as this stopped recording time at 91:16 and the game just kept going. There was just enough time for the visitors to make one final substitution, taking off Jessica Naz and bringing on Isabella Lane. I’m still trying to work out why they waited till this stage of the game to make a substitution though as the game was gone by then and there was nothing that the new Lady on the pitch could do to change the course of the game.

Minutes later the ref blew the final whistle and the game ended in a deserved 3-0 win for Manchester United Women over their sub-par visitors Tottenham Hotspur Women who will certainly have better performances this season and will hope to turn things around soon, because if they have more days like this they will get turned over again and again.

As for me I now had 5 hours to get out of Leigh and across to the far side of Manchester for the second game of my day to watch the blue side of Manchester take on the red side of North London, who also happen to be the league leaders.

This week I went back to London for a game at the Brentford Community stadium that had originally fallen to the Apocalypse and was now going ahead just over a month later than scheduled. The Brentford game in question was the visit of Manchester United to the newly promoted Londoners.

This was the first meeting between the teams since a League Cup meeting in 1977 and their first meeting in the league since 1946. Both of those games were United wins, with the Brentford win dating back to 1938 when they won 2-0 in the FA Cup 5th round. That is quite the gap in time since Brentford have won this fixture, but I went down for this one with hope that they could be successful this time around and even the Man U fans that I met on the tube to the game were positive about the Bees’ chances.

The visitors were in better form coming into this one than perhaps their fans recognised though as they have only lost one of their last eleven games in all competitions since Rangnick took over in November. Yeah they did surrender a two-goal lead last weekend but other than that they have been doing well under their new manager. They are one of only two teams that have scored in all of their away games this season and came into this one looking for their 300th away league win of all time.

Add to that the fact that Brentford had conceded seven goals in their previous two games and only scored once in them and it certainly looked like the away fans had hopes of a positive outcome to the match. One thing the visiting fans could be sure of though was that their team would be getting the first goal as Brentford had conceded the opening goal in 13 of their last 14 matches. The gap between the clubs in only 9 points at this point in the season and 7 places, with Man U in 7th and their hosts in 14th.

For this match and with a free day beforehand I was able to get to the ground for the arrival of the visiting coaches. The visiting players went straight from their coaches into the stadium without waving at the fans lining the barriers to see them. Only David DeGea and Juan Mata broke the mould on this and acknowledged the fans, many of whom were visiting fans, but I didn’t see Cristiano Ronaldo making his way off the coaches. Unless he got off the coaches before they arrived or me and everyone around me at the barriers somehow didn’t spot one of the most famous footballers of all time or he got to the ground at another time to avoid the crowds. I have no idea which it was, but I do like to think that hundreds of football fans would notice CR7 getting off a football coach.

At this point I still had more than an hour till kick-off so I decided to use some of the time to head to the club shop and buy a keyring for the team I have supported for years. I have had a keyring for Griffin Park, but never just for Brentford and now was definitely the time to change that. I also bought a programme for the game and on there was quite a surprise, the away team had a man just listed as Hannibal on the programme. He was not in the matchday squad for them, but still it’s a strange choice of name for anyone who has seen silence of the lambs or knows their punic wars and I’m really looking forward to hearing commentators talking about him on Sky, BT, Amazon and Match of the Day. Also not in the squad was Paul Pogba, who missed out with injury.

I headed into the stadium with an hour to go before the match and found the stands almost completely deserted. Now a football stadium without fans in it is an extremely creepy place to be and how teams played in them in 2020 when no fans were allowed inside I have no idea. I couldn’t stand 5 minutes in that cavernous bowl with no atmosphere and headed back to the concourse just in time to see the teams announced on the concourse screens. Having not seen CR7 exit the away team busses I was shocked to see him in the starting 11 and even more so to see Bruno Fernandez in there alongside them. They have been the Gerrard and Lampard of the Portuguese national team for years now, so to see how they did in a club game together was going to be interesting.

Theses two talisman’s of Portuguese football could not have been much further apart when the visitors warmed up though. Whenever they were doing any exercises in two lines C. Ronaldo would be at the back of one of the lines and B. Fernandez was at the front of the other one. Even when they came over to right in-front of where I was for the final part of the warm up, before heading inside for a final ream talk, they still went to opposite ends of opposite lines. They did share a fist bump as C. Ronaldo gave one to each of his teammates as they made their way over and he even gave a couple of them pep-talks as the warm up came to an end. None of that seemed to make much difference once the game got underway though.

Brentford were on the attack from the kick-off and the visitors looked shell-shocked. It took all of two minutes for the bees to create their first chance of the match. Mbeumo waltzed past Dalot and attempted to slip a cut back to the penalty spot, but it got deflected back to Jensen on the edge of the box who let rip. His shot rifled just past the left-hand post, but it wouldn’t be the last chance of a first half dominated by the hosts.

The hosts next chance came just two minutes after the first as they floated a freekick to the back post which is headed back across goal and comes inches from connecting with Ivan Toney, but the visitors are able to clear it away just in time to keep the scores equal early on.

It took six minutes for the visitors to get a sustained period of possession and another two minutes before they created a chance of their own in the match. This came from a corner on the right that got headed clear and recycled to halfway. Then a great pass down the left got a visiting player in space for the first time all match and the resulting cross caused all sorts of problems in the hosts defence before a combination of Lossl and Jansson managed to get the ball clear and away. It came right back in the 10th minute though and this time the visitors chance came down the right. This time though the deep cross was just a little too high for the onrushing Bruno Fernandez to connect with at the back post.

Those scares seemed to boost the hosts and hyper-focus them on what they needed to do as they created chance after chance in the 12th minute. The bees first chance of this quick fire trio was created with a cross from the left that found Jensen 6 yards from goal. The ball was nipped off his feet by the visiting defence but fell to Janelt nearby who let rip and guided his shot agonising wide of the right hand post. There must have been a deflection on it though as the ref gave a corner to the hosts, they ended up taking three back to back. From the first of these the home defence had no time smuggling the ball behind for another corner. The second corner caused them more problems as DeGea could only clear it to the feet of Mads Bech 15yards out who saw his shot deflected inches wide of the post. The third corner presented the most clear-cut chance for Brentford to take the lead. It fell to the feet of Jensen who somehow managed to fire the ball over the bar from just 8 yards out. All of those chances were ones that you would expect to be buried at this level and it absolutely should have been 1-0 to Brentford at this stage.

The next chance for 1-0 that the hosts would waste came in the 16th minute as the bees work the ball wonderfully down the right hand side and then feed the ball to Mbuemo with only the keeper to beat. The duel was won by DeGea who got down to save Mbuemo’s shot with his legs. Luckily for Mbuemo his blushes were saved by the linesman who flagged for an offside against Baptise in the build up. At this point I was already getting nervous about all these missed chances as I wrote in my notes that the Bees can’t afford to be letting chances like this go begging and expect not to be punished for it later.

The visitors wasted a chance to punish their hosts for missing so many chances in the 18th minute, when a freekick from the left fell to Mason Greenwood on the edge of the box but his shot lacked power and was easily cleared upfield by the host’s defenders. The promising break that developed was brought to an end though when Mbuemo overhit his through ball to Jensen and the break broke down.

There was a break in the game in the 22nd minute when a collision, near the corner flag at the end of the West Stand that the visitors were attacking, results in Jansonn and Fred ending up on the canvas. They were checked over by the medics and were able to continue playing, but these checks took some time to ensure that both players had not suffered a concussion. In this break the visiting fans piped up to remind the home fans why they had come to see the match or at least the reason the visiting fans thought we had, ‘You’ve only come to see Ronaldo’. I’m sure there was some truth in this for some of the fans in the home stands, but it was interesting that even fans of Man U thought we’d come to see one player rather than their whole team.

Speaking of CR7 he came inches away from connecting with an inswinging corner in the 29th minute. Unfortunately for CR7 the ball was once again played in a little bit too high and flew harmlessly away from danger. The next corner for the visitors resulted in a chance for the hosts. They broke up field and played a lovely set of passes from Mbuemo, Toney and Jensen. The ball eventually fell to Jensen one-on-one with the keeper just 8 yards from goal, but DeGea won this duel too as he once again saved with his feet. The ball ended at the feet of Toney on the left and a deflection from the resulting cross nearly resulted in an own goal, but once again this one went inches wide of the post.

The Bees were creating a lot of chances and would go on to waste even more chances in the 35th minute, but by this point I was so infuriated with the profligacy of the host’s attackers that I didn’t even bother writing down who wasted them this time. It was becoming rather ridiculous how easy Brentford were finding it to create chances and equally ridiculous brilliant they were becoming at wasting them. The last chance that Brentford wasted this half came in the 38th minute as a Toney shot from the edge of the box.

The football on display had certainly not warranted a first half that ended 0-0 but the host’s ability to waste chances meant that the first half did indeed end 0-0. No-one in the stand around me could understand why it was still all-square at the break and how on earth Brentford had failed to score. The guy two seats away from me on my row, who was wearing a bee costume after losing a bet, even called how things would go in the second half. His words to me at half-time were ‘we are going to lose this one, you can’t miss that many chances and win cause there’s no wat they can be that bad second half’ and he couldn’t have been more right.?

Rangnick made no changes at half-time despite the abysmal display from his team in the first half, but what he said to them during the break clearly had an effect as the came out in the visitors came out with a new sense of purpose in their play and were now attacking at speed and actually putting passes together now.

This new lease of life for the visitors almost paid dividends in the first minute of the half as a cross from space on the right reached CR7 at the perfect height at the back post and his header across goal looked like it might be sneaking in under the bar. It did not and instead rebounded away off the bar. This was by far and away the closest the visitors had come to scoring all match so far and the first time they had even really threatened the hosts goal.

From the rebound off the bar the hosts broke upfield and Mbuemo once again fed the ball through to Jensen who found himself one-on-one with DeGea once more. The duel this time was won by the keeper once again though and this time he used his hands. This time the shot was so weak that it just rolled into DeGea’s arms.

Then in the 54th minute a rare mistake from CR7 gifted the ball to Jensen and this time he doesn’t even bother trying to start another Brentford attack and risk another duel with DeGea. This time he decided that since the simple hadn’t worked he would instead go for the spectacular and attempt to score from the halfway line. As had been the theme so far this match it did not work out well for Brentford. The shot was drifting harmlessly wide, but DeGea walked across his box to catch it anyway.

A minute later the host’s punishment finally began as the visitors took a lead that their play had done very little to deserve so far this match. Their opening goal came through Anthony Elanga who had a tap in from 2 yards out after a ball over the top that he beat Lossl too. I was busy writing my note on Jensen’s effort from halfway at the time of the visitors attack and only looked up in time to see Elanga score the goal.

Seeing the visitors take the lead was a punch in the gut after the hosts had dominated the game to that point and come so close to taking the lead so many times in the first half.

Two minutes later the visitors almost had a second as McTominay took a shot from 20 yards out that Lossl contrived to ladle behind for a corner. Lossl had been relatively untested in the first half on his first home league start since signing for the Bees, but here he showed the first sign that it may take him some time to adjust to his new surroundings.

The whole Brentford team seemed to lose all confidence after conceding that first goal and despite Janelt’s attempt at the spectacular to draw them level in the 60th minute their play went to pot from here on out and they went further behind in the 62nd minute.

The visitors second goal came through a ball over the top to Bruno Fernandez that took the whole of the host’s defence out of the game. Fernandez was not alone in getting in behind the Bees backline and he chose not to shoot himself, but to set up his companion instead. He rolled the ball across the box for Mason Greenwood to tap-in from 10 yards out. That was one of the simplest goals I have ever seen scored at a match at any level and it seemed to signal the opening of the floodgates for the visitors.

A third goal for the visitors almost came to pass in the 66th minute when an inviting cross to the back post by Bruno Fernandez was just a little too much for CR7 to get his feet ready for in time and the great man ended up flat on his back in the box.

By this point both managers had decided that changes were needed and it was the host’s Thomas Frank that made the first moves. He made a double substitution in the 63rd minute as he replaced Sergi Canos with Rico Henry and Vitaly Janelt with Shandon Baptiste in an attempt to add some fresh legs to his team and perhaps a new impetus after conceding two goals in quick succession. These substitutions were followed up by the substitution that many Bees fans had been hoping for at half-time as Jensen was replaced by Yoane Wissa. This change was wanted by many around me as Wissa was seen as a more natural finisher than Jensen, but there is no doubting that Jensen had not had a bad game by any stretch. He had got into many great positions and caused the visitors defence many problems in the first half and if he keeps getting in those positions then the goals that hadn’t come today will start to flow soon.

The visitors responded to these substitutions with two of their own. The first of these saw Greenwood replaced with Rashford, but it was the second substitution that got the biggest reaction from players and fans alike; CR7 was taken off to be replaced by Harry Maguire. This was a strange call for many reasons, not least of which was that CR7 had been causing the hosts problems even in the first half but also as it seemed to signify a change of shape for the visitors. They appeared to be shutting up shop and settling for a 2-0 win which seemed a strange call when they had been so clearly on top since they took the lead.

The changes had no effect on the momentum of the game though as Brentford almost gifted their visitors a third in the 74th minute when the messing around at the back, that they had gotten away with against Port Vale nearly cost them here. Luckily for the hosts though Pinnock was able to get back to nip the ball off Fernandez’s feet as he went to shoot and the score remained at 0-2 for now.

I say for now as it only took 3 more minutes for the visitors to actually add their third. A defence splitting ball on the right made it through to Rashford who rifled it past Lossl at his near post. It was a great goal, but as a home fan this was the point the last vestige of hope inside me died and the game became a dead rubber for the last 13 minutes as it was now clear who was getting the three points.

The visitor’s bench was so confident that the game was now won that in the 84th minute they took off their opening scorer Elanga and replaced him with defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic in an attempt to consolidate their clean sheet.

It didn’t work as just a minute after this change the hosts finally got the goal that their first half performance had deserved. This consolation came through Ivan Toney who turned home a long throw from Mads Bech from the right touchline, but at this point I was so sure that there was no comeback in the offing that I was unable to take any joy in seeing Brentford finally take one of the chances they had created.

This was the last chance that Brentford created in the match and also the final threatening chance of the game. In the four minutes added at the end of the 90 Fernandez did find himself free in the box with just Lossl to beat, but his attempted chip was weak and Lossl didn’t even have to move to catch it. This was the last action of the match as the ref then blew his whistle for a match that proves the old proverb that football is a match of two halves and is also notable for having not a single card shown all match.

The game ended a 3-1 to Manchester United and whilst this was a score no-one would’ve predicted after the first half, it does show the truth behind another old proverb ‘you have to take your chances when you have them’. Thomas Frank always says that Brentford either win or learn from each match and I hope today they have learnt that proverb and never forget it.

I will be back with Brentford when they visit Everton in the FA Cup fourth round, but this weekend I’m off to Manchester tomorrow for a day of Women’s football. I will be visiting both United and City and will be looking to blog both of them next week, lets see how I do with that.

This weekend was the big night in the FA Cup, the third round. This is the round where the big boys join the competition and those teams who have come through at least 2 rounds already have the chance to gain the scalp of a team that no-one would ever expect them to beat. The game I attended was one such opportunity.

The team with the opportunity for the scalp were Port Vale of League Two, who play their home games in the village of Burslem on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, and the team they were attempting to defeat were Brentford of the Premier League. The two team’s last meeting was in 2014 at Griffin Park, when the hosts won 2-0 as they sealed their promotion into the 2nd tier of English Football. Port Vale finished that season in a creditable 9th place to secure their second season in the league. They finished that season a mere 7 places apart in the league system but now, 8 years later, that gap has increased massively to 62 places at kick-off.

The gap between the teams was even more pronounced when considering the area they play in. Brentford have a modern, state of the art stadium in central London, whilst Port Vale play in a tiny stadium in a run-down village on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent. I had to head down to the village the evening before the match and if I thought Crewe was in a poor state before, it looks like Buckingham Palace levels of rich compared to Burslem.
The 25 minute walk to my hotel from the tiny station of Longport, least used station in Staffordshire, was up and over sludge covered roads as the snow of previous days melted away and it was the most miserable walk I have ever done. I knew very little about Port Vale before going to this match and now I know more about the area they are situated in than anyone could ever reasonably wish to know.

On the day of the match I completed the morning tasks that had forced me to travel down the day before, after all it’s difficult to be on a zoom call on a 2 and a half hour train journey which you also have to change trains during, and headed down to the stadium.

My hotel was a short 10 minute walk from the stadium and with so little else to do in the village, I arrived at the stadium with a long time to go before kick-off. I filled this time, first by heading into the club shop to buy a keyring for the team to add to my collection and when I saw they had programmes for sale in there too I bought one of those as well. Then I decided to take a lap of the stadium to see if any of it was nice to look at from the outside or if there were any interesting things to see around it. What I found was a statue to the Sproson family, whose contribution to Port Vale is legendary in that area. The named members of the family were Phil, Roy and Jess; they were two brothers and Jess’s son Phil who all spent the majority of their careers at Vale. Phil even went on to manage the team at the end of his playing days.

This statue was the only notable thing I saw on my lap and as it was outside the away players entrance I decided to see if I could catch the arrival of the last of the Bees’ coaches. EPL regulations currently require 3 coaches for the journey to away matches and whilst I had missed the arrival of the first 2 I caught the 3rd coach, which had been delayed by a police escort. That escort took the coach via a diversion and then sped off leaving the coach to fight through the traffic and arrive at the ground 15 minutes later than the others.

The players and Bees’ manager Thomas Frank had no problem getting into the stadium once they arrived though, but I was not so lucky. A problem with the ticket scanners at the turnstiles meant that it took me ages to get inside, so it was lucky I had the time. When I finally did get inside I headed to the food kiosk to the far right end of the stand and grabbed a pie and a drink before making my way into the stands to find an empty seat. The tickets had no reserved seats on them for away fans so it was simply first come, first served.

I settled into a seat directly behind the goal, but just far enough back that I was behind the only screen in the stadium and thus couldn’t see anything on it at all. There were seats further out, but they were behind pillars which blocked the view of the pitch so this was the best position available. It did make taking down the starting 11’s for each team difficult though and even more so as the tannoy was having serious sound issues, it would start off loud and then tail away to nothing just as the important information was being read out.
I was just about able to note down the two teams from seeing them in their huddles before kick off though. Through this method I realised that Brentford had given a first start to their January signing Lossl in goal, who had previously played for Huddersfield but joins the Bees from time playing in Germany. He may have been in the starting 11, but he was not on the programme so I wrote him in. I didn’t write in the Vale substitutes though as I thought only to worry about them if they came on, they did not.

The other major changes in the Bees’ squad were the return of record summer signing Ajer to the back line after a long injury layoff, with captain Pontus Jansson dropping to the bench. Toney was also on the bench to start this match as Mbuemo was also named on the bench on his return from injury. All these changes meant that it would be the untested partnership of Wissa and Forss leading the line for the Londoners.
The Port Vale starting 11 were all well rested as, due to postponements, they had not played a match since losing to fellow league 2 high fliers Newport on December 11th. They had not played a match at home since beating Hartlepool 2-0 on the 27th November so I was expecting a huge crowd for this one, but half of the seats in the stand away to my right were empty. It seems not even the chance of seeing their team beat an EPL team was worth the risk of the variants to many home fans.

The lack of a visible clock may not have been a reason for home fans to stay away but it did make the timings of any match events easy to work out, so all minutes will be extremely approximate throughout the match report. Before that though I just want to give a shout out to the person controlling the pre-match music as they played both Park Life and Hey Jude multiple times before kick-off. Park Life is just a great tune, but Hey Jude is the basis for a normal Bees’ pre-match chant and whilst that chant doesn’t use the whole song it was still lovely to have this familiarity to enjoy at an away game. It certainly helped me settle into the match.

Port Vale seemed settled in from the kick-off as they secured a freekick inside the Bees’ half in the first minute having gone straight on the attack. The freekick flew harmlessly over the bar, but going on the attack so early was certainly a signal of intent from the home team as they were not about to be overawed by their visitors. They had been opponents in League 1 just 9 seasons ago after all.

Vale went on the attack again in the 6th minute as they found space to get in on the right. The ball across field landed at the striker’s feet, who then lets it run across him and chases it to the by-line. He gets there in time to slot in back across the box, but this time Pinnock is there to clear it for the visitors. Bees then break up field and the ball is worked to Forss on the left, but he over-runs it before any chance can be created.

It took until the 10th minute for Brentford to create a chance of their own. They got in down the left but the cross lacked a little precision and meant that Dominic Thompson had to try for the spectacular at the far post to have any hope of getting it on target. Unfortunately for the visitors he is a full-back and his attempt at the spectacular failed impressively.

This chance and the gap between the teams in the league seemed to give the Bees confidence as they decided to play tika-taka in defence and it almost cost them in the 11th minute. The Port Vale players put the pressure on the Bees and this almost deflected the ball into the goal when Lossl finally decided to clear the ball upfield. Luckily for the visitors though the deflection was off the side of a Vale player and deflecting to a Bees’ midfielder.

The visitors then managed to hold onto possession without creating anything for the next few minutes. Vale broke out and upfield in the 15h minute. They launched the ball up the left and the race was on between the hosts David Amoo and Mads Bech for the visitors. Mads Bech won and cleared the ball away from danger for the Bees. It was another great attack for the visitors though and another reminder for their illustrious visitors that they would not simply be rolling over and letting them win.

The visitors responded to this by managing their first shot on target in the 20th minute. A cross from deep on the Bees right pinged around the area and from player to player on both teams, before it made its way to Wissa. His shot was on target from within the 6 yard box, but with the ball bouncing around so much to make it to him there was hardly any power on the shot and it simply dribbled to Stone in the Vale goal.

Vale were on the attack again in the 22nd minute when Mads Bech gave them a freekick 20 yards out on the right-side of the pitch. This was whipped in to the far post but unfortunately for the hosts Pinnock was there to head it away from just in front of their waiting striker.

This was the last chance Port Vale had with the scores as their Premier League visitors took the lead in the 26th minute. Their opener came through an attack down the centre of the pitch. Mads Bidstrup had a chance to shoot on goal, but as he is a midfielder he instead decided to lay the ball off to the onrushing Forss on his right. Forss stroked the ball across the keeper and in to the net. Cure wild celebrations all around me in the away end. Without the announcements I was too busy trying to work out who had scored and note it down to truly enjoy the joy of the moment. I thought this goal would open the floodgates for the visitors to walk to the win, but Vale were not going down without a fight.

In the 30th minute the Bees were almost gifted a 2nd goal when a cross from their right was knocked away from his own keeper by one of the home defenders under no pressure from anyone. This mistake almost let the ball make its way to the onrushing Bees strikers, but the defender was able to clear it just in time to keep the score at 1-0. They almost made it 2-0 themselves in the 34th minute as Janelt fired over from just inside the box.

The visitors were almost made to regret letting that gilt-edged chance go as Vale came extremely close to equalising in the 37th minute. Thompson slipped at left-back and the resulting Vale cross came inches away from flying straight in at the back post. If the hosts had someone running in at the back post it would have been a tap-in to equalise, but unfortunately they had no such player and Brentford were able to shepherd it behind for a goal-kick.

Another chance for a hosts equaliser came and went in the 42nd minute when a pass across his own 6 yard box by Lossl came millimetres from being turned home by Vale’s James Wilson. This kind of messing around at the back had now nearly cost the Bees on 2 separate occasions and it was frustrating to watch them seem to try to throw away their lead. I hope they don’t play like that going forward in the league or further rounds of the cup as better teams than Port Vale.

This was the final chance of the half as there was only 1 minute added on, or at least it only seemed like a minute. I have no idea how long it actually was as I missed the board and the tannoy once again died at the most important moment of the announcement. I have no idea why the tannoy was in such awful shape, but whatever the reason the first half ended 1-0 to the Premier League visitors. The host from League 2 were still in the match though and if they could just get a little more luck with their finishes they might yet win in the second half. One things for sure though, they weren’t making it easy for the visitors.

I went to grab a drink in half-time, but with the queues and with no announcements or screens in the concourse of the Hamill Stand (the away fans end for the match) I lost track of time a little and had missed the start of the second half by the time I returned to my seat. I don’t believe that I missed more than a couple of minutes and my fellow supporters assured me that I had not missed any goals. Whilst this was a relief to know, the fact still remains that I had missed some of the half and not knowing how much I had missed means that any minute markers I give for the second half should be taken with a heaping helping of salt.

That disclaimer out of the way onto the second half and in the 50th minute Vale won a corner on the right that sent the home fans into raptures as they did all they could to inspire a comeback from their team. The corner itself was massively overhit and then put behind for another corner. At the second time of asking things went no better for the hosts as Lossl was able to come and catch the ball just past the far post, it having flown over the heads of everyone in the 6 yard box.

Then in the 53rd minute the Vale manager Darrell Clarke decided to make his first change, bringing on Danny Amos for James Wilson and giving Vale a few minutes with both Amoo and Amos on the pitch. I say a few minutes because in the 59th minute Clarke was at it again making more changes and these changes saw David Amoo removed from the action along with James Gibbons, to be replaced by Dennis Politic and Mal Benning.
This was my impression whilst at the match at any rate, but further fact-checking whilst writing this blog has shown that Amos was not even in the Port Vale squad for the match and that it was instead Harratt who came on for James Wilson. Harratt was not on the programme and as I do this as a normal fan, without any access to offical team-sheets or other media aides I was unable to catch this mistake at the time.

With those changes out of the way the hosts had two chances in 2 minutes to equalise. First in the 60th minute when the somehow managed to guide the ball just wide from 6 yards out and then a minute late when a cross from the right was cleared off a Vale player’s feet by Pinnock in the Bees’ defensive line.

These chances made Thomas Frank decide that the time was now right for the visitors to make a double substitution of their own. Ajer’s return was bought to an end as Mads Roerslev replaced him in the back line and time was also called on Wissa’s match as he was replaced by the returning Bryan Mbuemo.

It was Mbuemo who would make the greater impression off the bench as he doubled the visitors lead 3 minutes after coming on. The ball was fed to Janelt in space in the centre of the pitch and he drove towards goal. His slide rule pass through the defence was perfectly into the path of Mbuemo, who took it in stride and slipped it to the keeper’s left. That’s 2-0 to Brentford and it felt like there was no way back into it for Port Vale.

3 minutes later Port Vale were back in the match with goal of their own. A cross from the left by the recently introduced Politic found its way to the head of Harratt, one of the Vale substitutes not on the programme and who I had mistaken for Amos when he came on in the 53rd minute. I did not know who had scored at the time and without the announcer working I had no way of finding out till I came to write this blog. It is only on double checking my facts whilst writing that I have found out about this mix-up I made on the day.

After their FA-Cup tie against Manchester United, Villa manager Steven Gerrard said that the fans had no idea what was going on during the VAR reviews and after checking my facts for this blog it’s clear that I had even less clue what was going on infront of me at this match. A screen that all fans can see or a working tannoy is an absolute must for football matches, particularly when the teams involved are not well-known or shown on TV often. Even a football-nut like me can make mistakes without them, so how is a casual fan supposed to cope. The mix-up is totally down to me, but a screen I could see or a working tannoy would have been a huge help.

Nonetheless, it was a goal for Port Vale and with the way they had been playing they were certainly back in the match now. It also gave the home fans something to celebrate and so they did. It was great to see the elation in the home stands and it was almost increased a minute later in the 70th minute as a shot from the right point of the box was only kept out by a last second Lossl dive.

Vale getting one back prompted another change for the visitors as they replaced Vitaly Janelt with Shandon Baptiste in the midfield and a minute later they went close to opening their lead up again with a pile driver from Saman Ghoddos that had to be parried away by Stone in the hosts goal.

It was almost level in the match in both the 75th and 77th minutes. in the 75th minute The hosts have the away defence all over the place, but their cross from the right evaded everyone and was knocked behind by Lossl. Then in the 77th minute Lossl was beaten by a chip as he rushed out to the edge of his box to beat the Vale striker to the ball. He was unsuccessful in this endeavour and it looked like the hosts may be drawing level. Unfortunately for them though the visitors defenders were back on the line to head it away from danger and save their keeper’s blushes. Vale came straight back again though and headed over from 12 yards out.

As the match entered the final 10 minutes the match was finely balanced, but a minute later the visitors had wrapped it up. The third Brentford goal came through Mbuemo once more, as he made his mark on his return to action after injury. His second came through a free running attack down the centre at speed. He looked for a pass but when there was none on and with the fans behind the goal urging him to shoot he let rip. He wrapped it round the defender and in off the post. Aidan Stone in the Port Vale goal stood no chance, it was a finish worthy of winning any game and it put took the game away from the hosts.

This third Brentford goal lead to changes for both sides. I have no idea who went on or off for the hosts, but the visitors took off Ghoddos and bought on Ivan Toney. The second Bees sub bought on Myles Peart-Harris for his first appearance in a while. Brentford bringing on their main striker just after they had confirmed their lead was a huge blow to the hosts and their hopes of getting back level in the time remaining.

Brentford should even have had a 4th goal in the 86th minute as Marcus Forss let rip from 15 yards. It was straight down the keeper’s throat, but the power on the shot meant he could only parry it to the feet of Peart-Harris yards from goal. His shot should have nestled in the back of the net, but instead it went straight into the keeper’s legs and away from danger. That should have been 4 for Brentford but Vale kept the deficit to just 2 for now.

A minute later Brentford had their 4th and the game was truly done. There were fouls on both Peart-Harris and Toney in the box, but it was the Toney one that the referee gave the penalty for. Normally Toney is the penalty taker for Brentford, but with Mbuemo on his hat-trick it was him who took the penalty. Mbuemo’s penalty was straight down the middle and that completes his hat-trick. The joy he took from scoring 3 on his return to action was written all over his face and I hope he can take the joy from this and turn it into excellent form in the league.

Brentford almost got a spectacular 5th in the penultimate minute of the match as Toney let fly from halfway. It looked for a minute as though it was going to beat the keeper, but at the last second Stone got back to prevent it crossing the line.

That was the last action of the half as Brentford made it through to the next round of the cup. Port Vale did better than the final score-line suggests, but an away win is still the right result all things considered. The reward for the Bees winning this match is an away draw at Benitez’s stuttering Everton. A game that I really hope to be able to get a ticket for,

There will be a little break in this blog though as I was unable to get a ticket for Brentford’s visit to Liverpool this weekend to play the red side of the city. Their game in London was a cracker that ended 3-3 and I’m sure their game this weekend will be just as brilliant. Being unable to get a ticket though I have made other plans for the weekend, so my next blog will be in at least a week’s time as I return to London next week for the rescheduled match between Brentford and Manchester United.

As we enter the new year I am jumping straight into the action at the first chance I have. The second day of the year and I’m already back at the football and this time it was a game that I knew I had a good chance of enjoying. The results from the first day of the year were not encouraging though as they had all been won by the away teams. When you add to that the results that Brentford had been getting in December, they hadn’t scored since the 10th of that month when they came back to win against Watford. That is only 3 games though in all competitions with the cancelled game against Man United in that time period.

Brentford were going to have their work cut out for them though as they were up against an Aston Villa team who have been on a true resurgence since Steven Gerrard took over. Villa have only lost to the top 3 teams in the league since Gerrard came in and it looked like a tall order for Brentford to become their fourth conquerors. Villa have looked a class team since Gerrard came in and he has brought his impressive revival skills to another huge British club. I always thought he would after the insane turn-around he achieved at Rangers and it’s lovely to be proved right. I was hoping that this game would provide a speed-bump for his revitalisation of Villa though.

This whole game was weird for me though as I was hoping to see Brentford win and turn their form around, but this meant rooting against the team managed by my boyhood hero. I was struggling the whole match with this dilemma all match and it was made even worse than it could have been due to the return of Mr. Gerrard to the side-lines after time isolating with the C word. To see my hero in the opposition dugout was such a strange sight and it took me most of the first half to get used to it.

The match was also an important one for both sides as they are only separated by 2 points in the table, with a win for the Bees taking them above Villa and a Villa win taking them into the top half of the table. To add to this it was also set up to be the return of Ollie Watkins to face his old team at their home stadium, not the Griffin Park Stadium he used to play for them in though as they moved to their new stadium in the season after he made the move to Villa Park. All these factors combined made this match the most surreal experience of my life in football stadiums.

One of the surreal factors was taken out of the equation early on though as Watkins was not included in the Villa squad for the match and I don’t know why this is, but whatever the reason for his omission was it removed some of the drama from the match and robbed Watkins of the heroes return he would have been given by the Bees fans. It was not only Watkins missing for the visitors though as they were also without Tyrone Mings, Axel Tuanzebe and Marvelous Nakamba.

Villa were not alone in missing normal starters though as the Bees were without Mbuemo and Rico Henry in their squad. It was Villa however that stuck to the new tradition of away teams naming players in their squad who aren’t mentioned on the programme, just the two this time though and they were substitutes Iroegbunam (number 47) and Feeney (59). Neither of them entered the fray at any point though so perhaps taking the time to jot their names down on the programme was wasted, particularly as it took 3 tries to ensure I spelt Iroegbunam’s name correctly. With those matters all taken care and the traditional pre-match rituals taken care of the teams were ready to get the match underway.

The first 5 minutes of the match were not all that exciting on the pitch as both teams felt their way into it, so the Villa fans took the opportunity to educate the home fans on a few facts about their club and its’ players. Well actually only one of their players as they revealed in their chant supporting their right back Matty Cash that he is Polish. This is certainly something I was unaware of and as there are no longer flags next to the player’s names on the programme, like there used to be in seasons past. The second memorable Villa chant highlighted their European Cup Final win over Bayern Munich in 1982, their only European Cup success but still one more than Arsenal, Spurs and Everton have combined. Though in fairness to the north London rivals they have both at reached the final at least.

Anyway, the first on pitch action of the match occurred in the 9th minute of the match when the host’s Mathias Jensen mis-timed his jump as the ball flies across the area and land at the feet of a Villa player on the edge of the box, who skies his effort well over the bar and behind for a goal kick. The first chance of the match for the visitors and no more than their early play deserved as Brentford’s form from the end of 2021 continued.

Villa had another gilt-edged chance to take the lead present itself to them in the 12th minute as Ivan Toney lost the ball in midfield and gifted possession to the visitors who fed the ball through to Danny Ings on the left side of the box and with just the keeper to beat, he fired his shot into the side netting as he tried to win the battle at the near post. He made up for that miss just 3 minutes later though when he was once again fed the ball on the left side of the hosts box. This time he drilled his shot across the keeper and into the net near the far post to open the scoring for Villa.

The goal was a team play of sheer beauty and nothing more than their play so far in the match deserved. They had been in control of the match from kick-off, managing to keep possession from the start and they had been probing to find ways through the deep defensive set-up of the hosts long before they found the way through to Ings for their goal. The Villa fans celebrated taking the lead by letting off a flare in their end and at that time in the match it looked like they were celebrating the first of many as they were truly on top in all the important battles in the match. The hosts badly needed to improve if they were to have any chance of taking anything from the match.

The hosts had their first chance of the game in the 19th minute as they finally got a small bout of possession and broke up the pitch on through Canos on the left, but just as they got into space for the first time the ref whistled time on their attack. The ref made this whistle up due to a Villa player being flat on the pitch. I didn’t see the incident that put the Villa player in that position and whilst it certainly seemed like the right call by the ref, to stop the game, it was also awful timing in the middle of the Bees first attack of the match.

It was also the Bees last attack for a while as Villa regained the control they had been enjoying all half. Villa even came one block away from doubling their lead just 4 minutes later. Their corner to the back post was headed towards goal from 10 yards out only to bounce of the back of another Villa player and away from danger. This was a comical screw-up from my perspective, but from the Villa perspective it was a wasted chance that they would come to regret later in the match.

Later in the match almost meant just 2 minutes later as Kortney Hause in the Villa defence came inches away from scoring the own goal of the season. He lets a chip fly from the far left side of the box which the keeper has no chance of getting too and which landed in the side netting, to the relief of both the Villa players and their fans. It would have been a brilliant piece of skill if it had ended in the back of the net and an equaliser that the hosts would not have deserved.

In the 28th minute Villa got in behind again as a 30 yard pass over the top, on the right, for their winger to run onto had Jansson beaten completely. Luckily for the hosts Pinnock was sprinting over from the left side of the pitch and got their in time to prevent the cross from coming in. Villa regrouped though and worked the ball back to McGinn on the edge of the box. Unfortunately he ballooned his shot over the bar, but the ease with which Villa were opening up the home defence every time they attacked was worrying and it looked like only a matter of time before the floodgates opened for an easy Villa win. Brentford had been utterly awful so far and would need to seriously improve to have any hope in this match.

They had their first meaningful chance a minute later though as they finally woke up and realised they were in a football match here. Wissa wrestled the ball free on the left and got running. He worked the ball to Jensen on the left side of the box who got the first shot on the board for the hosts. He volleyed the ball just over the top and sparked the hosts to life. A real end to end football game emerged from the previous one-way Villa traffic and the first act of this new game was for the teams to trade yellow cards for cutting out each others attacks.

The hosts then won a freekick just inside their half, in the 32nd minute, that they attempted to take quickly and catch the Villa players napping. They managed this and it look like Toney had fed the ball through to a free running Wissa in the box, only for the ref to pull them back to retake the freekick. In their haste the hosts had taken the freekick from yards forward of the spot of the original foul, which meant the ball was in the wrong half of the pitch and made it easy for the ref to spot. Not the best mistake for the hosts to make, but it at least showed the new energy and will to play that they had discovered minutes earlier.

Wissa then ballooned a shot over the bar from 6 yards out in the 34th minute before Villa went on the attack again. This time though it was Villa’s turn to have an attack whistled off when they were in a promising position. They had the ball running free through the centre to Ings when the ref blew them up and gave a freekick to Brentford for a foul that he had seen in the way that Villa had got the ball. Even as a Bees fan it looked soft, but on the football pitch the ref’s word is law and so it was now 1-1 in whistled off attacks for between the teams.

In the 39th minute the football took a back seat as a set to developed in the Villa box between Toney and Hause. They threw each other to the turf, but it looked to be nothing more than handbags and it also looked like one of those incidents that is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. A yellow a-piece and a drop ball seemed the way forward to me, but the ref instead gave a freekick to Villa and no cards at all. This made no sense to me but as I have said before, the ref’s word is law.

After those two moments of parity between the two teams the hat-trick of parity was reached as the Bees achieved parity on the scoresheet too. Their equaliser came in the 42nd minute through the excellent Yoanne Wissa. The ball was well worked on the Bees’ left as Roerslev and Wissa played a 1-2 to bypass the Villa midfield and then Roerslev fed the ball to Wissa again. He advanced to the edge of the box before unleashing a driven shot into the bottom left corner of the goal. Martinez in the Villa goal stood no chance of stopping it as the Bees got themselves back into the match. It was the hosts first goal in more than 3 weeks and a team move of sheer beauty that got them back into this match.

The hosts almost had a second with the final attack of the half as Canos and Toney exchanged passes on the Bees left flank, before Canos unleashed a quality cross to the penalty spit. He was expecting Toney to be there and he would have been if he had continued his run, but instead Toney hadn’t moved since his last pass to Canos and Villa were able to clear the ball away. The first half ended with the scored at 1-1 and whilst the hosts were happy with that, the visitors will have gone in at half time knowing that they should have been ahead after their dominance of the first half hour.

That early Villa dominance and the later resurgence of the Bees must’ve left both managers feeling happy with their team’s performance as neither made any changes at half-time.

Sometimes the half-time break halts the momentum of the team on top before the whistle, but not this time as within a minute Roerslev was able to volley the ball goalwards from the edge of the box. His volley lacked power however and Martinez had more than enough time to get across and catch it. Roerslev was at the forefront of the Bees play again in the 52nd minute as his header away from a Villa cross set the Bees clear on the break down the right hand side. This promising break fell victim to ref’s whistle and put the hosts 2-1 up on this score. This time however the ref’s decision to stop play was vindicated as it became clear that Canos was in some severe discomfort on the right side of the Villa box. The treatment given to him by the medics was clearly unable to fix whatever the problem was as he had to be substituted 2 minutes later.

The bad luck for the Bees continued in the 60th minute as Mathias Jensen went down right in front of me clutching his leg. It appeared at first to be a groin issue, but when he hobbled off the pitch minutes later it became clear that it was more likely to be a hamstring problem. Canos was replaced by Saman Ghoddos and Jensen by Shandon Baptiste, but if these two are out for the long term then the Bees squad which is already stretched by injuries to David Raya, Rico Henry and Bryan Mbuemo will begin to look wafer thin and some reinforcements in this current transfer window appear a must for the depleted hosts.

For this game though the hosts changes appeared to give Villa a second wind as they produced two chances in as many minutes. Both of these came from long balls over the top. The first fell to Ezri Konsa in the penalty area but his touch let him down at the crucial moment and the ball dribbled to Fernandez between the sticks for the Bees. The second chance fell to Danny Ings on the edge of the box and his powerful shot had to be deflected wide by the Bees defence.

This Villa momentum was brought to an end in the 69th minute as Gerrard decides to shuffle his pack. He took off Jacob Ramsey and replaced him with Morgan Sanson. Ramsey had been a little anonymous in the second half so it seemed to be a sensible switch, but this switch seemed to give the Bees a little extra momentum for some unknown reason and they created the next presentable chance of the match in the 75th minute.

A sweeping Bees attack fed the ball through to Frank Onyeka on the edge of the Villa box. He cut inside one defender and let fly, his shot sailing inches wide of the post as the hosts came extremely close to taking the lead in a game they had looked like losing comprehensively in the first 30 minutes.

Villa then had an attack of their own in the 77th minute when only a sliding tackle from the covering Ivan Toney prevented them from getting in behind the hosts defence. The ref gave Toney a yellow for the challenge and at this point I was quite relieved the ref had taken a different view of the first half set to than I had or that would have been Toney’s marching orders. As it was though Toney remained on the pitch and the Villa player he had tackled received treatment before play resumed.

The last 10 opened with a substitution from both sides. Villa replaced Bertrand Traore with Trezuguet for his final appearance before he heads off to compete with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. For the hosts Frank Onyeka was removed from the action and replaced by Vitaly Janelt.

It was Villa who had the first chance of the last 10 minutes with a glancing header off a freekick from the left hand side that flew straight into the keeper’s grateful arms. That happened in the 82nd minute and a minute later the hosts had the lead. The second goal for the Bees came from the right hand side as the ball was worked forward to Roerslev. His first shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded straight too him and he made no mistake at the second time of asking. He slid it under the keeper’s diving body and into the back of the net.

That was Roerslev’s first ever goal for Brentford and the first time Brentford had been ahead in a match since beating Watford 2-1 on the 10th of December. They would win again here, but not before Villa put them to the test and forced them to defend that lead with every fibre of their being.

In the 85th minute Villa broke upfield and worked the ball into the Brentford box. Their first shot from 6 yards out was brilliantly kept out by Fernandez and the rebound was hacked to safety by Bees captain Pontus Jansson. Where this fighting spirit had been from the Bees in the first 30 minutes of the match beats me, but I was glad they had it here.

Villa came again though and came close to an equaliser in the 90th minute as the hosts blocked chance after chance. First Villa had a shot blocked from within the box, then one blocked as they let fly from the edge of the D, then a third chance went begging as Targett headed just wide at the back post.

Their were 5 added minutes at the edge of the 90 and my nerves could’ve done without that. Villa had chances to equalise twice within these added minutes. They first had two corners in a row that they almost scored from. Fernandez had to get down low to his left to smuggle a header round the post from the first one and then punched the ball off a Villa striker’s head from the second. Villa refused to be beaten though and produced one final chance. This time a freekick on halfway was fired up field and landed at the feet of Hause on the edge of the box. His attempt to square the ball to a teammate was cut out by the Bees defence who put it behind for another Villa corner. Martinez came up for this one too, but even having the keeper up was not enough to force the ball into the goal and the match ended 2-1 to Brentford.

Villa can feel hard done by not to get at least a point from the match as they absolutely deserved it. The result as it is though catapults Brentford above Villa and into 12th place, which makes them by far and away the best newly promoted team of the season and makes their decision to roll-over their current kit for next season too look far less optimistic than it first appeared. My apologies must go to Mr. Gerrard though as his team deserved a point from the match and to see my boyhood hero leave the game with no points for his team just feels wrong. It’s how things worked out though and on the showing from both teams they will finish the season far away from any worries at the wrong end of the table.

Since the match Villa have bought in Gerrard’s old Liverpool teammate Coutinho in on loan till the end of the season and I hope this works out for both parties far better than his move to Barcelona did.

The next blog will come from the Midlands as Brentford visit Port Vale this weekend in the FA Cup 3rd round and I will be present at the match as the League Two side look to gain a Premier League scalp. Cupset on the cards?

Manchester City are a team known for 2 things.
1. Winning every domestic title going
2. Playing in front of half empty for huge European games

The reasons they are known for these things were both on full display in my last match of 2021.

The match in question was their visit to Brentford and as a home fan I went into this match with extremely no expectations of seeing my team win. City have a team stocked full of expensively bought world class stars who came into the game top of the table by 6 points and in brilliant form. They had scored seven, four and six goals in their last 3 matches coming into this one and given that this one was against a newly promoted team I expected them to score at least five in this one. Brentford are also not in good form going into this one, with 1 win and 4 losses in their last 5. That one win being against newly promoted Watford who are hovering above the relegation zone.

I attempted to arrive at the ground in time for the arrival of the away team coach because the hype around City is so high that even I wanted to see some of their players emerge, but due to delays on the tube I arrived about 15minutes too late for the coach. This was a good sign of how disappointing my whole evening would be.

The second sign was the clear lack of defence and the weakened bench that City had bothered to show up with. They had no Walker or Stones in their squad and both Steffen and Carson, of Euro 2008 qualifying fame, as their goalkeeper on the bench. They even followed Chelsea’s lead from last week by naming a debutant on the bench and not include him on the programme. Just the one this time though and this time he didn’t even play.

On the subject of those who didn’t play, Rico Henry was out of the Bees squad for reasons I’m not aware of, Bryan Mbuemo missed out with injury and Canos was only named on the bench. So both teams were missing some of their main players and this had a clear negative effect on the game.

From kick-off Man City played keep ball camped in the Bees half and did all they could not to do anything with it but pass it to someone else in blue. It was a dreadful game to watch and were it not for the hype surrounding city leading me to hope that the game might spark alive at some point I would’ve walked out at half-time. Once City took the lead with their only piece of skill in the 17th minute they were content to simply hog the ball in their attacking half and pass it between each other for the rest of the match. Brentford rarely threatened to get the ball either and on those rare occasions they did get the ball they did not look like scoring.

City’s goal was the only move of any quality all match and came from a 40 yard pass that picked out De Bruyne on the right side of the penalty box and he dropped a gorgeous ball onto the feet of Phil Foden on the other side of the box to stroke it home. It was an incredible move by the visitors and far more like what I expected to see from Man City all match. It’s a crying shame that this was the only time they showed the class that they undoubtedly have in their team. It was also almost taken away by a VAR check for offside, but this was dismissed by the VAR official relatively quickly.

It also came during the only time in the match when the hosts had actually got hold of the ball and unlike the visitors they had threatened to do things with it, namely to score. They pounced on a defensive mix-up by City to get in behind. A quick 1-2 between Wissa and Onyeka and the former attempted to cross the ball to Ivan Toney waiting on the penalty spot. The cross never made it to Toney though as it was cut out and turned towards his own net by Ruben Dias, luckily for the visitors Ederson was switched on and dived low to his right to keep the scores at 0-0 and within 2 minutes City had taken the lead.

These two breakouts of a football match aside the first half was boring to the point of being a cure for insomnia. I even found myself drifting off at points during the match due to the dross on the pitch. I have never come close to this level of boredom at a football match before.

At half time though it seemed that both managers were satisfied with what they had seen as neither of them made any substitutions and the game got back underway. The lack of changes on either side meant a return to the dross ball that had been seen in the first half after the first 5 minutes that is.

City even had the ball in the net a second time in the 50th minute when a cross from the left found Foden in space in the box and he finished it across goal, only for the assistant on the far side to raise his flag and correctly rule the goal out for offside.

That was the last bit of interesting play for 16 minutes though till De Bruyne tried to bring some enjoyment back into the match with a great effort from distance that Fernandez had to get down to his left to palm away. The ball then bounced up and De Bruyne went for the spectacular, which would have really livened up the match, but his bicycle kick could only find the side netting.

This was the final enjoyable part of the match though as City settled into their keep ball and it got to the point where even their own fans started drifting off a bit. I looked towards the City fans and saw a few of them yawning and a couple more with their heads resting on the shoulder of the fan next to them, who I assume they knew. When your ‘football’ has this effect on your own fans you have to know that something has gone wrong.

There were chants of ‘Boring, boring City’ from the home fans and Mexican Waves in the stands throughout the second half and I’m surprised it took that long for them to begin.
The main thing that stands out in my mind from the second half, apart from the lack of skill or effort on display, was the amount of diving from the visitors.

The player in City’s ranks with a reputation for diving is Raheem Sterling, but with him on the bench for this one his teammates took over. First through the number 10 they bought from Villa in the summer of 2021 for a reported £100million. In the second half he took to falling over with no-one near him and the ref kept giving him free-kicks for it so he kept doing it and then having seen how well it worked for his teammate City’s goalscorer decided to get in on the act too. For the last 20minutes the ref was taken in by so many questionable City moves that it became embarrassing.

Those were the most interesting parts of the most boring match it has ever been my misfortune to bear witness too. The fact that there were so few of them made this a real drudge of a blog to write as I had to re-live the horror of the match.

City win domestic matches by doing everything they can to stop their opposition getting the ball and they play in front of empty stadiums in Europe because their fans are only willing to sit through their brand of football if they know they will get the glory of a win. United used to be the team that glory hunting fans would have followed in the past, but they have now crossed the city of Manchester to support the noisy neighbours (from their homes in the south of course).

This match was at least a fitting end to the year though, an awful match to end an awful year both for me personally and for the world. Hopefully 2022 will be better for all of us and the world situation will improve soon too.

I will be back with my first blog of the new and improved year next week, when I’m back up north again and blogging about the last game of my holiday get away in London as Brentford start the new year hosting Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. No matter what happens in that match one things for sure, it can’t help but be more exciting than this one was.

I have loyalty to two English teams, Liverpool and Brentford. Liverpool were my boyhood team, the team I have supported since I was 5 and one of the reasons I chose the city as the place to rebuild my life when such a place became necessary earlier this year. Brentford on the other hand are my main team these days. I have been going to their games since 2015 when they were in League 1 and have followed their rise to the Premier League going to as many games as possible each season.

I bring this up because when I was 10 Liverpool gave me the greatest football moment of my life with the 6 marvellous minutes in the miracle of Istanbul, the most incredible comeback in sporting history. This match was when Brentford reciprocated by giving me their own version of it, the 5 miserable minutes of north London.

The match that delivered the eponymous 5 minutes was a matter of Deja-vu for me as I have already blogged the league meeting of these two teams at this very stadium mere months ago. The teams involved are Brentford and their fellow Londoners, visitors once more, Chelsea and the stadium is the Brentford Community Stadium. The league game with those parameters was extremely hard fought and narrowly won by Chelsea by just a single goal. Will this game, in the League Cup Quarter finals, follow the same script or will here be a joker in the pack?

Well the first joker was one I expected, lots of changes from Chelsea. They are dealing with lots of injuries at the minute and when you add the challenges of Covid too that it was the smart move for them to ring the changes for this match and rest their main players for their league title tilt. To this end Lukaku, Thiago Silva, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi and Edouard Mendy were all omitted from the matchday squad. This meant a rare start for Kepa between the sticks for Chelsea and 5 debutants in the matchday squad.

Three of those debutants made the staring 11, but they didn’t make the programme. I was scrabbling to write them down as they were announced. What was that name? Xavier Simons. At least that’s not too hard to write, but what was his number? No idea, come back to it. Wait who was that? Harvey Vale. Great another one not on the programme, but simple to write out. Again no idea of the number, come back to it. A third debutant? What was the name? Jude, easy to write. Wait a sec, Jude Soonsup-Bell. Small and quick write it down, thank goodness he’s the last one to write can come back to his number later. The debut substitutes, just get surnames and worry about the rest later.

I was able to get the numbers as the teams were displayed on the screen minutes before kick-off. It was 54 for Xavier Simons, 68 for Harvey Vale and 64 or 84 for Jude Soonsup-Bell, I was writing too quickly to be able to actually read what I’ve written. What I did understand about the debutants in the starting 11 though is that there was one for each area of the field. Simons was Right-back in the defence, Vale was in the midfield and on his debut appearance for the Blues Soonsup-Bell was given the task of standing in for Lukaku and leading the line, talk about in at the deep end. The debutants on the bench were Webster 71 and Hall 75, neither came on though so I have no idea where they play.

Brentford for their part were at almost full strength with the only notable exception to this being Toney only being named on the bench as he continues his return from a bout of Covid and Raya who is out for months to come with a long-term injury. Instead of changes Brentford went for atmosphere. They created the atmosphere pre-match with an impressive lights show.

I got to the stadium with about 10 minutes to go to kick-off and when I walked up the stairs into the stands I was walking out into a pitch black stadium. With all the postponements that were happening elsewhere in the leagues I wondered, was some huge practical joke being played on me?

I had my answer seconds later as the screen on the far side of the stadium lit up with the face of Thomas Frank who said a single word ‘Action’. This started off an incredible light show that sparked the atmosphere in the stands and had the useful side effect of helping me find my seat. Once I was settled in the seat and the light show came to an end the match was ready to go.

Despite all the Chelsea changes they were the team who started the match on top. They hogged the ball for the first 9 minutes, just wouldn’t let their hosts near it. It was just a shame for the visiting fans that Chelsea hadn’t put their shooting boots on yet. Chelsea got into so many excellent positions with intricate build-up play but then they ran out of ideas when it came to creating the chance they needed to turn dominance into goals. Their debutant striker taking time to build his way into the game.

Their fans were doing all they could to inspire them though with an impressive array of chants, from ‘one man and his dog’ to a rip-off of Liverpool’s ‘Bring on your…’ chant from their European games across the last few seasons. These chants inspired Chelsea to put the Brentford goal under siege, but they couldn’t inspire Chelsea to actually put the ball in the net because Chelsea didn’t take the shots that may have helped the ball end up there.

Brentford finally broke out of the siege in the 9th minute and it was a simple hoofed clearance that did it. That ball found Mbuemo in behind the Chelsea defence with just the keeper to beat, but instead of beating Kepa he decided to be unselfish and pass the ball to the onrushing Wissa for what would have been an easy tap-in to give the Bees the lead against the run of play. Unfortunately for the expectant home fans the pass was lacking in quality and went sailing behind Wissa. A huge waste of a simple chance for the hosts.

They would waste another simple chance just 3 minutes later. This time their breakout came down the left as Rico Henry got in behind the visiting defence. His first cross was blocked, but it bounced straight back to him so he had another go. The second cross was much more successful and landed at the feet of Mbuemo on the edge of the box and his attempt to pick out Wissa was successful as well this time. Wissa was the unsuccessful one as his header from point-blank range was kept out by a Kepa save off the line. Chelsea then tried to get an attack going on the break which was cut out by Vitaly Janelt, who went into the ref’s book for his troubles.

Then it was back to the Chelsea siege and they’d finally found their shooting boots and started creating chances that threatened the hosts goal. The first time they threatened was in the 17th minute when a pullback to the edge of the box was volleyed on the turn which sailed within a couple of feet of the post. The closest Chelsea had come so far in the game.
Then 2 minutes later they came even closer to opening their account. The cross from the Chelsea right evades all the home defenders and tempted the keeper out of position too to reach a visiting player at the back post. He decided that a looping header back across goal was the right call at that point and this gave the keeper time to recover and catch the ball on the line.

Chelsea almost gifted their hosts a goal they hadn’t earnt in the 22nd minute though when a clearance from Kepa in space in his box bounced off Mbuemo’s back and skimmed inches wide of the right-hand post. It would have been the most hilarious goal I’d ever seen at a football match, but it was not to be and Chelsea settled right back into their siege of the hosts goal.

The next Chelsea chance came in the 25th minute as they got in down the left and then the cross almost went straight into the net. Luckily for the home fans though Fernandez spotted it and got in position to stop it crossing the line. The ball bounced to the feet of a Chelsea player 10 yards from goal who could only volley it over the top.

3 minutes later Chelsea had 3 guilt edged chances blocked in a single minute as they broke upfield from a Brentford corner. The first of them was a cross that was on target and the second and third were shots from within the box that hit home players in the midriff. The Chelsea fans at the other end of the ground shouted for handball on each of these blocks, but the midriff is not the hand and the ref didn’t even consider it.

Brentford finally managed a prolonged break out in the 30’s though as Rico Henry burned past Simons at right back for Chelsea and crossed into the area which was met by Jensen at the back post and was saved at point blank range by Kepa once again. Chelsea were on top for most of the half, but spent these 10 minutes trading blows with their hosts, it was such an engrossing end to end period of the match that I even stopped making notes on it. I never do that so I’m sorry you’re missing out on the most incredible part of the match.

I got back to my notes 5 minutes before the end of the first half as a 40yard pass from Jensen picked out Rico Henry on the Bees left, the only part of the pitch that the hosts had any joy in during this half. Instead of crossing, as he usually does, Rico waltzed into the box without a visiting player laying a finger on him. It would have been a brilliant individual goal if his shot had not been straight at Kepa in the Chelsea goal who was able to palm it behind for a corner that the hosts completely wasted.

Chelsea took back control for the final few minutes of the first half and created two opportunities in the final two minutes of it. The fist of which was a deep cross from the left that evaded almost everyone in the 6 yard box and was then headed towards goal at the back post from point blank range. This time though it was the host’s keepers turn for some goal line heroics as he positioned himself perfectly to catch the ball on the line. His clearance up field however was less heroic as it went straight to a man in blue and Chelsea went right back onto the attack.

This attack was cut out on the edge of the area by a Sergi Canos foul and Chelsea had the perfect chance to end the half with the goal their dominance deserved. They put the free kick straight into the wall. It was the Chelsea players this time that shouted for a handball the ref was never giving them, whilst Mbuemo took the chance to break upfield. Marcus Alonso cleared out Mbuemo on halfway to stop this break in it’s tracks in the last act of the half and earnt himself a card in the process.

Despite Chelsea’s dominance of possession they went in at the break level with their hosts and this spurred Tuchel into action. He made a double substitution at half time and had clearly identified end product as Chelsea’s main problem ad he called time on Soonsup-Bell’s debut up front and replaced him with Pulisic. He also made a tactical change in midfield by replacing Kovacic with the much more defensively minded Jorginho in an attempt to minimise the danger caused by Brentford’s breakouts.

I also believe that Tuchel must have really laid into his players at half time because they came out for the second half with a new desire to attack with purpose. They got in behind in the first minute of the half and unleased a shot that was blocked yards from goal. Brentford used this block to go straight on the attack themselves and make an attempt to chip the keeper, but Kepa was equal too it.

It took till the 53rd minute for Chelsea to threaten again. This time they got in down the right and then Brentford almost shot themselves in the foot. The cross from the Chelsea right evaded most of the defenders and Pulisic by inches only to ricochet off Henry at the far post and towards the goal, but there again was Fernandez to scramble it behind. That’s twice off the line from each keeper, if only Fernandez could’ve made it three. That moment comes later.

First though Chelsea threaten again in the 56th minute as this time a through ball evades everyone by mere inches and sails through to Fernandez. Then Chelsea took the time to almost shoot themselves in the foot 2 minutes later when a Brentford corner was punched clear by Kepa to land at Mbuemo’s feet on the edge of the box only for a Chelsea player to skittle him and give away a tasty freekick to the hosts. They wasted this golden chance and Chelsea settled back into their siege for another 10 minutes, but without the impetus of the half time changes and team talk behind them this siege failed to truly threaten.

Perhaps this is what motivated double changes by both teams in the 66th minute. Tuchel removed the remaining debutants from action and sent on Mount and James to push his team forward and add some badly needed cutting edge to their attacks. Frank for his part decided now was the moment to go on the attack after surviving so many Chelsea sieges and thus he introduced the talismanic Toney to the fray as he continues his return from a bout with Covid last month. Frank also bought on Norgaard and removed Janelt and Wissa from action.

These changes didn’t change much in the overall patterns of the game though as it was Chelsea back on the attack again in the 68th minute. Winning a freekick on the right that was curled beautifully on target, but once again Fernandez was equal too it and punched it out. The punch lacked power though and the ball fell to a man in blue in the centre of the box, but luckily for the keeper his defenders were on hand to deflect the resulting shot wide of the posts and Chelsea wasted the corner.

This was enough to convince Frank that his previous subs weren’t enough and that more changes were needed if his team were going to have any chance of grabbing a goal and snatching victory from this game that they had simply been surviving up till now. The changes he decided on though made absolutely no sense to me. He bought on Ghoddos and Onyeka, both attacking players who may be able to sneak a goal out of nothing, but he took off Rico Henry at this point. Rico had been the only Brentford player getting any joy on the attack so far this game so to remove him from play when you’re desperately looking to create chances against a team that has been cutting off all other options to you seemed foolish to me. This change also meant that a new formation was needed as neither player entering the fray could take on the defensive duties that Rico had at right back.

This change was then followed 2 minutes later by the arrival of rain clouds over the stadium and there is no escape from the rain in the front two rows where I just happened to be sitting. This felt like a bad omen to me at the time and unfortunately I was to be proven right within minutes. Brentford had survived the Chelsea onslaught for 78 minutes and their visitors still didn’t look any closer to scoring under their own steam. The Bees just had to survive 11 more minutes and they would make it to penalties and the chance to make it to the League Cup semi-finals for the second season running. I had even managed to begin hoping that this could happen, so it was at this point that things took an extreme turn for the worse. Cue the 5 miserable minutes.

This 5 miserable minutes lasted from the 79th to 84th minute of the match and this is when Brentford took it upon themselves to destroy any chance they had of winning the match and instead hand the win to Chelsea on a silver platter. There had been many Chelsea crosses that evaded everyone in the box and Rico Henry had almost turned one of them into his own net earlier in the match only for Fernandez to bail him out. This time Brentford captain Pontus Jansson decided to show Rico how it should be done. He met a Chelsea cross the back post and shanked his clearance into his own net, 1-0 to Chelsea and they hadn’t even had to score it themselves. Crushed is too soft a word for how I felt in that moment and there was worse to come.

Exactly 5 minutes later Chelsea had a second goal and once again it was gifted to them by a Brentford mistake. This time the goal came from the penalty spot. It was a driven pass from deep on the right that caught Brentford flat footed and Chelsea had Mount running onto it unmarked as he had already left Jansson for dead as the Brentford captain failed to track his runner. Mount was easily beaten to the ball by Fernandez, but the bees keeper cleared out Mount as he went to clear the ball. It was a clear penalty and 2 mistakes from Bees’ players that lead to it. The penalty was stroked home by Jorginho to put the game to bed for the visitors and conclude the 5 miserable minutes for me.

Brentford had survived so many Chelsea attacks without looking like conceding and were minutes away from making it to penalties only to then surrender the match in 5 miserable minutes and 3 unforced errors.

They should’ve had a penalty of their own in the 87th minute when Marcus Forss, who had come on during the 5 miserable minutes, was charging into the box and got taken out by Kepa, the Chelsea keeper, with the ball having already passed him by. It was a clear penalty that the ref didn’t even look at giving. It would’ve only been a consolation for the hosts, as they didn’t threaten again before the final whistle but it was still a penalty and should have been given. The topic of refereeing consistency has been a hot topic in the Premier League in recent weeks, but it should also be talked about in regards to other competitions too.

The only thing not in doubt though is that however it came about Chelsea deserved to win the match and they could have added a goal all of their own making in the 3 added minutes at the end of the 90. Mount had worked his way into space on the left side of the box and only had the keeper to beat, but instead of shooting he passed the ball across the box to a teammate that wasn’t there.

Chelsea fans won’t mind about all that though as they won the match 2-0 at the final whistle and made it through to the Semi-finals where they will face Tottenham Hotspur. If Brentford had won this match then the Semi-final would’ve been the same one that they lost last season and a chance for revenge. As it is though Chelsea have a golden chance to make it through to the final as, on current form, they go into that Semi-final as the favourites. Good luck to them.

My next blog will also probably be another Brentford loss as they host Manchester City in their final game of the calendar year. I just hope Man City have to earn the win through some exceptional skill by one of their multitude of world class players and not from an unforced Bees error. Find out if my hope is realised in the new year as I am too busy in the next few days to write it up then.

Happy New Year to you all and may 2022 be a vast improvement on 2021.

With all the cancellations of matches that we have been seeing this last week (see last blog for details) I was unsure if I would be able to find a game to go to this weekend. I thought I had found one in Brighton’s WSL visit to non-league Borehamwood FC to play Arsenal, till that game fell to the second wave of the apocalypse. For that game to be ripped out from under me was a huge personal disappointment because I used to go to a lot of Arsenal Women’s games before the pandemic and they were also the only team I was able to go to a match for between the lockdowns last year.

Arsenal are my WSL team and I was looking forward to seeing them beat Brighton and increase their unbeaten record this season, but with that game off the table I was forced to look elsewhere. Luckily the message about the cancellation of the match had been sent to me the evening before the match so I had time to find another match. The match I found was at another non-league Men’s ground, this time Barnet FC which also serves as the home ground for Spurs Women’s team.

That’s right, having originally planned to go to an Arsenal game I crossed the North London divide and went to a Spurs one instead. It would not have been my first choice of game to go to either as even in the Men’s game I prefer Arsenal to Spurs, despite my ex-boss being an Arsenal fan, but with so many others games falling foul of the apocalypse and needing my football fix I decided to head to this one. It was made slightly easier to swallow when I realised that they were playing Everton Women who’s Walton Hall Park ground I had already visited once and having not blogged about that match against another team I dislike (Man U) here was a chance to blog a game of theirs. I couldn’t pass up that opportunity when it had fallen into my lap.

If the Arsenal game had gone ahead as planned I would’ve been watching the league leaders take on 4th place but with that mouth watering encounter now postponed my back up game was 3rd vs 9th. A bit of a step down for sure but I was still determined to enjoy myself and with the other 2 WSL games being in Leicester and Manchester to get my fix I had no other choice

On the plus side though the Hive is certainly easier for me to get to than Borehamwood FC. To get to the Hive all you need to do once you’re in London is get the tube to Cannon’s Street on the Jubilee Line, just one stop from it’s terminus at Stanmore. From that station you simply cross the road turn left and the gate is on your right less than a 2 minute walk away. Go through that gate, you’ll know it when you see it, past the community pitches and a further 2 minutes later you’re at the ground.

I headed straight for the ticket office and picked up my £8 ticket for my seat in the legends stand, the only stand they open up for Women’s matches at the Hive, and made my way around to the other side of the stadium to make my way inside. There was a programme seller right outside the turnstile who I was able to buy a programme from. That’s right without food my whole visit could have cost just £10, not that you can actually spend a tenner here as the whole stadium has gone cashless. Make sure you remember your plastic, the only thing you won’t need it for at the ground is the flags they were giving away for free that I respectfully declined. It wouldn’t have felt right waving a flag for a team I don’t actually support.

Once through the turnstiles I saw how empty the stand was and decided to go and grab a burger before taking a seat. There was no queue so I was able to grab my food and go, if only it had been the same experience at half time. That’s to come though as when I got to my seat there was still half an hour to kick off. To fill this time Spurs had done something I’ve never seen at a football match before, they’d put on pre-match entertainment.

This pre-match show consisted of an MC introducing a freestyle footballer and a female beatboxer. The freestyler did all the tricks that they are known for but the beatboxer was really rather impressive, she even did a little ‘break it down’ section to her beat by holding the mic directly onto her throat, it’s just a shame that the tannoy was blaring out Christmas music over the top of this so it was hard to hear. If you’re going to have pre-match entertainment Spurs at least make sure you give people a chance to enjoy it.

There was then a short break in the show as the teams were announced over the tannoy. The away team was announced first, as normal, by announcing the outfield players in shirt-numerical order (Goalkeeper first obviously) and then the announcer went weird by jumping all over the place with the home team. I’m sure this had some connection to the formation that Spurs were going for, with players announced by position but this made it far more difficult than necessary to work out the starting 11. This kind of all over the place approach may work for those familiar with the team but for casual fans like me it complicates one of the simplest things about football, whose on the pitch.

After that break the pre-match show had a cool ending as two young fans were invited down from the stands to show off their keepy uppy skills and were then taught a freestyle football move and all with a rocking beat box backing track. This is the best thing I’ve seen at a football match, apart from the football at some of them ofcourse, and I hope that this sort of fan engagement is seen at more Women’s matches as it should encourage those fans involved to return and they’ll also spread news of their enjoyable experience to their friends which should help grow the game.

Pre-match show over it was time for the real thing and it was great to see the teams emerge on the opposite side of the stadium and start walking towards us, till they stopped coming our direction once they entered the field of play and lined up with their backs to the fans for the pre-match handshakes. This is one more example of bad planning at a Women’s football game, see ‘Surprise, Women’s football still has a long way to go’ for other examples of how not to engage the supporters. The pre-match rituals all complete the 2 teams took to their feet and they were ready to go.

So here it was my two least favourite teams from my old and new cities playing each other and me here to see them go all out to win from kick off. The teams did not go all out from kick off. They both chose to feel their way into the match instead and whilst that’s certainly the smarter tactical choice it’s not nearly as exciting for the fans. There was no lack of effort from either team in the opening 10 minutes and the visitors asserted their dominance of the ball without finding the quality in the final third to threaten the Spurs goal. Spurs for their part were defending admirably but they had no-one to clear too when they tried to get out of their own half so the ball just kept coming back to them.

Spurs were losing the early battles in midfield and they had clearly identified Lucy Graham as the Everton player who was winning those battles against them as they then proceeded to put a lot of hard tackles in on her in the first 20mins of the match, they settled down on this front after this though even though they were still struggling to assert themselves in the match.

The hosts did get out of their own half after 10 minutes though as they found a clearance to Ria Percival just inside the visitors half. Unfortunately for the hosts there was no support for Percival and with no options around her she dithered on the ball long enough for the Everton right back Danielle Turner to race back and ease her off the ball. It was a great bit of defensive play from Turner whilst also serving notice to Everton that they needed to find some quality in the final third because Spurs could threaten their goal if they wanted.

Everton finally managed a threatening shot in the 13th minute as the ball found its way to Grace Clinton on the edge of her box for her to unleash a powerful shot that had to be deflected over the top. Without that deflection we may have had our first goal of the match, but no luck. Everton then threatened again a minute later when an Izzy Christiansen free kick from 25 yards out on the right was headed back across the 6 yard box. There were 3 unmarked Everton players in that area and all one of them had to do was score the easiest tap-in of their career. None of them could manage it and the ball squirmed out for a goal kick. This really should have been 1-0 to Everton and I’m still trying to work out how they failed to take the lead at this point.

Everton were still in charge in midfield though so they were back on the attack in the 21st minute with a ball in behind Neville on the home right. Once again though they couldn’t find the shot that they needed to find to take the lead. The cross was cut back to the edge of the box and the shot from there lacked any power and simply looped up into the keeper’s arms. This lack of cutting edge for the visitors was on show again 5 minutes later when Toni Duggan found herself with the ball on high on the left hand side, she tied Neville in knots and then she was free in the box. This was when the lack of cutting edge showed up again, she went to chip the keeper and Korpela in the Spurs goal wasn’t having it. She got finger tips too it to claw it over the bar.

Spurs finally escaped their own half again on 30 minutes when they managed to clear the ball and get it to Jessica Naz on the edge of the box and she lets loose a shot that sailed straight into the keeper’s arms. The home side were still yet to truly threaten the Everton goal though and if either team were going to score in this half it looked far more likely to be the visitors.

They nearly managed it in the 32nd minute when there was a pinball in the Spurs box that Clinton managed to free the ball from and let rip with a brilliant shot that looked like it was going in off the post. Korpela came to the hosts rescue again though as she pulled off an incredible diving save to tip the shot round the post and keep the scores level. The resultant corner should’ve seen the visitors lead and it would’ve been the keeper at fault for it. The corner was weak and could easily have been caught, but instead she made the call to punch it clear and that punch landed at the feet of an Everton player on the edge of the box. The resultant shot was blocked though and Spurs were able to break out.

This break though also fell apart when the ball reached Rachel Williams with her back to goal and whilst all the fans could see that there was tons of space for her to run into if she just turned around and went for it she decided not to turn around and instead laid the ball off to the onrushing Neville to her left. The shot that Neville then unleashed lacked any power at all and the ball simply dribbled into the visiting keeper’s arms.

At this point there was a lull in the action on the pitch so my mind turned to the manager’s conundrums and what I would do if I was in each of their positions to give my team the best chance of winning the match.

From a Spurs perspective I felt that they needed a midfielder who could collect the ball from a clearance and then be unafraid to go forward with it, to run at the opposition and take people on. They also needed a striker on the pitch who would occupy the Everton centre backs and look to threaten the penalty area. To my mind the perfect players on the Spurs bench for these roles were Angela Addison and Rosella Ayane respectively.

On the Everton side what they desperately needed was a change in formation to get their most capable finisher, Toni Duggan, in better positions to score. I felt that the best way for them to do this would be to take off Anna Anvegard, who had been the only anonymous Everton player so far, and bring on Hanna Benison in her place. Benison was a summer signing who, from every video I’ve seen of her play, is skilled in finding the right ball through the defence to put it on a plate for the striker. Exactly what Everton needed.

I was brought right back to the game in front of me in the 40th minute though as spurs finally credibly threaten to score. The chance came from a free kick 35 yards out on the Spurs left which found Williams 12 yards out and her powerful header back across the box flashes inches wide of the right hand post.

Spurs had failed to make their presence felt in the half before this point, but they took the momentum from this chance and took control of the game for the final 5 of the 1st half. They had a guilt edged chance to take the lead right before half time when a botched clearance by Bjorn in the centre of Everton’s defence fell to Percival 12 yards out. Unfortunately for the hosts she was unable to sort her feet out and the ball slipped away. This was a huge let off for the visitors but indicative of the match so far, lots of great positions but no finishing touch.

The first half was great on quality play until the ball reached the final third when it all fell apart. I needed food badly though so I headed to the only kiosk and the slowest queue ever. I was in that cue for 25 minutes, which meant I missed the opening to the 2nd half and this was awful for many reasons. Normally when the queue is so dreadfully slow I head back to my seat so as not to miss any of the action, but this time I was just too hungry to walk away from food so I stayed in the queue. The man behind me decided that this was the time to drone on about football statistics and many things about the outside world that I go to football to escape from, also he had the most boring monotone voice imaginable. To add to all this I heard the sound that no-one who can’t see the action wants to hear.

There was a huge cheer from the home fans in the stand, the kind of ecstatic ear-splitting cheer that could only mean one thing. I had missed a goal and apparently it was a really good one too. I found out from fans around me once I retook my seat that the goal was scored from the edge of the box by Spurs’ number 7 Jessica Naz. To miss a goal after all the chances I’d seen missed in the first half was heart-wrenching.

I walked back in to the stand just as Everton smashed the post as they went in search of an equaliser and then as Spurs tried to clear the ball there was a moment you never want to see at a football match.

Josie Green in the Spurs defence had been wearing a black ‘Zorro-style’ mask all match and then the clearance from her teammate and captain Shelina Zadorsky hit her slap bang in the face from just a couple of yards away. The clearance had a lot of power on it and the sound of the impact was like a gunshot. Green went down and the medics rushed over to tend to her. After a little time with the medics and the chance to recover from the impact Green was able to continue with the match. The Spurs manager waited 10 minutes before making the substitution that should’ve happened straight away. Green was taken off to be replaced by Chioma Ubogagu in the 70th minute.

Two minutes before that substitution another Spurs player took a ball to the face as Kerys Harris was hit as she blocked an Izzy Christiansen cross from the right. The ball hit her on the cheek this time though and there was no need for treatment. The ball went out for an Everton corner and Turner attempted to score directly from it. This technique had the keeper beaten, but luckily for Spurs they had a player on the post who was able to clear the ball off the line.

The next action on the pitch was another rifled ball against skin moment. This time it was a clearance from Harris that smashed into the legs of Toni Duggan and out for a throw, this one didn’t seem to have any effect on Duggan though as she shrugged it off and just kept going as the game entered the final 10 minutes.

I had seen precious little goal mouth action myself this half and that drought was destined to continue as the next three things of note were substitutions. First Everton took off Pattinson and replaced her with Galli, then Spurs responded by taking off So-Hyun Cho and bringing on Angela Addison. Then Izzy Christiansen was limping at the far end of the pitch. I didn’t see if this was the result of a tackle or if she became injured with no-one around, but either way it was clear she couldn’t continue and so she was replaced by ex-Arsenal right back Leonie Mayer. In this substitution Everton lost their most influential midfielder and replaced her with a defender. It was at this point that it became crystal clear that this was not going to be Everton’s day.

There was no further goalmouth action in the regulation 90, but there were 8 minutes of injury time at the end of the game and it was here that the goalmouth action returned.

The final chance for Everton to rescue a point from the match came to the feet of Lucy Graham who let fly with a drive from 25 yards that was easily dealt with by Korpela in the Spurs goal. This lack of finishing touch is the main thing Everton need to solve to become a seriously difficult team to beat for the rest of the season.

Spurs then had two almost identical chances to score their second of the match. Both times they got the ball up field on their right and all it required was a quality cross into the sprinting and unmarked Addison in the 6 yard box to tap it in. Both times the final cross was awful and went nowhere near Addison and with these dreadful crosses went my only chance to actually witness a goal first hand in this match.

They were also the final action of the match and I have to accept that the only foal of the match was scored in my absence from the stands. The match ended 1-0 to Spurs and I just have to hope that I’m in my seat when the next goal goes flying in at the next game I’m at.

Before I end this blog, and tell you what that next game is, I would just like to take a quick moment to talk about the Spurs Men’s team on becoming the first English team to have been knocked out of the European Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup, Europa League, Cup Winner’s Cup, Intertoto Cup and Europa Conference League. That is quite the achievement to qualify for all those competitions over the years and they couldn’t win them every time they qualified for them or at all in the case of some of them.

I will not touch on my opinions on the refereeing decisions in the recent Spurs Men’s game against Liverpool as the responsibility for these decisions rests with the referee’s who made them and they have already been spoken about by many pundits with far greater experience of the game than me.

I may manage another blog before Christmas but only if I’m feeling productive enough to blog my experience at the League Cup quarter final between Brentford and Chelsea tonight on Christmas Eve as I’m busy tomorrow.

Just in case that game falls to the apocalypse too or I use Christmas Eve to do other things I’ll say it now. Merry Christmas one and all and please remember that next year can hardly fail to be an improvement on the last 2, right??

Many of us hoped it would never come but here is it. The second apocalypse has arrived, buckle in folks.

The first signs of Apocalypse came on the Sunday the 12th when Tottenham’s game away at Brighton was called off due to an outbreak of it-that-must-not-be-named in the visitor’s squad. This was a bad sign sure, but it was only going to be a one-off right?

Wrong. Very Wrong. We are now 7 days down the line from that and there has only been a single day without a cancelled game in at least one of the top 4 leagues of English football in both the Men’s and Women’s games.

The games that have been cancelled this week are:
Monday 13th December – Sheffield United vs QPR (Championship)
Tuesday 14th December – Brentford vs Manchester United (Premier League)
Wednesday 15th December – Burnley vs Watford (Premier League)
Leicester City vs Manchester City (Women’s League Cup)
Thursday 16th December – Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)
Friday 17th December -NONE

That was the week days and the constant cancellations every day, particularly on Monday when there was only 1 game to look at, was becoming worrying for football fans across the country. It has also become infuriating that some of those games were cancelled at extremely late notice. For that point I’m thinking mostly of the Burnley vs Watford game on Wednesday which was cancelled a mere 2 hours before kick off. Whilst this will absolutely be enough notice for the home fans who will mostly live locally, it certainly was far too short notice for the Watford fans whose journey up to Lancashire from Hertfordshire absolutely takes more than 2 hours and will have been on their way up north when they got the news.

These late cancellations do nothing to prevent the national spread of the global it and all they cancellations 2 hours before the game will do is ruin the days of a thousands of people on their journey to the greatest escape from reality in human history.

If that escape from the trudge of everyday is to be taken away from people the least they deserve is to be told the evening beforehand. That way they can at least find another use for the day and not potentially spread the thing hundreds of miles on their journeys around the country.

Friday may have looked like a break from the apocalypse but it was actually the day it hit in full force. This was the day when the Saturday games for December 18th began to be cancelled in droves and football fans across the nation realised the second apocalypse had truly come. There were originally 40 games scheduled for Saturday 18th December across the top 4 leagues of the Men’s game in England and Friday was the game many of them died.

When the damage of the first wave was inspected only 16 games were able to go ahead as planned, 24 had been cancelled. This was only a 40% success rate for games on Saturday and that is not good for anyone. The amount of fans that had to change their plans due to this is astronomical, but most of us can admit that cancelling the games was absolutely the right option. The last thing most fans want is a full lockdown where no games happen at all, but in the meantime as many games that can go on should.

The second wave of the apocalypse that hit on Sunday did a little better in terms of the percent of games that went ahead at 46.66%, sure there were only 15 games originally scheduled for today but 7 of them went ahead so it’s still slightly ahead of the first wave. The Women’s game was hardest hit in the second wave. Only 25% of the EPL games on this day were cancelled, whilst the WSL saw a 50% cancellation rate and in the Women’s Championship just one of the 6 games survived.

Over the first 2 waves of the second apocalypse only 23 of the originally planned 55 games went ahead, a success rate of just 41.8%. This low success rate over the weekend is disappointing for those of us who enjoy going to games and with some of the clubs who did go ahead requesting their games be cancelled too due to outbreaks in their squads, this rate is only going to decrease over the winter if nothing is done about it.

To this end the clubs of the 20 clubs of the Premier League are meeting at 1pm on Monday to discuss the way forward. Managers and Captains of the clubs are also going to have their own meeting at the same time to run through the options they would be happy with. I know that Thomas Frank of Brentford wanted to see this weekend’s games and the midweek League Cup Quarter Finals all cancelled to give clubs a chance to bring their outbreaks under control. It would mean every game that I had originally planned to go to before Christmas will have been cancelled, but if it’s the best way to ensure that we don’t have a full cancellation of all football later this winter then I say go for it.

No-one wants to see games that they have been wanting to go to for months or years in the case of the top teams, where getting tickets can be near impossible due to demand, and the newly promoted teams whose fans don’t know if they will have the chance to play the teams they’ve always dreamed of playing next season, cancelled. If it helps prevent another wave of deaths from the virus though then I am willing to cope with it.

Despite this second apocalypse though I was still able to make one of the games that did go ahead in the WSL today and the blog for that match experience will be up in the next few days.

There will be a change to today’s blog as a Covid outbreak in the Manchester United camp has led to their visit to Brentford being postponed until the new year. I hope to be able to make the re-arranged game, but in the meantime I thought I’d be left without a blog this week. Having taken away one blog though Manchester United then inadvertently provided me with another with the help of UEFA and the Champions League round of 16 draw.

The teams for the draw are divided into two groups, one with the group stage Winners and one with the Runners up. Teams are then drawn from these groups into their knockout ties, runners up first so that the winners of the group stage have the home advantage in the second legs. This advantage was negated slightly in previous seasons with the away goals rule, but since that has now been removed the advantage should now be a genuine one.

For the round of 16 draw there are 2 very simple rules.
1. A team cannot be drawn against another team from their own national Association
2. A team cannot be drawn against a team from their own group stage group.

The first of these rules was not a problem, but in the original draw there was a major hiccough with the second rule.

The draw was progressing normally until Villarreal were drawn from the pots and it was time to pick out their opponents for this round. The ball that was picked out to face Villarreal was that of their group stage opponents Manchester United. Luckily the officials making the draw realised instantly that this was a forbidden draw and moved swiftly to remove it from the board. They chose to simply redraw the opponents for Villarreal at this point and once again the Spanish side ended up with opposition from Manchester but this time in the form of Manchester City, a much tougher proposition on current form

This mix up should never have happened as once the first team has been chosen UEFA has a system in place to ensure the teams that they cannot play are not in place to be chosen for that round. This system clearly failed for this draw as not only were Manchester United in the draw when they shouldn’t have been, it also transpired that they were not in the draw for Atletico Madrid’s opponents when they should have been in it. Atletico thus had a far greater chance of drawing the remaining teams than they should have done and were drawn against Bayern Munich, who had won every game in the group stage.

The full original and now null and void draw for the Champions League round of 16 was as follows:
RB Salzburg vs Liverpool
Inter Milan vs Ajax
Sporting Lisbon vs Juventus
Benfica vs Real Madrid
Chelsea vs Lille
Villarreal vs Manchester City
Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich
and PSG vs Manchester United

This was an excellent draw for many of the traditional European powerhouses and would have left us with 2 particularly juicy ties in both Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich and PSG vs Manchester United. The latter of these 2 ties was a highly anticipated possibility in the run-up to the draw as it would have seen an on pitch battle between the two men considered by many to be the greatest footballers of all time. It would have been Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo.
This is a truly mouth-watering clash, it was all the pundits could talk about leading up to the draw and now it appeared they had got their wish.

Not so fast however, as the procedural error in the draw was then spotted by UEFA and flagged up to the teams. It appeared UEFA originally wished to take the result of the draw forward as it was, despite the flaws in execution, but it clearly became clear that this was not going to be the case. Villarreal and Atletico Madrid were the teams most effected by the mix-up and both spoke to UEFA to ask for the first draw to be considered null and void and for the draw to be conducted once more, this time with all the correct balls in play at the right times. It is obvious why they did this because, as previously mentioned, neither team had received favourable ties in the original draw.

UEFA decided to agree with the teams in question that due to the fault in the original draw it would be declared null and void and a new draw would take place 2 hours after this decision was made, 14:00 GMT. Technical issues with third party equipment used in the draw process was given as the reason for the mistakes in the original draw.

This decision was absolutely the right call to make and I am impressed with how speedily UEFA came to the decision and was then able to reset everything in time for the rescheduled draw. Sure the original draw had been a mess, but credit must be given to UEFA for owning up to the mistake and taking the correct steps to fix it.

The second draw went off without a hitch, but there were some definite winners and losers from this rescheduled draw. The winners will be very happy that the draw was redone, but I’m sure the losers will be wishing the original draw as allowed to stand.

The results of the second draw and the ties that will actually take place in the new year are as follows:
RB Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
Inter Milan vs Liverpool
Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester City
Benfica vs Ajax
Chelsea vs Lille
Villarreal vs Juventus
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
and PSG vs Real Madrid

Winners from the draw include both Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, who called for the re-draw, among others.

Villarreal went from a tie with a Manchester City team who finished above Messi’s PSG in the group stage and who have been on electric form in the Premier League, to a tie with Juventus. Juventus have a track record of choking in the Champions League which dates back to when it was known as the European Cup. They have reached as many finals as both Liverpool and AC Milan, with only Bayern Munich and Real Madrid reaching more, but have only 2 titles to their name. Their ability to reach the final is impressive, but Villarreal will still see them as an easier tie than City. Juventus’ last appearance in the final was in 2017, whilst City were last year’s losing finalists. Furthermore, Juventus’ league form this season has not been spectacular. Their most recent result at time of writing being a 1-1 draw with newly promoted Venezia. I still suspect Juventus to progress against Villarreal, but there is no doubting this re-draw has given Villarreal a far better chance than they would’ve had with their original draw.

Atletico Madrid have perhaps done even better that Villarreal in this re-draw. They have gone from a dreadful draw against an unbeaten Bayern Munich side that is currently 6 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga to a draw against Manchester United, the very team whose ball was not in their pot originally. Manchester United are currently in a transitional phase with their new manager and whilst they will surely be settled into Rangnick’s style of play by the time these ties are played in February Atletico will still fancy their chances of progression, despite their own questionable form of late. The second leg home advantage may just give United the edge, but Simeone is an excellent manager and I wouldn’t put it past him to find a way to win this one. He’ll certainly believe his team has a much better chance of progression against United than they would have had against Bayern.

Speaking of Bayern Munich, they are another huge winner from the re-draw. Going from an awkward tie against Atletico which would have taken great effort to win to an easy tie against Austrian side RB Salzburg which they are virtually guaranteed to win. It is also a shorter journey for their fans to make in the first leg, which can only be a good thing with the Covid situation as it is in Europe. Bayern should make it through to the Quarter finals without breaking sweat.

Those 3 are the major winners from the redraw, now for the losers.

The biggest losers from the redraw would appear to be Real Madrid. They had originally been given an extremely winnable tie against their Iberian neighbours Benfica which they could’ve won at a canter. Instead they will now have to face PSG and Lionel Messi who will undoubtedly cause them far more problems. Whilst PSG do not have the greatest record in knockout Champions League games the presence of Messi in their team and the bad memories that Madrid players and fans have of facing him in his Barcelona days may just tip the scales in PSG’s favour. For myself I still see Real Madrid progressing from this one, but there is no denying that the hurdle in the way of that progression has increased massively as a result of the re-draw.

The other clear loser from the re-draw is Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. They had originally drawn the simplest of ties against RB Salzburg, who would have been easy prey for whichever team Liverpool selected given the attacking prowess they possess. After the re-draw they were instead left with the task of taking on Internationale Milano, a far harder assignment. It will at least give a little more familiarity to this round for the travelling reds fans though as Liverpool have already played at the San Siro in the group stages against Inter’s city rivals AC Milan. Liverpool won both of their group games against the first Milan side and I would back them to progress here too, but it would certainly have been easier for them to do so against Salzburg.

There were a few other things to note about the two draws. Firstly that Chelsea vs Lille was the only tie that remained the same across both draws. The only tie that was destined to happen no matter what perhaps?

Secondly, Sporting Lisbon and Villarreal swapped opponents with each other from the first draw to the second. Villarreal going from facing Manchester City to facing Juventus, with Sporting having the far less fortunate luck of going the other way.

Finally, I just wish to acknowledge that this is the first knockout stage draw of the Champions League since 2004 that Barcelona have not been a part of. I hope they are part of this draw next season as the Champions League round of 16 without Barcelona is like toast without honey, incomplete. For this season though I wish them all the best against Napoli in the new Europa League play offs.

Good luck to all the British teams in European knockout action in the new year.

As I am in London now till for the rest of the year any remaining blogs in that time will focus on games that take place in London. There will be at least one more blog out before Christmas as this weekend I’m off to Borehamwood to sample a little more Women’s football as Arsenal take on Brighton and Hove Albion in the WSL.

This week was my return to Yorkshire for the first time since I visited Huddersfield earlier in the season. This time my journeys with Brentford took me to the largest city in God’s county, Leeds, and I wish I hadn’t gone to this one.

It looked so promising going back to a city I had visited in my teens when I knew Uni students there. I would know my way round and have no problems getting to the ground or so I thought. Turns out the Headingly area of Leeds that my previous visits to the city had been based around is on completely the opposite side of the city from Elland Road. You have to head right out of the station instead of the left turn I had been used too.

Luckily I noticed this on Google Maps before getting the train to the city and having also noticed that it was down as a 45 minute walk from station to stadium I decided to get the 15 minute bus ride on the number 52 to Morley that showed up as dropping you outside the stadium. This was a gargantuan mistake. If you are ever in the position to visit Elland Road for a match get to Leeds early and walk. The bus didn’t arrive for 30 minutes, already giving away the time advantage, then it took a huge detour from it’s advertised route and went down the M621 instead. On the motorway it got stuck in traffic that moved like snails in treacle and a journey that was meant to take 15 minutes ending up taking 50. The bus driver finally made a good call as we got off the motorway as he opened the doors and let the football fans onboard get off and walk the rest of the way to the stadium.

This walk was 10 minutes in itself, but luckily I had given myself a lot of leeway in my timings so this ridiculously long journey didn’t make me late for the kick-off. However, I was running to get inside the ground to ensure I didn’t miss it which meant I wasn’t able to head to the club shop and pick up my traditional keyring. I was however able to pick up a programme as there was a seller right by the away turnstiles, just before you go through security. The walk from security to the actual turnstiles is a 5 minute straight walk under a covered concrete walkway, the most welcoming part of the away end.

As you get inside the away end you realise how badly conceived it was. There is only one food kiosk for all the away fans and 90% of the away fans have to go through one tiny stairway to make it out onto the stand itself. How this was signed off from a health and safety standpoint I do not know as there is no way for fans to safely pass each other if they are going opposite ways. The stewards and signs on the concourse did not help the situation as there is actually a second stairway to the seats on the other side of the food kiosk that only serves the lowest number tickets for each row, but it is marked as for the highest number tickets and the stewards confirmed what the signs said as true.

Well the stewards confirmed it in as far as they pointed me that way when I showed them my high numbered ticket and asked which way to go. Pointed is the literal explanation of how they directed me to the stairway as none of the stewards inside the concourse said a word to any of the fans asking them questions, or at least none that I heard anyway. The steward I asked to point me towards the loos before kick-off seemed confused by what I was asking. I tried asking for the toilets, the loos and the bogs but none of these were understood and I had to resort to saying ‘I need pee pee’ before the steward stopped pointing me towards the seats and pointed me to the loos instead. This is the worst experience I have ever had with stewards at a football stadium.

Having been pointed up the wrong stairs by the stewards I had to squish past other fans to get to my seats at the other end of the row, which was not comfortable for anyone involved. At least once I had found my seats and settled in the game promised to be competitive and enjoyable.

Leeds went into this one a point behind their visitors having drawn a lot of their games this season. The teams could hardly be separated on goals scored and conceded either, with Brentford 1 ahead on scored and Leeds 1 ahead on conceded, so this one promised to be a hard contested match. Leeds did have the slight edge on form though, with 2 wins and just 1 loss in their last 5 matches. Brentford had lost 3 of their last five and only managed the 1 win in that time, that one being against Everton in the last game I attended.

Given how close the teams were and how important this one was for both teams I was shocked to see that Ivan Toney was not only not in the Bees starting 11, but was not on the bench either. Had Thomas Frank really dropped his main striker?

It turns out Toney had not been dropped, he had instead fallen victim to same thing that has put the whole world on the back foot since March 2020. That’s right Toney has tested positive for Covid and was self-isolating for this one and will be doing the same as Brentford host Watford this Friday evening, a game that I will not be at. The Bees will hope that he is cleared to play again for the visit of Ragnick’s Manchester United on the 14th though as he will be a huge miss for them, both for his goal scoring exploits and for his general work ethic. For today’s game though Brentford were without Toney and in even worse news for the travelling fans Leeds were boosted by the return from injury of their talisman Patrick Bamford. He was only fit enough for the bench, but it was still a boost for Leeds to have him involved at all and he wouldn’t be on the bench for the full 90 either.

Despite the awful journey to the stadium and my unsatisfactory experience with the stewards there is no denying the passion of the Leeds fans and the incredible atmosphere it creates in the ground. The wall of noise that hit me as the teams walked out of the tunnel in front of me was incredible. Perhaps the noise is amplified by the cramped nature of Elland Road that won’t let any of the sound escape, but the only time I have been more impressed by the home fans passion was at Millwall in the dying days of 2019. These 2 sets of home fans have created the most intimidating atmospheres I have ever experienced as an away fan and I have nothing but respect for the home fans who achieved this effect.

This spine-tingling atmosphere in the stands transferred to the players and led to the most physical end-to-end opening to a match that I have seen for ages. The tackles from both sides were tough but just on the right side of fair and the ref did a great service to the spectacle of the game by letting a lot go and fighting the urge to interrupt the game for every small infringement. Unfortunately though this did not lead to many goals, because whilst both teams build up play was exceptional it appeared neither team had the will to shoot. The amount of time each team got into great positions in the attacking third in the first 20 minutes without putting in a cross or taking a crack at goal was infuriating.

The only shot of note in this time was a strike by Mbuemo from just inside the box that went fizzing over the bar. Leeds barely threatened in the opening 20 minutes with any attacks being snuffed out by the Bees defence before they could threaten the goal. A prime example of this being a break from a Bees corner where it looked for all the world as though Dan James was in behind the visiting defence with a free run on goal, only for the insane sprinting prowess of Rico Henry allowing him to get back and beat James to the free ball 20 yards from goal.

Much more worthy of note than any of the play in those opening 20 was the unanimous standing ovation in memory of Birmingham City fan 6 year old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes. It was observed in the 6th minute of the match and to see that show of absolute unity from the football community was awesome, rivalries put aside to remember a young boy taken from the world too soon.

Back to the match and in the 12th minute the atmosphere went up a notch or 10 as Patrick Bamford took his first warm-up run down the touchline. Leeds fans had clearly missed him and he had missed being able to play as he would show later on. For now though the news was not all good for the home fans as their captain Liam Cooper was down getting treatment for a hamstring injury at the same time as this side-line show was going on. Cooper’s injury was deemed too serious for him to continue and so, in the minute one key player signals his return to fitness, Leeds lost another player to injury.

From the 17th minute onwards both teams began to look a little more threatening when they found themselves in good positions and it was clear that sooner or later there would be goals in this one. The first of these glorious goals came in the 27th minute and it went to the home side via a double cross. The first cross from the Leeds left was headed clear by Pontus Jansson and straight back to the original crosser, who spotted that the his clearance had left Jansson out of position and that Tyler Roberts was now free behind him just 9 yards out in the centre of the goal. The second cross found Roberts perfectly and it was an easy header into the back of the net to open the scoring. The incredible roar of the home fans would’ve taken the roof off, if Elland Road had a roof. Roberts may have been a little too fired up by this though as straight from the restart he went clattering into Mads Roerslev and picked up the first yellow card of the match.

Just 3 minutes later Leeds came close to doubling their lead. They broke from a saved Bees freekick and Roberts got into space on the edge of the box from where he unleashed a powerful shot that Fernandez had to be on his toes to palm over for a corner. This was the start of the pattern for the rest of the half, Leeds kept the ball and laid siege to the Brentford goal without finding another break through. The closest the hosts came to another goal was in the 41st minute when a cannon power cross across the 6 yard box from their left evaded everyone and flew out for a throw-in to the visitors on the opposite touchline.

Brentford were able to get the ball back quite easily from most of the Leeds attacks during this time, but without the out ball normally provided by Ivan Toney they were unable to prevent it coming straight back to them. They badly needed a plan B and will hope Toney is out of isolation as soon as possible so they can get back to playing the way they have been so far this season because what they were doing in this first half simply wasn’t working.

They did survive to the break with the score at only 1-0 to Leeds though which gave them something to fight for in the second half. What they didn’t get to half time with though was a clean disciplinary record as in the 3 added minutes at the end of the half Leeds were breaking down the right and Charlie Goode rushed across to cut out the attack before it could get any further. Goode cleared out the ball cleanly with a full throttle tackle, but he must’ve caught the Leeds attacker after the ball was gone as the ref gave both a freekick to Leeds and a yellow card to Goode for this turn of events. From where I was with the other away fans it looked like a perfectly clean tackle, but I’m sure the ref saw something in it to give the yellow and as the ref’s word is final the away fans had to accept it whether they agreed with it or not.

The lack of facilities in the away end came fully into focus at halftime as the food queue managed to move forward all of 6 inches in 10minutes before I decided to give up on it and return to my seat, so as not to miss the start of the second half. Elland Road is a very impressive stadium from the outside, but on the inside the facilities for the away fans are shocking.

When the game got underway again I was surprised to see that neither team had made any substitutions during the break, both teams badly needed someone to finish off the chances they were creating. The team talk from Thomas Frank seemed to have done the trick for the visitors though as, having survived a scare when Fernandez made an incredible one-handed save to stop a header from 8 yards in the 49th minute, they finally remembered how to shoot and equalised in the 54th minute.

The visitors equaliser came from a clearance that found Henry on the right, his cross landed to Shandon Baptiste in the box and he managed to turn it home and silence Elland Road. Except for the away fans of course. This equaliser took the wind out of Leeds sails and put it firmly behind the Bees who now took their turn to lay siege to the opposition’s goal.

This siege almost bore fruit right on the hour mark as another cross from the right, this time via Roerslev, found Sergi Canos with a free header mere yards out that he inexplicably managed to direct over the bar. He made up for it a minute later though as he got himself into a great position on the left-hand side of the box and when the ball found him he stroked in home to give the visitors the lead and complete a 7 minute brace for the boys from Hounslow to bring them from 1-0 down to a 2-1 lead.

The loss of their lead woke up a sleepy second half Leeds performance as they once again go on the attack and set their second siege of the visitors goal. Once again though this siege was characterised by lots of great build-up play and getting into lots of promising positions without any end product. The clearest example of this came in the 68th minute when a promising cross from the Leeds right looked to be reaching Roberts only for Fernandez in the Bees goal to punch the ball clean off the top of Roberts’ head.

This failed chance was the final straw for Bielsa, who decided that now was the time for Leeds to truly go for it if they were to get anything out of this match. To this end Bielsa removed Junior Flipo from the fray and sent on Patrick Bamford to make his triumphant return to action. The Leeds fans were suitably impressed by the return of their talisman and the ear-splitting roar they sent up was quite amazing to experience, if I thought the atmosphere was spine-tingling before this was now on a level that is quite indescribable.

In response to this move by Bielsa, Frank made 2 changes of his own. He replaced the 2 goal scorers with Onyeka and Wissa in an attempt to inject some much needed fresh legs in midfield. These changes from the visitors however did nothing to dent the momentum that Leeds look from the return of Bamford.

Leeds played like a team possessed now that their talisman was back on the pitch. They were determined that the return of the prodigal would not be a loss. The first of their chances of the possessed came in the 75th minute when a shot from 20 yards out looked like it was going to nestle in the top corner only for Fernandez to scramble across and make the save. This changed Leeds tactics as they went from chances and shot to tackles and physicality.

In the 78th minute Mateusz Klich’s frustration got the better of him as he comes flying in on Mbuemo near the halfway line and takes all of the man and none of the ball. Then a minute later there was a fair bit of barging and shoulder to shoulder contact in the same area of the pitch in which the visitors Henry knocks down one of the Leeds players. The ref gave both Klich and Henry yellow cards for their indiscretions as the game became increasingly physical as it entered the final 10 minutes.

There were still chances though. As the game entered the final 5 of the regulation 90 Brentford broke at speed with Mbuemo, Onyeka and Wissa involved for the visitors up against three covering Leeds players. It looked like Brentford were about to put the seal on their victory only for both Wissa and then Onyeka to be cleared out by the defenders. The ref gave Brentford a freekick for the first challenge on Wissa, but this was fine by Leeds as they’d stopped the threat in its tracks. The epitome of a tactical foul and a great example of when it’s the right call to take one for the team. Brentford wasted the freekick.

In the penultimate minute of the 90 Raphina went for the spectacular from 30 yards out and put so much into it that he lost his footing and ended up on his back. In fact he may have been better dialling the power back just a bit as his effort sailed over the bar. This was not the end for the host though as the fourth official signalled that there were to be 5 added minutes at the end of the game and Leeds would absolutely make the most of them.

In the first of these added minutes it looked like the hosts had wasted their final chance of the match when a teasing cross across the 6 yard box evaded everyone. This though was only the precursor to the ultimate punch in the gut for the visiting fans.

In the dying seconds of the game Leeds put in a cross from their left that looked like it would be easily collected by Fernandez and if he collects it he can simply launch it downfield and the ref will likely then blow for half-time and a 2-1 win to the Bees. Fernandez does not collect the ball and instead, under pressure from Leeds players, he spills it and it goes out for a corner. That corner was swung in from the right and onto the waiting head of the returning hero Bamford who headed it in off the bar from 8 yards out to equalise for the hosts. The home fans celebrated this last second equaliser by their hero as though they’d just won the league and there certainly was no better end to Bamford’s homecoming than this, but it was a real sucker punch for Brentford. They had come back from 1-0 down to lead only to drop 2 points in the final seconds, as a Bees fans it was a true punch in the gut and my worst moment at a football game in a long time.

It was a truly incredible end to a match that had been short on quality for the most part though and I’ll remember this match for a long time to come, not as long as the Leeds fans will though I’d wager. Their hero returns to action and scores a last minute equaliser to save a point in a match where it looked like they’d thrown away an early lead and would be leaving with nothing. Doesn’t get much more memorable than that.

I wish Leeds all the best for the rest of the season and when they visit Brentford in May I hope it’s just as memorable. I do feel for the Bees fans who had to return to London after that match though as that is a long way to travel after that ending to the match. For me though it was a case of following the crowds back into town to the station and catching the direct 90 minute train home. My whole journey home took 2 hours, but it was the most miserable I have been on a journey in a long time.

This is the last of my blogs from the North of England for 2021 as I head back to London for the holidays this weekend and will be going to games in that region for the rest of the year. I will be back up North in the 2022, but for now I will be following Brentford’s exploits over the busy month of December. The next of these blogs will be examining how Manchester United are adapting to life under their new manager Ralf Rangnick when they visit the Bus Stop in Hounslow on Tuesday 14th December.