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English Championship Review 20/10/13 and 19/10/13

Article by Championship Correspondent Lucas Whitehead

Leeds United 4-0 Birmingham City 


Leeds Leave Me Speechless

I went to Elland Road today expecting a loss or a draw, and in my mind a draw would’ve been a decent result! Well, that shows how much I know! Birmingham have now lost 7 of their last 10 matches and inconsistency has been rife in their ranks. A side that had demolished Sheffield Wednesday 4-1, defeated Swansea City by 3 goals to 1 and thrashed Millwall 4-0 is capable of being torn apart by Messrs Mccormack, Smith and Austin.

United set out in a 5-3-2 formation, with Byram and Warnock operating as wing-backs and it proved successful when in the early moments they dashed down either wing and created a few chances for McCormack and Smith. Darren Randolph saved well twice after McCormack hit two sizzling shots one on one. Leeds combined long passes and short moves to great effect and in the 18th minute, a seemingly inconspicuous pass was played over the top and in the kop many exasperated sighs were uttered. However, Dan Burn the Birmingham centre half and Darren Randolph failed to communicate and Randolph was left stranded outside his area when his heavy touch was intercepted by Rodolph Austin who passed to Ross McCormack. McCormack curled into an empty net and the crowd were left in a combination of hysteria, jubilation and confusion. Shortly after, former Huddersfield striker Lee Novak scored but it was ruled offside correctly and it was disallowed.


Birmingham pushed but Chris Burke, a man who could’ve been wearing white, drilled his chance wide. In the 33rd, Leeds rallied forwards and a pin-point cross from Ross McCormack was met by a diving header from Rodolph Austin who headed home. United had several chances thwarted before Ross McCormack was denied by Randolph, Birmingham’s defence couldn’t clear up and Matt Smith struck a strike past the wrong-footed Randolph at the edge of the box. Leeds had grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck and went into half-time deservedly three goals up. Nikola Zigic and former Inverness Caledonian Thistle midfielder Andrew Shinnie replaced Dan Burn and Lee Novak after half-time and Birmingham pushed to try and reduce the deficit without avail.

Shinnie curled wide early on in the second half and Birmingham were better in the second half for about 20 minutes, Nikola Zigic being denied by a great save and Murphy hitting the post. But then Leeds had an excellent 20 minute spell with Matt Smith netting but his powerful one on one strike into the roof of the net was ruled out for offside. Ross McCormack once again hit a cross beautifully, this time Smith’s header was well saved by Darren Randolph. The promising Alex Mowatt showed his growing quality when he crossed into Smith for a 74th minute goal and his second of the afternoon. Smith’s bullet header was unstoppable and his fan base is increasing! Brian McDermott said after the match that his substitution of Rodolph Austin in the 89thwas to show how much he was admired by the fans and this was the only occurrence to note in the rest of the game. He was replaced by Michael Brown.

Man of the Match: Rodolph Austin

Possession: Leeds 49%:51% Birmingham

Five Words to Describe the Match: Radebe returns for rampant victory

Worst Player of the Match: Paul Robinson

Blackpool 1-0 Wigan Athletic

It was Ince Junior who stole the limelight today as his father began his first match of five stadium bans. Ince converted in the 24thfrom the spot and the match was incident free until the 94th minute when James McClean was dismissed for Wigan. Owen Coyle said that Mackenzie had stamped on James McClean and there was no retaliation from McClean, he will be appealing the decision.

Barnsley 3-2 Middlesbrough

Three first half goals by Barnsley stunned Middlesbrough. Paddy McCourt scoring the first 26 minutes in and Chris O’Grady’s double in the 41st and 43rd making it 3-0 at the break. McCourt’s Maradona like run led to his goal and O’Grady tapped in his first and his second was from the spot. The flat-capped men on the terraces were nervous after Albert Adomah’s double that came in minutes 82 and 84 but Middlesbrough couldn’t equalise.

Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Charlton Athletic

Simon Church’s dubious seventh minute volley was all that separated Lancashire and Greater London. Gary Bowyer said that it hit Church on the arm before the goal but they deserved their win.

Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Bolton are left wondering when a win will come after a draw with Wednesday added to growing worries. Jermaine Beckford finished for Bolton with a 16th minute strike but Alex Baptiste pressed self-destruct 10 minutes later when he headed into his own net. Bolton pressed after Jose Semedo’s sending off five minutes from the end. Dave Jones was angry about the sending off and an earlier disallowed goal by Jermaine Johnson. The goal was disallowed by infamous lineswoman Sian Massey.

Ipswich Town 0-1 Burnley

Scott Arfield is on fire at the moment and his headed goal in the 80th minute maintained Burnley’s stay at the top of the table.

Leicester City 2-1 Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield’s visit to Leicester was packed with incident. James Vardy scored on the counter in the 11th to put Leicester in front and in the 38th Anthony Gerrard’s (cousin of Steven) catastrophic own goal doubled the lead for Leicester. Huddersfield flew out of the traps in the second half and hope was rescued after a Sean Scannell’s low shot was turned into his own net by Paul Konchesky (at one time the brother in law of John Terry’s brother Paul Terry!) James Vaughan lost his temper after he was elbowed by Leicester’s Wasilewski and he shoved Wasilewski leading to Vaughan’s dismissal. Mark Robins said that Vaughan deserved his red card but Wasilewski deserved to be dismissed also.

Millwall 2-2 QPR

The New Den, the only ground you leave with more money than you went with! Millwall twice equalised after QPR twice went in front. Nico Kranjcar scored after a counter attack in the 26th and Scott McDonald finished cleverly in the 51st. Kranjcar assisted Charlie Austin in his goal in the 69th before Jermaine Easter equalised 2 minutes into added time. Harry Redknapp was humiliated also when the ball was thrown at his face by a Millwall official and it was his assistant who was interviewed after the game!

Nottingham Forest 1-1 AFC Bournemouth

Henri Lansbury’s speculative 30-yard strike broke the deadlock in his 39th minute before Marc Pugh equalised in the first minute of second half injury time with a curling finish.

Reading 4-1 Doncaster Rovers

The Royals demolished the Rovers in a 4-1 thrashing. The first goal came for Reading 11 minutes in when Danny Guthrie’s strike beat Ross Turnbull. In unusual circumstances, Dean Furman was substituted by Theo Robinson after only 22 minutes but in the 31st Robinson’s point blank equaliser was simply unstoppable. An Adam Le Fondre flick restored Reading’s lead in the 39th and the men from Berkshire were rampant with Garath McCleary scoring with 10 minutes remaining. An injury meant that Doncaster were reduced to ten men after using all of their substitutes, Pavel Pogrebnyak embarrassed Doncaster after 7 minutes of added time.

Watford 2-3 Derby County

A five goal thriller at Vicarage Road ended with Steve McClaren gaining more admiration from new fans. Jamie Ward’s headed goal in the 8th broke the deadlock and Watford replied when Udinese reject Fernando Forestieri scored 4 minutes later. Ward doubled his tally and his side’s tally in the second minute of first half added time with a tap in. Lewis McGugan was the next scorer with a fine finish in the 68th minute to level things. Derby were victorious however when Connor Sammon finished one on one in the 88th.

Yeovil 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion

Brighton dominated possession and both sides had 16 shots but the deadlock couldn’t be broken


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