Sunderland 0-0 Leicester
When Nigel Pearson finally ran out of players to embrace and visiting fans to applaud Leicester City’s manager turned on his heel and blew out his cheeks before heading down the tunnel.
Lazarus had nothing on these Foxes and a coach who back in February was widely reported as having been sacked. At the time Leicester looked to be sinking without trace but whoever made the decision to reinstate Pearson was clearly inspired.
Once oh-so complacent Sunderland were among those caught napping by the renaissance unfolding at the King Power Stadium and their failure to win on Saturday leaves Dick Advocaat’s team either requiring a point from their two remaining games at Arsenal or Chelsea or trusting that Hull will fail to beat Manchester United at the KC Stadium next weekend.
The goalless half-time scoreline failed to reflect the energy and enterprise of two revitalised sides determined to stretch the other’s defence to the limit.
Clearly deciding that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Sunderland emulated Leicester’s recent habit of emerging fast out of the blocks and they might have had a penalty within two minutes of the first whistle.
When the lively Danny Graham crossed and Connor Wickham collapsed under pressure from Robert Huth, referee Martin Atkinson had a decision to make but, in rejecting Sunderland’s claims, the referee almost certainly came to the correct conclusion.
With the uber-industrious Graham particularly influential up front and Lee Cattermole eclipsing Esteban Cambiasso in the central midfield enforcement stakes, Kasper Schmeichel was the busier keeper. Schmeichel did particularly well to flick out a hand and repel Sebastian Larsson’s swerving free kick before later saving Graham’s volley.
The striker had been cleverly cued up by Cattermole but the bad news for Advocaat was that his key midfielder would soon collect a style-cramping booking. Failing to heed a warning from Atkinson after clattering into Riyad Mahrez, Cattermole proceeded to hack Mark Albrighton down with unseemly vigour and no one was surprised when the referee reached for his yellow card.
If their scoring chances were proving strictly rationed, Leicester regularly ruffled Sunderland with their penchant for getting the ball forward quickly and efficiently.
Allied to a proficiency at set-pieces these tactics left John O’Shea and company grateful for some lucky deflections as the ball frequently bobbled around their area.
The biggest early home scare came when Wes Morgan saw his goalbound shot blocked following a corner which had thoroughly confounded Advocaat’s rearguard. Considering that similar bewilderment had broken out ahead of Jamie Vardy having a similar close-range shot blocked, Pearson had cause for cautious optimism.
Sensing the power balance required a little recalibration Advocaat replaced Liam Briductt with Adam Johnson. Almost immediately, Johnson – given an enthusiastic reception by a crowd of 46,705 – was heavily involved in a lovely passing move which ended with Patrick van Aanholt shooting narrowly wide.
Johnson subsequently tested Schmeichel’s reflexes with a low shot of his own, unleashed after dodging Camabiasso but Pearson’s five-man defence remained impeccably organised – not to mention as stubbornly obdurate as their manager.
Perhaps concerned his trusted “lucky” brown scarf – once again wrapped tightly around his neck – was not about to work its customary magic, Advocaat opted for further intervention, replacing Graham with Steven Fletcher. It appeared an inspired move when the Scotland striker met Johnson’s fine cross but his glancing header was directed fractionally wide.
The Sunderland manager’s disappointment will be tempered by the knowledge that Cattermole was fortunate to escape a second yellow card but this was most definitely not the result Advocaat wanted ahead of those testing trips to the Emirates and Stamford Bridge.
Guardian
