Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IT’S A CHRIS & TELL
Rangers loanee helps Blues to send another statement of intent to the chasing pack
LINFIELD picked up the gauntlet thrown down by their title rivals and produced a clinical display to see off Glenavon at Windsor Park.
With Glentoran and Cliftonville winning on Friday night, the league leaders knew they had to respond in kind and goals from Christy Manzinga and Rangers loanee Chris McKee secured another vital three points for the champions.
Having conceded a total of 17 goals in their last three trips to south Belfast, Glenavon understandably aimed to keep things tight for as long as possible. It made for a drab opening, with the visitors’ lurid orange strip by far the brightest thing on display until Linfield upped the tempo with a slick move in the 20th minute.
Star striker Manzinga drove into the box then slid Kirk Millar in down the left channel and the winger’s low cross nearly afforded Kyle McClean a tap-in but the visiting defence managed to scramble the ball behind. Robbie Garret had a pop from 25 yards in response as Glenavon dragged themselves up the pitch but the midfielder’s shot whistled a couple of yards over Chris Johns’ crossbar. A lovely bit of interplay between Millar and Stephen Fallon in midfield then saw the latter break free to hit a rising drive from 20 yards that forced James Taylor to tip the ball wide.
Garret was again the man to respond for Glenavon as he almost scored a goal of the season contender, spinning into the area with a wonderful first touch before smashing narrowly wide.
The second half got off to a thrilling start, as Taylor came up with two astonishing double saves in as many minutes to keep the Blues at bay. The keeper did brilliantly to block McClean’s close-range effort then got up to deny Jamie Mulgrew at full stretch.
His reflexes again proved razor sharp as he somehow kept Sam Roscoe and Ahmed Salam at bay in a frantic goalmouth scramble.
Not to be outdone, Johns produced a cracking save of his own, arching backwards to tip Matthew Snoddy’s deflected shot over.
The stalemate clearly couldn’t last and it was no surprise when Manzinga was again the man to make the difference for the league leaders, drilling a shot past Taylor in the 64th minute after Mulgrew fired a low cross in from the right.
Skipper Mulgrew produced another moment of quality to seal the win late on, again making ground down the right before lifting the ball across for sub McKee to pounce with a diving header.