ALL THE DRAMA FROM THE FA CUP THIRD ROUND
Ulloa strikes f ine winner as Newcastle pay price for resting stars
LEICESTER 1 Ulloa (39)
NEWCASTLE 0
TURNS out getting rid of Alan Pardew has done nothing to lift the gloom at Newcastle United.
The Londoner might have been a convenient scapegoat for disaffection in the North East but yesterday’s display in the FA Cup was wearisomely familiar.
And at the end of a turgid performance, there were extraordinary scenes as the Newcastle players went to applaud their own fans and were greeted by a chorus of boos and chants of ‘We’re s*** and we’re sick of it!’
Some fans did applaud but the majority appeared to be booing and gesturing for the players to leave. The players themselves looked bemused, unsure of what to do in the face of such hostility, before eventually departing. Truly this is a club in the midst of an identity crisis.
‘It’s hugely embarrassing but they’re entitled to do that,’ said stand-in coach John Carver. ‘The one thing I wasn’t going to allow was that the players didn’t go over to them. I was in front of everybody because we deserved it. That’s how they feel, they pay their money their entitled to do that.’
Carver, a Newcastle man to his core, knows better than most why there is so much dissatisfaction. Once this club boasted a proud FA Cup tradition — they have been finalists 13 times and have won it on six of those occasions. They have now won three FA Cup ties in nine years and yesterday they played like a team whose board of directors have belittled cup competitions as being of minimal financial use.
Carver had invoked the spirit of Sir Bobby Robson before the game and had expressed his desire to take the FA Cup seriously with a strong team — but in the cold light of day, and with injuries mounting, pragmatism trumps romanticism.
Daryl Janmaat, Moussa Sissoko, Fabricio Coloccini and Jack Colback were all carrying niggling injuries and deemed too important to risk, while Ayoze Perez was deemed too exhausted to start.
‘The future of this football club is over the next few weeks and it was important we got people fully fit for our next game,’ said Carver. ‘I put out the strongest team that I could, other than Ayoze Perez, who’s come from a new culture and been one of our shining lights in a season and he’s run out of fuel, there’s nothing left in the tank. For me to play him with Papiss Cisse being in the African Nations, would have been a massive, massive gamble.’
Leicester also made seven changes — small wonder with 48 hours in between fixtures — but they at least attacked the game with an intent which belied their precarious Premier League status.
Ultimately, Carver, who wants the job, will be judged on his Premier League record. But yesterday’s performance did not bode well.
They did at least produce the finest moment of the first half on 32 minutes — only to see their efforts ruled out by an offside flag. Vurnon Anita broke down the right, crossed and saw Emmanuel Riviere deliver a superb flick to Remy Cabella, who finished beautifully but was ruled offside.
‘We’ve gone out with a whimper because of a poor decision in the first half. I thought at the time it was a good goal, there was a delay with the linesman making the decision. Nigel Pearson said to me it was a good goal and it was onside but that’s no comfort because we’ve come away from home, brought a fantastic following and lost the game, which is not good enough.’
Leicester, though, had showed more desire throughout. ‘There’s no doubt the Premier League is our priority but it was always going to be important to get the right result here rather than the performance,’ said Pearson. ‘Today’s game was an illustration of two clubs needing to utilise the squad, so it didn’t make for the best game but we put in a very committed performance. And that’s important as January and February are going to be very big months for us.’
By then, Pearson hopes he will have fomer England striker Jermain Defoe in his ranks.
The 32-year-old has spent a year in MLS with Toronto FC but is keen on a return to the Premier League and the Foxes are leading the chase for his signature.
Current hot shot Leonardo Ulloa had missed a fine chance on 11 minutes from a Tom Lawrence cor- ner, shooting over when unmarked; and David Nugent flashed a shot across goal on 30 minutes. The breakthrough for Leicester finally came on 39 minutes, a short corner being played to Matty James whose rifled shot was flicked on by Ulloa and went in off the crossbar.
It was no more than they deserved and in the second half, without ever setting the game alight, they consistently created the better chances.
Newcastle’s Jak Alnwick had to react sharply to keep out a diving header from substitute Chris Wood before Jamie Vardy raced away on 76 minutes and drove in a shot the keeper pushed away.
As for Newcastle, 17-year-old academy graduate Adam Armstrong impressed in parts and registered a shot on goal early in the second half. And Haris Vuckic had a free kick deflected, which almost fooled Ben Hamer.
Other than that, there really was precious little else to cheer.