The Anonymous Widower

The Player Who Lost It And The Match

The match at Portman Road looked like it was going to end up as a hard-fought goal-less draw.

It all turns on an incident in the second half, where Wes Morgan, Leicester’s caption got involved in a couple of altercations with Michael Chopra and then Daryl Murphy. He claimed he had been kicked and elbowed, but all the referee did was book him for protesting. he then made a big mistake and Ipswich scored.  Here’s Mick McCarthy on the incident from an article in the East Anglian.

Asked about the incidents leading up to the goal, McCarthy said: “I think first and foremost he (Morgan) blocked Chopra by running across the front of him and then there was a tangle of legs. Whether Chops caught him or not I don’t know.

“That upset the apple cart a bit. I think Chops jumped up with his arms a it at a corner kick, but didn’t make any contact (there was also a coming to with Murphy).

“That would be the last of my worries if I was playing against Chops though. I’d be kicking the ***** out of him and be making sure he didn’t put the ball in the net.

“It got a little bit fractious. There were pushes in both boxes, I’m screaming for fouls, he (Nigel Pearson) is screaming for fouls, there are words between us.

“As a centre-half you have to keep your composure – because that’s what people do. As a centre-half I went out with sole intention to upset the two ******* I was up against, or anyone who came anywhere near me.

“I played against Mick Harford and Tony Cunningham. Their intention was smash me across the nose and upset me.

I was close to the incidents and we didn’t notice anything, but then Chopra was being the professional irritant all day, by harrying for everything.

A big factor in the win was McCarthy’s use of substitutes.  He took Chopra off after the first incident with Morgan, to avoid further trouble.  This substitution got Daryl Murphy on the pitch.  I’ve talked to Murphy and he is very much the articulate Irishman, so was he winding up Morgan? At the death, McCarthy put Andy Drury to effectively keep the ball and stop Leicester from equalising.

It was all a bit different to the match at Leicester in November.

March 3, 2013 - Posted by AnonW | Sport | Football, Ipswich Town, Leicester