Post Match Reactions - Round 18

[JB@Norwich]

Missing
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Error: Player S_McTominay is suspended

Errors


Error Watch
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[Freddie]

Fulham 3-1 Sociedad

We’ve had our share of luck in recent games (so can’t complain too much about this result) and in typical ESMS fashion it turned against us here.
Fulham raced ahead but after changing tactics and gaining the TA we drew level and despite holding the TA for the rest of the game against a C and D with our E we went on to concede two goals. Like I said can’t complain as we’ve had luck recently but it’s always a shame to lose that way.
Drop down a place to eighth and need to get three points on Monday to keep touch with the top pack.
Played Fulham.

[Ray@Wolves]

West Brom 0

Booked: W_Faes (34), J_Poyth (90)
Injured: J_Jordan (13)

Wolves 3
M_Ihattaren (18), Q_Timber (79), M_Bird (85)
A_Kalajdzic (missed pen 73)

Booked: C_Gakpo (40)
Injured: M_Cuisance (63)

MotM: Q_Timber (Wolves)
HT: 0-1

We were without our talismanic midfielder Melendo for this game as he sits on the sidelines injured. Early on I thought we might have been in trouble giving away tactical advantage on the road. But thankfully midfielder Mohamed Ihattaren stepped up to slot home the first goal in our favour. That prompted a change of tactics from the home side which then fell into our favour. Although for a long time it stayed at just the one goal between the two sides and I did worry when Sasa Kalajdzic missed a penalty with only 17 minutes left on the clock. Thankfully Quinten Timber had an awesome game in the middle of the park and fully deserved his goal and the MotM award. Max Bird came on just after the hour mark for the injured Michael Cuisance and scored our third and his first goal in a gold and black shirt. Overall I feel we looked the better side throughout this encounter and thankfully for us on this occasion it was reflected in the scoreline. The midfield certainly stepped up in the absence of their leader Melendo with all three goals coming from the group. Only major downside is that Cuisance joins Melendo in the treatment room and both players will miss the upcoming game against Fulham.

Good game Frank.

As mentioned our next game is another league encounter, this time we play hosts to Fulham in a game that takes us to the half way point in the Conference season.

[ChrisS]

Schalke 4 - 2 Derby County

First home match for the new manager. First half was pretty even with a 2-2 score line at the half. Second half saw the momentum shift to Schalke and we were able to capitalize on our chances. Ryan Loftus Cheek was Man of the Match with 2 goals from 3 shots, while also adding a couple of key tackles.

Statistically, the match was very close on all accounts with the difference being a slight edge in quality. A well rested
J_Correa was able to come on in the 65th minute and ultimately ice the match with a quarter of an hour to play.

Good game John.

[Ian]

Real Betis 1-1 Villarreal

We went into this game with our two main strikers missing so this was never going to be a walk in the park for us. We did though score an early goal to give us some belief but the opposition really came at us and we then spent most of this game hanging on. Just when it started to look like we would claim an unlikely win the home sides persistence paid off when they equalised late on. Cant deny they deserved the point, doesn't stop it hurting though.

[Tim@Leeds]

Ajax 0 - 0 FC Porto

A very uneventful game but a good and a handy point on the road. C vs L was never going to be a classic and a cl;assic it was not.
We were with out two very important players today so it was always going to be a tough one and we managed to get some valuable minutes to the 2 million squad players that need minutes in this side.
It leaves us in 2nd place and still looking very decent at pretty much the half way point. Hope we don't go up really though, the squad is absolutely not ready and would be battered every week in the EFL.

[AB@Juventus]

Middlesbrough 3 - 1 Watford

Watford started the game with TA, but we took the lead with the first action of the game and switched to P.

A second goal was scored after just 17 minutes and we took TA looking for more. We entered half time with the 2 goal lead intact but with the first action of the second half, Watford cut the deficit in half and we were back to playing P.

The 1 goal advantage only lasted 5 minutes as we scored a third to retake control of the game. We added a 4th late on but it was ruled out by the officials and we ran out 3-1 winners.

Statistically it was very even, only possession was different with us gaining only 4% more, shots etc were identical so Watford will feel hard done by in this one/. Very tight at the top of the league. Good game Tony.

[Neil@Fiorentina]

Bristol City 2-1 PSV

Not a great result, but not too surprising given PSV's position
It was a reasonably equal game on the stats, but it was not to be, as Osimhen missed a last minute sitter. gg dude.
The new dawn begins next week hopefully, as we make a few changes and bring some more quality in depth in.

[Johnboy]

Schalke 04 4 - Derby County 2

A game where, to be honest, I had no idea what to expect! Eduardo has been looking after Schalke so far this season and has got them flying towards the top of the table but Chris has returned now and will understandably want to make the team his own so trying to predict formation and tactic was something of a lottery!

We lined up almost as we had for the previous 2 games which saw us take 4 points from a possible 6 and within 7 minutes captain Philip Billing had given us the lead before a minute later giving his own Easter performance as he was taken off on a stretcher only to return to the action almost immediately!

This seemed to confuse the Derby team for a few minutes as very shortly afterwards Schalke scored an equaliser, about 15 minutes later Derby re-took the lead through Fischer. Just before half time Schalke again equalised, this time through Loftus-Cheek and we went into the break with the scores level.

Second half we just didnt turn up and subsequently conceded 2 without giving any sort of reply and we ended up losing the game 4-2. League positions suggest that this is probably the right result but realistically looking at statistics it would appear that we fall down (again) between the sticks - 11 shots on target for Schalke vs 10 shots on target for Derby and matching our opponents possession statistics suggest that we should be able to make a move up the table, its still very tight at the bottom!

Good game Chris, welcome back and good luck for the rest of the season