[NoSkillz]

Mon. December 26, 2022

Barclays Premier League
Dover (14-1-3, 43 points, 2nd) vs. Manchester City (12-3-3, 39 points, 4th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Manchester City: 6-4 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 1W 1D 7L

We finally got our first win against City in our last game of the year last year and we are the slightest of underdogs against the holders of the Champions League and Premier League titles for the last three seasons (four years in a row in the Champions League). The big news in the summer, of course, was the sale of the world's best player, lethal striker Enrique, to super rich Barcelona. In his place, City spent an absolutely absurd £73 million on Inter ST/AMC Mario Brito, a 22 year old Portugal international. He has five goals and six assists in 18 games as he tries to settle into English football. City have RIDICULOUS MONEY, as they spent an incredible £179 MILLION in the summer transfer window while selling off £72 million, 70 of it on Enrique. Without that stalwart player, City are relying on balanced scoring for the first time in years, with Yahia Traore leading the way with only 9 goals and fine young striker Jelle Hoegee just behind him with 8. Winger Bruno is a sensational player and has 6 goals and 10 assists on the year in all competitions.

We will greatly miss Neil Cairney today, as he's suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Fine young loanee Gian Marco Fanfoni will suit up in his place. At home, we'll stick with the same formation and mentality as usual. We're on a serious roll but this is the litmus test - if we can beat City, we *may* have a chance at winning the league...

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, G. Fanfoni, A. Rocca, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho
Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, S. Spall, G. Allan, S. Henni, Z. Bardi, P. Moses

City line up in their favoured 4-5-1 formation, with Hoegee up front and Brito at MC. Veteran Joe Hart is in goal. I tell the team to put together a good performance for the supporters. Lets do this!

20' - So far, no shots on goal for either team. Pretty even contest so far…much different than our last number of games!

25' - A HORRIBLE call, as Rayane Hamon takes down Jelle Hoegee and is given a STRAIGHT RED CARD! He didn't have a breakaway, it was a 50/50 ball. Horrific.

We temporarily switch to a 3-4-2 Counter attacking formation.

35' - We win a corner and Rocca's cross gets deflected out to Gianluca Bolis. His shot is off the goal post! So close!

36' - City come right back down the field and it's Hoegee getting behind our defence and scoring but it's blatantly offsides. No goal!

43' - Yellow card for Andrea Rocca for a tackle at midfield.

HALFTIME - The Hamon red card has put us in a tough situation - we have held our own going with only three defenders but I figure I should just play for a tie right now. I'll keep a close eye on things and be ready to move back to four defenders if need be. We held 51% of possession for the half but were outshot 8-6 (2-1 on target). I tell the lads to keep fighting for the fans.

52' - Wonderful. Andrea Rocca gets absolutely destroyed by one of their midfielders and he's injured and needs to come off. We bring in Daniel Traore and he moves back to defence, giving us a 4-3-2 formation.

55' - Some nice passing sees us get our first real good chance in the game, as Chiquinho finds Bamba but his shot is right at Joe Hart and he makes the easy save. Then, Hoegee goes down field the other way, gets past Traore and shoots but Wilke makes the great stop!

56' - Wilke with a BRILLIANT stop on Hoegee from in close, as City are pressing hard now.

57' - We win a free kick deep in their end and it's Bamba taking it. His cross is blocked but it pops right out to Chiquinho. Our striker turns and fires and it's past Hart and IN THE NET! Woooo! DOVER GOAL 1-0

80' - We're doing great with ten men! I take out Chiquinho and bring in Zoltan Bardi. Bardi drops into midfield and we're now playing a 4-4-1 formation.

90' - Five extra minutes to kill. Ugh! I bring in Shaun Spall and take out Shanon Andrea. Hold them off guys!!!

90'+7' - Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?! The ref lets play continue for an extra three minutes and City hit us on the break, with Hoegee converting a header on a cross and they tie it up. I've never seen anything like that before. MANCHESTER CITY GOAL 1-1

90'+10 - MY GOD. The ref keeps letting play go on and we win a corner!?! Bamba sends it in and Claudio Contreras heads it to goal but it's kicked off the line by a defender protecting the post!

Wow. Well, good result considering we were at ten men for most of the match.

Dover 1 - 1 Manchester City
Goals - Chiquinho (7.5)
Assists - Arsene Bamba (7.8)
Man of the Match - Arsene Bamba
Other Dover Notables - Shanon Andrea (7.0)
Attendance - 21,761

We held a 52% shot advantage despite playing with ten men and City outshot us 19-16 (5-4 on target). A good match.

-- DAMNIT. Andrea Rocca has a hip injury and will miss two to three months. I am sending him to a specialist and my doctors inform me that could help get him back up to a month quicker. We may have to look for a player on the transfer market but for now, Gian Marco Fanfoni will get more starting time.

-- Rayane Hamon will miss our next match due to his straight red card. I appeal the ban, as I thought it was a ridiculous call but I expect the appeal to be turned down and he could miss additional action.

-- Manchester United beat Chelsea 1-0 at Old Trafford to move past us into second place on the table but we gain a point on first, creeping to within three of Chelsea. Sunderland beat Middlesbrough 2-0 and Sheffield Wednesday beat Arsenal at Emirates Stadium 3-1 to move past them on the table. Here are the standings at the halfway point of the season:


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 19 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Chelsea - 47 points
2. Manchester United - 45 points
3. Dover - 44 points
4. Manchester City - 40 points
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5. Sheffield Wednesday - 38 points
6. Arsenal - 36 points
7. Sunderland - 32 points
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8. Aston Villa - 30 points
9. Reading - 26 points
10. Liverpool - 26 points
11. Everton - 25 points
12. Middlesbrough - 24 points
13. Tottenham - 24 points
14. Newcastle - 23 points
15. Wolves - 17 points
16. Huddersfield - 15 points
17. Derby - 14 points
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18. Burnley - 11 points
19. Birmingham - 8 points
20. Stoke - 6 points


-- We are blazing a trail this year, with 9 more points than last year at this same point and our 51 goals is easily our best total at the midway point. We are tied for the league lead in goals with Chelsea and United and we're tied for fourth in goals conceded with 17

Here's a look at some Barclays Premier League stat leaders:

GOALS -
1. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 12
1. Chiquinho, Dover, 12
1. Darijo Jukic, Sheffield Wednesday, 12
1. Yaya Sanogo, Manchester United, 12
5. Ishak Belfodil, Manchester United, 11
5. Tom Bull, Manchester United, 11
5. Roland Hoxha, Middlesbrough, 11
5. Stanislas Vigneau, Newcastle, 11
5. Luis Carballo, Chelsea, 11
5. Steve Pates, Sheffield Wednesday, 11

-- Neil Cairney is tied for 18th with 6 and both Andrea Rocca and Gianluca Bolis have 4 to put them in a tie for 37th.

ASSISTS -
1. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 10
1. Steve Pates, Sheffield Wednesday, 10
3. Bartosz Salamon, Chelsea, 8
3. Bruno, Manchester City, 8
3. Said Adan, Sheffield Wednesday, 8
6. Neil Cairney, Dover, 7
SIX OTHERS TIED WITH 7

- Chiquinho is tied for 17th with 5 and Graham Allan, Said Henni, Gian Marco Fanfoni, Andrea Rocca, Gianluca Bolis and Renato Gaucho all have 3 which is tied for 45th.

AVERAGE RATING -
1. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 7.78
2. Luis Carballo, Chelsea, 7.69
3. Ishak Belfodil, Man United, 7.62
4. Bartosz Salamon, Chelsea, 7.61
5. Eden Hazard, Man United, 7.58
6. Steve Pates, Sheffield Wednesday, 7.57
7. Neil Cairney, Dover, 7.55
8. Darijo Jukic, Sheffield Wednesday, 7.52
9. Chiquinho, Dover, 7.51
10. Miguel Sousa, Chelsea, 7.50

-- Renato Gaucho is T17th at 7.37, Gianluca Bolis is 25th at 7.25, Andrea Rocca is 35th at 7.24, Salim Loucif is 37th at 7.23, Arsene Bamba is 38th at 7.22 and Rayane Hamon is 44th with 7.20. Not bad!



Pre-Game Press Conference

-- I get "ridiculed" for saying that Gian Marco Fanfoni is a viable option as a starter in the absence of Andrea Rocca. A bunch of my key players and Fanfoni himself are now "worried". Great. Guess I put too much pressure on the kid…I may have to keep him out of the lineup against Everton in my next match.



FA Ban Hamon

-- The FA disciplinary committee considered my appeal but uphold the one game suspension for Rayane Hamon. He'll miss the Everton match.



Next Up

-- We face 11th placed Everton two short days after the Man City match at Crabble Athletic Ground.