Well, the FA Cup run was fun while it lasted, but today Leeds were no match for Manchester City, as we were unfortunate enough to catch them on the wrong weekend.

There was a lively atmosphere before the game with both sets of fans in good voice, while everybody tried to cope with the excitement of the new tram line outside the stadium coming into use for the very first time. For the Pre-match entertainment we were treated to a substandard indie set from Manchester band ‘1975’, who struggled to live up to the musical tradition of their home city.

We were wondering if Neil Warnock was going to introduce the novel idea of during-match entertainment, but his team selection was a little bit odd, with White out of position on the right and Varney out of position on the left. Ashdown did his usual stint as cup goalkeeper, while Brown and Austin made up a rather solid central midfield and Diouf and McCormack played up front with Morison on the bench.

City also rested their first choice keeper, but apart from that they fielded a very strong side, evidently taking the competition seriously now they’re out of Europe and falling behind in the league. Apparently they had an emergency team meeting this week after the debacle at Southampton, and Leeds caught the backlash as they looked determined to make amends for that performance.

After only two minutes a dodgy backpass nearly put Aguero through, with Ashdown racing out of his goal to clear, but it didn’t take long before City went in front. A neat passing move involving Silva and Tevez had the Leeds defence chasing shadows, setting up Yaya Toure to get round Ashdown and slot the ball into the net. The pressure continued, with Aguero having a shot blocked and Tevez shooting into the side netting.

In this sort of form City didn’t need any help from the referee, but that’s what they got after 15 minutes when he awarded a penalty for Lees pulling Aguero as the Argentinian went past him. It looked a bit harsh (especially as Aguero didn’t even have the decency to throw himself on the floor) but there weren’t any protests from the Leeds players. Aguero himself stepped up to smash the spot kick into the roof of the net.

At that stage I feared an utter trouncing, but Leeds kept playing with a lot of enthusiasm and as the half wore on we actually managed to get some possession inside their half of the field. Michael Brown was putting himself about and caused a bit of a row after clattering into Yaya Toure, but the Ivory Coast man got him back with a tackle that left Brown needing treatment. We didn’t actually manage to create many chances, but by now the Leeds fans were ready to cheer anything, even winning a throw in their half of the field.

And of course we had the opportunity to applaud James Milner whenever he took a corner right in front of us, reminding him that “you’re Leeds and you know you are”. Finally we had a shot on goal as McCormack’s free kick was saved by Pantillimon. Of course City created a few other opportunities of their own, with Ashdown doing well to tip a fierce shot from Toure over the bar, but miraculously we kept it to only 2-0 at half time.

Warnock made two changes at the break. Norris came on for Brown, and although we desperately needed more creativity in midfield I would have removed Austin, who still hasn’t got back to the level he was at before his ankle injury. I can only assume that Brown hadn’t recovered from the knock he’d taken in the first half. The other change saw Morison replacing McCormack, which seemed harsh after McCormack had seen as much of the ball as anyone at their end of the field.

But if we had any hopes that these changes would get us back into the game, they were soon dashed by City’s third goal in the 52ndh minute. A one-two on the left of the area involving Aguero and Silva ended with a dangerous ball across the face of goal and Tevez scoring from close range. For the rest of the game it was now a chance of working hard to limit the embarrassment, but we kept going and Norris had a shot that went some way over the bar.

City were close to a fourth as Ashdown saved from Toure and Rodwell headed against the bar, but at the other end we had our best opportunity of the game as a cross came off the back of Varney’s head and bounced over the bar. City made it four in the 74th minute when Aguero looked suspiciously offside but finished very well, placing a firm shot past Ashdown into the corner of the net.

This prompted a few chants of “Warnock, it’s time to go”, which I thought was a bit harsh bearing in mind the quality of today’s opposition and the way they played, but this seems to have caused a bit of a reaction from the manager in his post-match comments. Well before the end fans of both sides were leaving in droves, and after two minutes of injury time Mr.Clattenburg finally put us out of our misery with the final whistle.

That was almost certainly our last big game of the season, and it was all rather predictable that we wouldn’t be good enough on the big occasion. The best you can say is that we were unlucky to draw City away, as there was a certain amount of dross left in the FA Cup this weekend that we could have played instead, but on our recent form we might still have lost to any of the lesser teams in the 5th round.

The two defeats we’ve suffered this week to Middlesbrough and City have effectively ended our season three months early, and the only real interest we’ll have before May will be in events off the field. We can only hope it all gets sorted out before August.

Photo: Action Images

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