Central’s Woes Continue Following Lacklustre Display

Manchester Central were beaten by three goals to nil on Saturday afternoon at Avenue, making it back-to-back defeats in Division One for the first time since the turn of the new year.

It was ultimately a performance to forget for Chris Tomkinson’s side, who found themselves behind after 15 minutes after a clever glancing header beat the outstretched arm of Daniel Whiting in the Central goal.

A flurry of mistakes early in the second half sealed Central’s fate in the game, losing the ball deep in their own half on both occasions, allowing Avenue to capture all three points.

Chris Tomkinson made a few changes to the starting line-up that were beat 2-0 by Bolton Lads & Girls Club last weekend. Claudio Costa came into the back four at left back, whilst Aria Asqari, Emmanuel Sholabi and captain Daniel Dolling all retained their places.

Central lined up with a new look midfield, that saw Tom Janney and Kyle Odell make rare starts, while regular Kaine Martin completed the three in the middle. Top scorer Fuad Kasali was unavailable for Central, so Dennis Raposo started alongside Junior Silva as a pairing up front, with Luca Navarro playing as the ten.

The opening ten minutes saw little action as both sides were accommodating themselves with a tricky surface. However, the period did paint a slight picture of how the game would go, with the away side looking to keep possession and find joy down the channels, whilst Avenue were clearly happy playing on the break.

Central were able to keep the ball relatively well in the opening period of the game but were unable to create any opening that threatened the Avenue goal. The home side showed signs of a threat on the counter, and on cue the home side broke the deadlock.

Avenue found space out on the left-hand side, which gave them time to swing a cross in that seemed to ask a lot of their forward, but a smart, glancing header precisely found the far corner putting Avenue a goal to the good following a tight opening 15 minutes.

The home side then began to cause serious problems for Central on the counterattack, just a few minutes later a mistake by Central allowed Avenue to break down the left. His attempted cross was clever with the outside of his boot but had too much on it for any of his teammates to reach.

After 24 minutes gone, Avenue got closer. Again, down the left flank, the forward beat Asqari for pace who then put in an excellent cross across the face of the goal which was met by a skewed effort that was a whisker away from finding the far corner.

The away side were struggling to cope with Avenue’s quick counters, whilst failing to break down a resilient side at the other end.

It seemed to be a half full of mistakes for Central, as another almost gave Avenue a second.

A throw in from the left was completely missed by Asqari, where the ball fell to the Avenue striker, who turned and struck a powerful volley towards the far corner, which flew wide, again letting Central off the hook.

With just ten minutes left in the half, Central finally had an opportunity to equalise. A slip from the Avenue keeper after trying to collect a loose long ball allowed Raposo to sneak in and nick it from him. The striker took a touch and tried to slot it round the keeper, who made amends and blocked the effort.

A few minutes later, Avenue squandered another glorious chance to double their lead, when poor defending by Central at a corner allowed the ball to drop to a red shirt in the box whose volley was sliced wide from 12 yards.

That concluded the action from the first half, which saw Avenue hold a slender lead at the break over Central who were fortunate to not be behind by more.

It was a tough half for the visitors, who lacked at the front end of the pitch. Central seemed comfortable in possession but failed to execute the final pass with enough quality to put Avenue on the back foot, which meant the home side had a relatively easy time throughout the first period.

Avenue were constantly dangerous on the break and were effective in soaking up Central’s possession and posing a threat going forward.

Tomkinson demanded more quality from his side during the interval, but his team could not have got off to a worse start to the second half. A flurry of errors cost the away side dearly.

First a poor pass by Asqari into midfield was intercepted before Navarro managed to win it back. But the midfielder then dallied with the ball for too long, allowing Avenue to win it high on the edge of the box. The first effort was parried well by Whiting, but the rebound was met by an Avenue forward, who headed into an empty net.

It was the dreaded start to the half, but the home side continued to mount pressure on Central, who were vulnerable. Central were bailed out by Whiting again, who was having an extremely busy start to the second half.

Just moments later, a cross from a wide area found a red and black shirt, and when the ball sat up, he looked destined to compound Central’s misery, but an excellent save by Whiting kept the visitors in the game by the skin of their teeth.

However, as the game struck the 54-minute mark, Central again were the architects of their own downfall in the game. A sloppy bit of play in midfield allowed Avenue to come forward again. A loose pass in behind caused a race between Whiting and the forward. The striker managed to knock it round Whiting, and unselfishly square to his teammate, who tapped it into an empty net.

It was no more than Avenue deserved, whose constant pressure and quality in the final third was drastically superior to Central on the day, who did not have an answer for any of the three goals.

The third caused an immediate reaction from Tomkinson, who made four changes to try and shake things up. Raposo, Silva and Navarro all made way for Ruben Lawal, Elvis Madueke and Abdul Hallak, whilst Kyle Odell was replaced by Rory Robertson, who slotted in at left back, allowing Costa to move up into midfield for the remainder of the game.

At the hour mark, Whiting again was called into action, making two excellent saves from close range to deny Avenue a fourth.

Just minutes later, the home side were denied an absolute beauty. A cross from the left was headed clear by Central, but the ball was loose, which allowed the Avenue winger to come onto the ball and strike a thunderous effort that was arrowing into the top corner, but the home side were denied by the upright.

The final action of the game was Whiting’s last bit of business. The forward managed to find some space on the left just outside the box, inviting him to strike an effort that was curling towards the bottom corner which Whiting pushed wide.

That rounded off a disappointing display for Central who provided no response for an impressive Avenue side, who continue to pile the pressure on those in the promotion places above them.

Meanwhile the result meant Central remain eighth in Division One, as their already slim chances of a late promotion push became even slimmer, with now a 13-point gap separating them from third placed side Elton Vale.

Avenue look to continue their push for promotion next weekend when they host Boothstown, while Central will look to get back in the winning column when they return to Seashell’s Trust when they host Bolton Lads & Girls Club.