Peterborough United 0 Doncaster Rovers 0


Most people assume that a 0-0 draw is a boring game, and over the years I have seen a few boring ones. This wasn't one of them though. Both sides created chances and it was end to end stuff up until the end. Peterborough's best chances seemed to come from trying to play the ball through the centre of the park - a tactic that they perhaps didn't try enough - and Doncaster looked dangerous from set pieces of which they earned quite a few.

One of the biggest criticisms that could be leveled at Posh is that they consistently put the ball wide rather than trying to create something through the middle. Erhun Oztumer has been in good form in the centre recently and was probably man of the match and Jack Payne always looks more effective in the centre of the park. However, if you keep putting the ball on the wing and then playing it in the air then you probably need bigger strikers than Aaron McLean and Luke James on the end of them. Ironically then the best chance of the half fell to McLean from a header, which didn't real bother Sam Johnstone that much in the Rovers' goal.

The second half was a scintillating affair with Posh dominating for the first period. Maddison, Oztumer and Newell all battled well, but were unable to get past a resolute defence. McClean was a bit out of sorts and became increasingly frustrated. After a period of Posh dominance Doncaster turned the screw and created chance after chance from set pieces and corners. Whether all of these set pieces and corners were given correctly is a matter of some debate though. The best chances fell to Enda Stevens (who hit the bar) and Harry Forrester who forced a decent save from Ben Alnwick. Soon after Mendez-Laing, who I have been critical of in the past, came on and his mixture of strength and skill looked like it would break down the Donny defence finally. It wasn't to be though and the game finished 0-0. Both teams probably felt that they had done enough to win it, with Posh having the majority of the play, but Donny having the better chances.

It's been a frustrating few months for Peterborough in a year that promised so much, they just need to play it on the ground a bit more and give Mendez-Laing and Oztumer more freedom and hopefully get Craig Mackail-Smith playing again.

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