Month: January 2023

David McGoldrick and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing both struck inside three minutes to complete a stunning late comeback win for Derby at Port Vale that extended the Rams’ unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to 14 matches.

The hosts were poised for victory after Funso Ojo marked his first start since September by converting on the rebound following Joe Wildsmith’s save from Dan Butterworth’s initial attempt.

Derby appeared to be running out of ideas – and low on good fortune – when manager Paul Warne sent on Lewis Dobbin after 68 minutes.

Forward Dobbin, on loan from Everton, had one effort repelled by Jack Stevens – who earlier saved point-blank from McGoldrick – before turning provider in dramatic fashion.

The 20-year-old scorched down the left in the 87th minute to cross for McGoldrick to touch home his ninth goal of the campaign.

And Dobbin created a sense of deja vu two minutes later, escaping on the same flank to steer a ball to the near post where Mendez-Laing arrived to rifle into the roof of the net and spark jubilant scenes among the 3,821 travelling fans.

There was still time for Dan Jones to head narrowly wide in search of an equaliser, while Dobbin nearly capped his blistering cameo in fine style but sent a curling strike against the bar.

Derby stay fourth after claiming a fifth straight victory but close within eight points of Sheffield Wednesday in second. Port Vale slip one position to 14th.

Kristian Dennis scored twice as Carlisle moved within touching distance of the League Two automatic-promotion places with a 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Hartlepool.

Paul Simpson’s side made a fast start as Morgan Feeney opened the scoring after six minutes at Brunton Park.

Striker Dennis struck for the fourth game in a row with his 16th and 17th goals of a fruitful campaign, either side of Josh Umerah’s calm finish for the visitors, to take the Cumbrians one point behind third-placed Northampton.

Pools remained two points above the drop zone after a third league defeat in five outings.

Goalkeeper Ben Killip palmed Dennis’ header into Feeney’s path to poke home the opener.

Dennis almost made it two when his shot hit Killip and then the post.

He made no mistake when he doubled the hosts’ tally in the 26th minute as he found the bottom corner.

The lead was quickly halved as Umerah bagged his 13th goal of the season with a cool finish two minutes later.

Killip did well to tip Callum Guy’s long-range strike over just after the hour.

Dennis restored the two-goal cushion when he headed home Owen Moxon’s pin-point cross in the 66th minute.

Rollin Menayese was stretchered off in stoppage time for the visitors.

Tom Bayliss’ late goal gave Shrewsbury their third win in a row in League One, as they snatched a 1-0 victory at struggling MK Dons.

It was a smash-and-grab from the Shrews, who had little of the ball throughout at Stadium MK, but Steve Cotterill’s side are up to ninth in the table, five points off the play-off places.

MK Dons started the brighter and it needed a good save from Shrewsbury goalkeeper Marko Marosi to keep out Mo Eisa’s curling effort from outside the box.

The lively Jonathan Leko then fired a shot from distance over on the half-hour, but a first half largely lacking in quality finished goalless.

The Dons continued to do much of the pressing after the restart, with Eisa having a free kick deflected narrowly over, but clear-cut chances remained at a premium.

Just when it looked as though a forgettable encounter would end in stalemate, Bayliss stole the points for the Shrews in the 89th minute by slotting past Jamie Cumming after being played in by fellow sub Ryan Bowman.

Dion Charles scored the winner but was later mistakenly sent-off as promotion chasing Bolton beat bottom of the table Forest Green 1-0 in Sky Bet League One.

Top scorer Charles fired Ian Evatt’s side into a sixth-minute lead with his 13th goal of the season as Wanderers sought to bounce straight back from the defeat at Derby.

However,  the home side then had to play with 10 men after a 28th minute flashpoint which saw Charles erroneously red-carded for violent conduct by West Yorkshire official Tom Nield.

Replays clearly showed team-mate Elias Kachunga had lashed out at Rovers’ defender Brandon Cooper, an incident which was soon trending on social media.

Despite Bolton protests, and after a lengthy delay, Charles eventually left the pitch, although the red card may be overturned on appeal.

Rovers won the reverse fixture 1-0 last October but struggled to make the most of their numerical advantage.

They dominated possession and shots totals but Trotters goalkeeper James Trafford was rarely troubled.

Bolton stay fifth in the table, with Forest Green rooted to the foot of the division.

Wrexham reached the top of the Vanarama National League table after beating Gateshead 3-0.

Three second-half goals saw the Red Dragons leapfrog Notts County at the summit, while the Heed remain stuck in the relegation zone.

Danny Elliott had a good chance for the hosts going through on goal, but his shot was saved at the near post by Mark Howard and the goalkeeper was forced into another fantastic save from a one-on-one with Adam Campbell.

Wrexham broke the deadlock in the 61st minute after a goalmouth scramble saw Tom O’Connor head the ball home and Ollie Palmer added a second just six minutes later, smashing the ball in on the rebound.

Paul Mullin got himself on the scoresheet in stoppage time, threading the ball into the middle of the goal to cap off a dominant second half for the visitors.

Portsmouth made it back-to-back wins under new boss John Mousinho with a 2-0 victory at Fleetwood.

Goals from Colby Bishop and Joe Pigott were enough to clinch a second win in a week and condemn Scott Brown’s men to a third straight defeat.

Pompey dominated the first half, with Ryan Tunnicliffe, Ronan Curtis and Sean Raggett all going close before Bishop opened the scoring just before the break with his 15th goal of the season.

The home side came back into the game in the second half with Admiral Muskwe having a great chance to level but his shot was saved by Portsmouth goalkeeper Matt Macey.

The Shrimps were given hope when Pompey were reduced to 10 men in the 68th minute after Joe Morrell received a second yellow card for a deliberate handball.

But Fleetwood could not make the most of their numerical advantage as substitute Pigott doubled the visitors’ lead with a close-range finish seven minutes from time to secure all three points.

Sam Vokes ended his goal drought as Wycombe secured their first home win of 2023 with a 2-0 victory over Oxford.

The ex-Wales international opened the scoring with his first goal since October before setting up Anis Mehmeti as the Chairboys wrapped up the points before half-time at Adams Park.

Gareth Ainsworth’s charges cut the gap to the coveted League One play-off spots to just two points with a fourth win in six outings.

After back-to-back 2-1 wins, the U’s slipped to only their second away league defeat since September.

Vokes, who had already seen an effort cleared off the line and been denied by Simon Eastwood, broke the deadlock in the 19th minute with a simple tap in from Mehmeti’s squared pass.

The pair combined again 10 minutes before the break as Mehmeti found the far corner from Vokes’ knockdown.

Oxford huffed and puffed but failed to reduce the arrears.

The best chances fell to Yanic Wildschut as he tested Max Stryjek and later fired over the bar.

Oldham made it back-to-back National League wins with a 2-0 victory against York.

The win moved the Latics five points clear of the relegation zone, with the Minstermen dropping to 15th.

York goalkeeper Ethan Ross made a good save from Joe Nuttall’s header before opposite number Magnus Norman tipped Dan Pybus’ free-kick onto the post.

Oldham then took the lead four minutes from half-time when Josef Yarney slotted home from close range.

Ben Tollitt hit a long-range shot that went wide for Oldham and York pushed for an equaliser with a powerful effort from Mitch Hancox going over the bar.

The hosts doubled their lead in the 78th minute when Timmy Abraham controlled a loose ball and tucked it past substitute goalkeeper Maison Campbell.

Inih Effiong scored a hat-trick as Aldershot completed a comprehensive 3-0 win at Maidstone.

Effiong opened his tally after 13 minutes when he followed up Ryan Glover’s blocked shot with a fine overhead kick.

Shortly after the hour mark, Effiong had his second of the night after he converted Haji Mnoga’s perfect through ball.

And with 11 minutes remaining, the 31-year-old headed home his treble from Glover’s pinpoint cross.

The win moves Aldershot up to 14th, while Maidstone remain above only Scunthorpe at the wrong end of the table.

Joelinton’s close-range finish gave Newcastle United a 1-0 aggregate lead in their EFL Cup semi-final tie against Southampton.

The Brazilian’s 73rd-minute goal settled Tuesday’s first leg at St Mary’s Stadium in Newcastle’s favour though Southampton, who had Duje Caleta-Car sent off late on, had an equaliser disallowed.

Joelinton had a goal contentiously ruled out for handball in the first half and then missed a glorious chance shortly after the restart, but atoned when he converted Alexander Isak’s cross.

VAR denied former Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong a leveller less than four minutes later, with Southampton’s hopes further dented when Caleta-Car picked up a second booking.

Joe Willock wasted two good opportunities early on, hitting a wild effort over the crossbar following good work from Miguel Almiron before miscuing a volley from Kieran Trippier’s cross.

Willock was also involved when Newcastle were denied an opener. Gavin Bazunu parried his shot out to Joelinton, who was contentiously penalised for handball as he fired home the rebound.

Joelinton missed a huge chance seven minutes after the restart, somehow blazing over an open goal from six yards out.

He made no mistake from his next chance, finishing into a gaping net after fantastic play from Isak down the right.

Armstrong thought he had denied his old club with a scruffy finish, only for a VAR review to rule he had handled the ball, and a frustrating outing for the hosts was capped when Caleta-Car received his marching orders for fouling Allan Saint-Maximin.

Newcastle spurned chances to further their advantage in stoppage time, but head into next week’s second leg knowing a draw would be enough to book their place in an EFL Cup final for the first time since 1976.

What does it mean? Magpies’ long trophy wait nearing an end?

While Newcastle’s outstanding Premier League campaign has supporters dreaming of Champions League qualification, ending a 68-year wait for a major domestic trophy is every bit as important for a success-starved fanbase.

Eddie Howe’s side were good value for their victory at St Mary’s, and there is now genuine hope at St James’ Park that they can match the feats of Newcastle’s 1955 FA Cup winners in the coming weeks. 

Solid streak puts visitors on top

A crucial characteristic of Newcastle’s push for a top-four Premier League finish has been their defensive solidity, and that did not desert them on Tuesday.

Newcastle have kept 16 clean sheets in all competitions this season – more than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues. Goalkeeper Nick Pope was again on form, twice denying Che Adams just before Joelinton put the visitors ahead.

They have also recorded five shutouts in their last six EFL Cup games, and a similar performance at St James’ next Tuesday will see them through to next month’s final at Wembley Stadium.

Joelinton gets his reward

Joelinton had to bounce back from a disallowed goal and a dire miss to prove the matchwinner. 

His all-round performance was excellent. He led his team-mates for expected goals (1.36) and aerial duels won (four) and was joint-top for joint-top for duels won (seven), in an all-action display.

Key Opta Facts

– Southampton have lost four of their last five home games in all competitions (W1), after losing just one of the five before that (W1 D3).
– Newcastle won an away ECL Cup game against Premier League opposition for the first time since October 2014, when they beat Manchester City 2-0.
– Caleta-Car’s red card was Southampton’s first dismissal in any competition in over 12 months, since Yan Valery saw red against Swansea City in the FA Cup in January 2022.
– Joelinton has scored three goals in his last eight games in all competitions for Newcastle, as many as he managed in his previous 27.
– Pope kept his 16th clean sheet in all competitions for Newcastle, with only Leyton Orient’s Lawrence Vigouroux managing more (17) among gaolkeepers for English league sides this season.

What’s next?

Southampton host Blackpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday before travelling to St James’ Park for the second leg of this tie.

Newcastle have a full week to prepare for that contest, having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Sheffield Wednesday.