Month: January 2023

St Mirren booked their place in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup after coming out on top in a penalty shoot-out with Dundee.

The teams couldn’t be separated after a poor 120 minutes of few meaningful chances.

But it was the Premiership side who prevailed from the spot, with Greg Kiltie hitting the winning penalty to send his team through with Trevor Carson saving all three Dundee efforts.

St Mirren made two changes from the team beaten by Celtic in midweek, with starting places for Marcus Fraser and Mark O’Hara who replaced Ethan Erhahon and Joe Shaughnessy.

Dundee, in turn, made three alterations from their last game against Raith Rovers on January 6 as Zak Rudden, Shaun Byrne and Max Anderson were replaced by Luke McCowan, Alex Jakubiak and Josh Mulligan.

The visitors were forced into an early switch when Tyler French was late on Alex Gogic but came out worse and was stretchered off, with Anderson coming on.

After an eight-minute delay, Ryan Strain swept the resultant free-kick into Adam Legzdins’ arms.

The home side continued to threaten and O’Hara was next to try his luck from distance but again couldn’t beat the goalkeeper.

Strain tried again with another free-kick but this time it sailed high into the away supporters behind the goal.

Anderson had Dundee’s first chance but was snuffed out by Scott Tanser as he prepared to shoot, with Lee Ashcroft heading the resultant corner wide.

It took until the final minute of the first half for the visitors to register their first meaningful effort on target through Lyall Cameron but Carson made a big save to deny him.

Saints made two changes at half-time and Alex Greive, one of the substitutes, had a ‘goal’ chalked off for offside.

Jakubiak then created space for a shot but lashed his effort high over the bar before Cameron’s turn and shot was well held by Carson.

The match wound into extra-time and Gogic should have scored in the first few minutes but shot straight at Legzdins before Carson made a brilliant save to deny Kwame Thomas to take it to penalties.

O’Hara, Greive and Kiltie were successful for St Mirren, after Eamonn Brophy had his saved, with Carson denying Rudden, Thomas and Cameron.

Schalke remain rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga table and broke a miserable record with a 36th consecutive away match without victory on Saturday.

The seven-time German champions, who were promoted back to the Bundesliga last season, have not won away from home in the top flight since a 2-1 success at Werder Bremen in November 2019.

A 3-0 reverse at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt extended their wretched barren run to 36 matches, moving clear of Karlsruher’s prior record – a 35-match sequence that ended in 1981.

The Eintracht loss just about summed up Schalke’s season, with the comfortable margin of victory for the home side belying a match in which the visitors enjoyed the better of the chances.

Their 19 attempts – worth a combined 1.9 expected goals (xG) – failed to yield a goal, however, and Eintracht picked their opponents off by scoring with each of their three shots on target, including two in the closing stages.

Schalke have scored only 13 goals this season from shots worth 18.2 xG. Ahead of Saturday’s late match in the Bundesliga, that underperformance of 5.2 xG was comfortably the biggest in the division.

Striker Simon Terodde, who squandered three chances, told Sky Sport: “We had a lot of chances to score before the break but also afterwards.

“Frankfurt were ice cold. Three chances, three shots on goal – they all went in.”

Coach Thomas Reis, whose side are five points adrift of nearest rivals Hertha Berlin at the bottom, added he “enjoyed” Schalke’s performance but acknowledged they were undone by “individual moments”.

“Frankfurt capitalised on their few opportunities,” he said.

Everton were plunged into further turmoil as their under-fire owners watched their underperforming team slump 2-0 at fellow strugglers West Ham.

Chairman Bill Kenwright and majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri were both in attendance as two goals from Jarrod Bowen kept the Toffees rooted in the relegation zone and left manager Frank Lampard’s future in serious jeopardy.

While Everton’s fans made their feelings crystal clear again, unfurling banners reading ‘Board Full Of Liars’ in the away end, their team simply capitulated.

Such is the discontent surrounding the club that Everton’s directors had been advised to stay away from last week’s home defeat by Southampton for their own safety.

Thus, Moshiri’s appearance at the London Stadium felt hugely significant. It was the first time he had attended an Everton match in almost 18 months, and therefore the first time he had witnessed the team under Lampard.

It may be the last, such was this feeble display which even made West Ham, themselves in a dreadful run of form, look almost competent.

On the pitch two, after a tribute to Hammers co-owner David Gold, who died three weeks ago, two edgy teams played out a horribly cagey encounter.

Everton keeper Jordan Pickford did not help the nerves when he miscontrolled his first touch of the ball, but Michail Antonio could not take advantage.

Pickford redeemed himself when he made a fine save to tip over a swerving shot from Said Benrahma but West Ham, themselves on a run of seven matches without a win, soon made their dominance count.

In the 33rd minute Emerson Palmieri lifted a high cross into the box and Kurt Zouma flicked it on for Bowen to prod home.

Bowen appeared to be in an offside position but the goal survived a VAR review.

The winger tucked the ball under his shirt in celebration – partner Dani Dyer had announced they were expecting twins the previous evening.

Lampard, meanwhile, would have been having kittens when, nine minutes later, Bowen – who had not previously scored since October – doubled West Ham’s lead.

Antonio did brilliantly to skip past the challenge of James Tarkowski on the touchline, leaving him the simple task of pulling the ball back for Bowen to tuck away.

Yet even at 2-0 up West Ham almost allowed their confidence-shorn opponents back in before half-time, but Alex Iwobi’s low shot was deflected onto a post.

In the second half Pickford palmed an Emerson drive onto the crossbar, Declan Rice fired across goal and wide and Bowen was denied a hat-trick by a timely Conor Coady challenge.

It mattered little as West Ham comfortably held on, hauling themselves out of the bottom three and giving their under-pressure boss David Moyes some breathing space in the process – while leaving Lampard fearing the worst.

Jay Fulton’s late equaliser earned Swansea a point in a 1-1 draw at QPR.

Jamal Lowe’s goal on his full debut, against his former club, put Rangers ahead on 27 minutes.

Swansea were unable to deal with Tyler Roberts’ cross and the ball dropped to Lowe, who fired home.

But the Welsh side hit back with a well-worked goal with nine minutes remaining – their first shot on target.

Ex-QPR man Ryan Manning played a clever reverse pass to Luke Cundle, who might have looked to score himself but instead teed up Fulton for a simple finish.

It was a huge blow for Rangers, who have now won just one of their past 13 matches – a run which has included seven defeats.

They dropped to 13th in the Sky Bet Championship table and have won just one of their seven matches under Neil Critchley, who inherited an out-of-form team and has endured a difficult start to his tenure since replacing Michael Beale as QPR boss.

Having taken the lead, QPR continued to push forward after the interval and had a chance to double their advantage in somewhat bizarre circumstances early in the second half.

Harry Darling’s back-pass under pressure from Ilias Chair was handled by goalkeeper Steven Benda, resulting in the home side being awarded a free-kick near the edge of the six-yard box, but Chair’s strike was blocked.

And Lowe went close to scoring a second – again after being found by Roberts. The forward’s volley bounced up off the ground and against the bar.

Swansea, who remain 11th in the table, had plenty of possession, especially in the second half, but struggled to create clear-cut chances.

They were also dealt a blow just after the hour mark when Benda went off after picking up an injury and had to be replaced by Andy Fisher, who had to produce a save with his legs to deny Lowe after one of several occasions when the visitors were caught in possession while trying to play out from the back.

But the Swans’ patience was rewarded when they did finally create an opportunity and Fulton coolly took it.

Olivier Ntcham made a big impact after coming on for Swansea and would have given them the lead but for an important save by QPR goalkeeper Seny Dieng late on.

Evan Ferguson’s late header rescued a deserved Premier League point for Brighton at Leicester.

The substitute nodded in to clinch a 2-2 draw and maintain the Seagulls’ assault on the top five.

Harvey Barnes and Marc Albrighton had struck for the hosts to cancel out Kaoru Mitoma’s sensational opener.

It is still the first time the Foxes have earned a point after falling behind this season.

Brighton dominated and were denied a penalty when Danny Welbeck was clipped by Luke Thomas with Solly March wasting a glorious chance just before Barnes’ strike.

The Seagulls missed the chance to move into the Premier League’s top five – but climbed to sixth – while Leicester moved up to 14th in a congested mid-table.

There seemed little for the visitors to worry about from the start and Robert Sanchez and Lewis Dunk combined to usher the ball away from Jamie Vardy, who endured another quiet afternoon.

Boss Brendan Rodgers, somewhat apologetically conceded in the week, time is catching up with his star man who has scored just once in the league this season.

Even after netting 17 times in 33 outings last campaign, there had been little to suggest this term the former England man would be able to roll back the years many more times.

A heavy touch and an early clatter from behind by Pervis Estupinan highlighted the forward is simply just slowing down.

Goalscoring has not necessarily been an issue for the Foxes – their tally of 28 is the best in the bottom half – but they need to find more to continue to disrupt the market as they previously managed.

Even with Brighton’s high-risk slow build-up from the back, the hosts were unable to find the gaps as the Seagulls bossed possession.

Yet it took until the 24th minute for Roberto De Zerbi’s side to create an opening, and even then it came from a corner, when Jan Paul Van Hecke headed Pascal Gross’ delivery over, although Danny Ward’s touch had altered the flight.

Brighton, though, did not have to wait long for an opener which arrived four minutes later.

Neat play from Alexis Mac Allister and Adam Lallana allowed Estupinan to find Mitoma – who wrote a thesis on dribbling at university – on the left.

The Japan international was then given plenty of time to tease Timothy Castagne, cut inside and brilliantly curl the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.

It was a deserved lead but one they only held for nine minutes. The Seagulls had been comfortable, content to knock the ball around at their own pace, but were undone when the Foxes burst into life from nowhere.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall swept the ball wide to Barnes, who darted inside and his shot was blocked by Joel Veltman.

Youri Tielemans was then denied by Lewis Dunk but the ball broke for Albrighton, on for just three minutes after replacing the injured Dennis Praet, to sweep in at the far post.

A leveller was a surprise given the level of control Brighton had and the second half continued in a similar pattern with the Seagulls furious not to be awarded a penalty when Welbeck was clipped by Thomas.

It appeared a foul, with the Seagulls surrounding referee Thomas Bramall and De Zerbi was booked on the touchline for his protests.

Despite their frustrations the visitors still created a glorious opening minutes later thanks to more good work from Mitoma.

The forward skipped down the left and teed up the unmarked March, who slipped and ballooned his effort over from 12 yards.

It proved crucial and Brighton’s mood got worse when the Foxes completed the turnaround after 63 minutes.

Albrighton swung in a corner, which was touched on by Thomas, for Barnes to rifle in at the far post.

Leicester were able to use fit-again James Maddison off the bench for the first time in two months but still needed Ward to thwart March and Mac Allister.

Yet there were unable to hold on and Ferguson grabbed the leveller with two minutes to go when he glanced Estupinan’s cross in off the post.

Mo Eisa scored twice as MK Dons beat fellow strugglers Forest Green 2-1 to move out of the Sky Bet League One drop zone.

The visitors had to come from behind after Myles Peart-Harris put Rovers ahead in the 29th minute.

Brentford loanee Peart-Harris easily tapped in his fourth league goal of the season from a couple of yards after being teed up by co-striker Amadou Bakayoko, making his home debut following a permanent switch from Bolton.

However, the scores were level two minutes before the break. Striker Eisa had started the game on the right but caught the home defence napping by switching sides and then met a cross from Jonathan Leko before slotting in a low eight-yard shot from a tight angle.

Eisa won it in the 52nd minute when he raced into the area on the left to collect a defence-splitting pass from Josh McEachran before stroking in his third goal of the campaign.

The result left Forest Green rooted to the foot of the League One table and lifted MK Dons to 19th.

Wigan remain rooted to the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship after suffering a second home defeat to Luton in the space of four days – with the Hatters easing to a 2-0 win.

The two sides must be sick of the sight of each other, given this was the third meeting already in 2023, and the fourth of the campaign.

Having won on this ground in midweek to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup, Luton started the brighter and took only 11 minutes to open the scoring.

Wigan only had themselves to blame, with two of their three January signings – Miguel Azeez and Steven Caulker – involved in a defensive muddle.

That allowed Harry Cornick to nip in and seize possession and, after holding off an attempted foul, he found the Wigan net via a sizeable deflection that deceived goalkeeper Ben Amos.

Wigan continued to try to play it out from the back at every opportunity, although the players did not seem totally at ease in doing so.

Luton threatened again when Elijah Adebayo got himself free down the left channel, but his powerful shot beat the far post as well as the diving Amos.

Wigan thought they had levelled midway through the first period when Ashley Fletcher sent a bullet header from Charlie Hughes’ pinpoint cross into the top corner of Ethan Horvath’s net.

Unfortunately for the home side, the flag was up on the far side for a very marginal offside call.

Fletcher was then close to getting on the end of a drilled cross from Max Power, only for a lunging defender to divert the ball behind for a corner.

Wigan desperately needed to score the next goal, but it was the visitors who doubled their lead nine minutes after the restart.

Again it was a poor goal for Wigan to concede, with Curtis Tilt being left for dead by Elijah Adebayo, who collected a return pass from Cornick before slotting past Amos with ease.

The frustration inside the ground became evident when loud booing greeted a double Wigan substitution, with the home fans venting their displeasure at seeing Hughes and Azeez – two of their better performers – make way for Thelo Aasgaard and Callum Lang.

Midfielder Christ Tiehi – making his Wigan debut after a loan move from Slovan Liberec – shot just wide as Wigan tried to rally.

But the visitors looked just as likely if not more so to find another goal, as the confidence of the Wigan players visibly slipped away as time ticked by.

The Hatters are now out of the play-off positions on goal difference only, while Wigan look like they’ll need every single one of the 16 days until their next fixture to regroup.

A stoppage-time goal from Aaron Hayden snatched Wrexham a 3-2 win against Maidstone.

The clash was one of only two National League games to go ahead after postponements due to the weather, and the result means Phil Parkinson’s side are now level on points with leaders Notts County.

Wrexham took the lead on the half-hour when Luke Young chipped the ball home from the edge of the box.

They were then awarded a penalty in the 59th minute after Paul Mullin was fouled and the striker stepped up to slot the ball into the bottom corner.

Maidstone pulled a goal back after 72 minutes when Jack Barham slammed a shot past Mark Howard.

Barham grabbed an equaliser for the Stones seven minutes later, heading the ball into the bottom-right corner.

But Wrexham pushed for a winner, and Hayden’s header stole victory for the Red Dragons.

Dwight Gayle ended his 50-match goal drought as Stoke claimed their first points of 2023 with a 4-0 thrashing of Reading.

Will Smallbone’s smart early finish paved the way for the Potters, who secured a first home victory since early November.

The influential Tyrese Campbell doubled the advantage in the second half to tighten the hosts’ grip before Jacob Brown added a late third.

And an impressive Stoke performance was rounded off by Gayle, who scored his first goal since December 2020 in fortuitous circumstances.

In the process, the Potters secured their biggest victory in the Championship since July 2020 as they rose to 18th.

Meanwhile, the travelling Royals offered little in terms of resistance as they slumped to a fourth league outing without a win.

With rumoured Leicester target Harry Souttar missing with a hip injury and Nick Powell also absent, boss Alex Neil was handed a selection dilemma.

And despite the enforced changes in personnel, the hosts started brightly in their quest to end a three-match losing streak in the second tier.

A fast-paced opening for the Potters was rewarded inside 11 minutes when Southampton loanee Smallbone scored his second goal in red and white.

Gayle dispossessed Andy Yiadom before an Campbell teed up the youngster to slot home with a cultured effort.

Stoke, who had the joint second worst home record in the division prior to the tie, rallied to make the most of their early advantage.

Scotland forward Brown fired towards goal from a dangerous position, but his deflected strike looped onto the roof of the net, much to the relief of goalkeeper Joe Lumley.

Reading threatened to take advantage of the home side’s wastefulness in front of goal and their best opening came just before the interval.

Yakou Meite found himself in acres of space, but his powerful effort was pawed clear by a strong Jack Bonham.

The risk of a Royals reprieve spurred the hosts on after the restart and Campbell was denied by Lumley straight from kick-off.

However, the his persistence paid off when a curling strike took a deflection off Tom Holmes beyond a wrongfooted Lumley.

Paul Ince made changes as he tried to inspire a late comeback with the introduction of Shane Long and Lucas Joao, but their efforts were fruitless.

Stoke made their dominance count as Brown sparked a strong end to the game when he bundled home an enticing Josh Tymon delivery.

And an afternoon to remember for the hosts was completed when a Josh Laurent long-range strike deflected off Gayle and rolled into the far corner.

Neil’s side clinched a much-needed first league win in over a month and a first clean sheet in eight Championship matches.

A powerful second-half performance lifted Hartlepool out of the relegation places as they saw off nine-man Rochdale 2-0.

Goals from strike partners Josh Umerah and Jack Hamilton, after Dale’s Ethan Ebanks-Landell was red-carded, were enough to dump Dale to the bottom of the table.

After a flat opening half, with neither side offering an attacking threat, the game sparked into life on 51 minutes.

Centre-half Ebanks-Landell and Hamilton challenged for a bouncing ball and, after Hamilton appeared to be caught by a high boot, referee Marc Edwards brandished a red card.

Three minutes later, Pools broke the deadlock.

Jamie Sterry fired in a low drive after a corner was cleared, goalkeeper Jake Eastwood saved from Hamilton and Umerah was on hand to tap into an empty net for his 13th goal of the season.

The second goal came on 64 minutes. Newly-signed defender Daniel Dodds unleashed a low shot, it was spilled by Eastwood and Hamilton dived in to head home his third of the campaign.

Dale’s misery was compounded in stoppage time when substitute Sam Graham was booked for the second time and sent off.