Southampton boss Russell Martin felt Che Adams’ stoppage-time winner against Plymouth was no coincidence after a “relentless” second-half showing from his side at Home Park.
The clash between last season’s League One champions Argyle and relegated Premier League side Saints looked set to end in a draw after Ryan Hardie quickly cancelled out Nathan Tella’s 49th-minute opener for the visitors.
But, with four minutes of added time played, Adams snatched victory for Southampton when he turned the ball home at the far post after Plymouth keeper Conor Hazard had palmed out Adam Armstrong’s goal-bound header from a corner.
Martin said: “The late goal is no coincidence, the amount of work we put into the opposition for games.
“The last half an hour, we were really impressive, really dominant.
“I really wasn’t happy with the first half; I told the players that at half-time and I think they feel the same way.
“We have to be really demanding, I said to them we will have a lot of good moments but there will be tough moments.”
One of those tough moments came just a minute before Adams’ late winner, when Plymouth forward Morgan Whittaker struck the post for the hosts.
Martin, whose side now have seven points from their opening three Championship games, added: “We had plenty of tough moments today in the first half and it was our doing and I was frustrated at that. But the way they responded at half-time, they were brilliant.
“The only downside was conceding a goal so soon after conceding. But the character to come back was impressive. Last season was such a disappointing season for everyone and the supporters as well. Their response to the goal we conceded was amazing.
“The players were relentless in the second half and that is what we need to be.
“We will learn as we are building.
“We will improve, there is a lot to improve on. I was really pleased with the mentality of the players, it has given us the belief, the connection with each other.”
Plymouth’s loss was the first in the Championship since winning promotion, having picked up four points from their opening two games.
Argyle boss Steven Schumacher believes his side can take confidence from their performance despite the late disappointment.
He said: “It was a good standard with some real high quality moments in the game from both teams.
“We played our part and probably edged the first half. The second half Southampton came into the game a little bit more.
“They had the huge spells of possession that we expected but all of the time I thought we were always in the game and to lose it like that right at the end of the game is a bit gutting, a bit of a sucker-punch but that’s football, it can be cruel sometimes.
“We still had five minutes to go so I thought we’d get one back. That’s been a trait of our team over the past couple of seasons. We never give in, we never sit back and accept defeat and we kept pushing with four minutes to go and had a couple of chances from set-plays.
“On another day one of them goes in but I can’t fault the lads’ effort. They gave us everything they had today.
“I felt we had the gameplan right and caused Southampton loads of problems.
“I don’t think we started the second half very well and they got momentum right from the kick off and then managed to score.
“But again the lads responded brilliantly and produced a lovely goal from a well-worked move and a great finish by Ryan and it shows once again we can compete at this level. We should grow in confidence from it.”
Toronto FC 0-1 Inter Miami: Campana's stoppage-time strike keeps visitors on track for MLS record
Leonardo Campana scored the winner in stoppage time to keep Inter Miami on course to beat the regular-season points record in MLS as they defeated Toronto 1-0.
With Miami having secured the Supporters' Shield by beating the Columbus Crew in midweek, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were benched for Saturday's trip north of the border.
But the duo came on to help Gerardo Martino's team to a victory that moved them up to 71 points with one game remaining.
The points record of 73 was set by the New England Revolution in 2021, and it is the Revs who visit Miami in the final regular-season game later in October.
Toronto got off to the better start as Kobe Franklin latched onto the end of Jonathan Osario's cross to shoot from a tight angle but saw his effort saved.
Despite further chances for Richie Laryea and Prince Osei Owusu, Toronto struggled to find a breakthrough, and substitute Suarez proved decisive as he delivered a first-time cross into the centre of the box, which Campana controlled and duly fired home a 93rd-minute winner.
The defeat dealt Toronto a blow to their ambitions of obtaining a playoff spot this season, opening the door for the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United and Nashville SC behind them in the Eastern Conference.
Data Debrief: Miami's stopping power
For Miami, the focus on adding an MLS record to their first Supporters' Shield triumph has seemingly helped keep them going this term. They have scored 15 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half this season; only the Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers have scored more such goals in the league in 2024.
On the other hand, Toronto have conceded 23 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half - no team has conceded more in MLS this term.
Toronto have taken just one point from the last 15 on offer, and their slump has come at the worst possible time.
Real Madrid 2-0 Villarreal: Valverde and Vinicius stunners down high-flying visitors
Real Madrid went level on points with rivals Barcelona at the LaLiga summit following their 2-0 triumph over high-flying Villarreal on Saturday.
The hosts opened the scoring in stunning fashion when Luka Modric's short corner was dummied by Jude Bellingham for Federico Valverde, with the Uruguayan taking aim from distance and finding the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection.
But Villarreal, who had won back-to-back league games heading into the encounter at the Bernabeu, responded almost immediately when Nicolas Pepe's header rattled the crossbar before Thierno Barry nodded over.
Los Blancos had further chances to increase their lead, but Antonio Rudiger sent an effort over the bar before Bellingham's long-range effort sailed wide of the post.
But the victory was sealed 17 minutes from time with another sensational strike, this time Vinicius Junior tried his luck from long-range and curled a superb strike beyond the grasp of Diego Conde after being found by Valverde.
The result, however, was overshadowed by a nasty injury in second-half stoppage time to Dani Carvajal, with the Spaniard leaving the pitch on a stretcher and in tears after a collision with Yeremy Pino.
Data Debrief: Wonder goals save Los Blancos
Madrid's two strikes against Villarreal both came from outside the box, as many as they had scored in their previous 39 goals in LaLiga.
But Carlo Ancelotti's side were far from their very best at the Bernabeu. They managed to muster an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.47 compared to Villarreal's 0.62, with only two of Los Blancos' 11 shots on target.
Valverde, however, impressed for Madrid, creating the joint-most chances alongside Modric (three), while also completing more accurate passes (77) than any other player on the pitch.
Inter 3-2 Torino: Thuram hat-trick keeps Serie A champions within reach of top spot
Marcus Thuram plundered a hat-trick to propel Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino in Saturday's Serie A clash.
The victory places Inter second in the league standings with 14 points, two behind leaders Napoli.
Visiting defender Guillermo Maripan was given a straight red card after 20 minutes for a late challenge on Thuram.
Inter swiftly made their numerical advantage count, with Thuram heading in from close range five minutes after the sending-off.
Thuram doubled Inter's lead in the 35th minute with another header from close range. However, Torino pulled one back a minute later, with Duvan Zapata taking advantage of a defensive error to finish from inside the box.
Thuram completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, being in the right place to tap in a rebound after Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a header.
Torino forward Nikola Vlasic converted a penalty four minutes from time after Hakan Calhanoglu had tripped Adam Masina in the area to tee up a grandstand finish.
However, the visitors were unable to mount a final push to find an equaliser.
Data Debrief: Three-goal Thuram does Torino damage
Thuram scored his second hat-trick while playing in the top five European Leagues (in all competitions), after his previous one for Borussia Monchengladbach against Oberachern in the German DFB-Pokal in 2022.
In doing so, he became only the third Inter player to score a hat-trick against Torino in Serie A, after Roberto Boninsegna in March 1974 and Edwin Ronald Firmani in December 1958.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
