Ruud van Nistelrooy wants Leicester City to take heed from their humbling 4-0 defeat at Newcastle United.
Three second-half goals - from Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy's second of the game - offered Leicester's new manager a brutal reminder of how ruthless the Premier League can be.
Van Nistelrooy had picked up four points from his opening two games at the helm, but his team were second-best from the start at St James' Park, where Leicester managed just one shot on target.
Despite the setback of a first loss, Van Nistelrooy is well aware of how quickly an opportunity to react can come about, as struggling Wolves head to the King Power Stadium next week.
But he knows the Foxes need to eradicate basic errors ahead of the crunch festive period.
"It was hard. It was 1-0 at half-time. We were a bit lucky not to be down by more. It's costly when you concede in such standard set-piece situations. Then it was going to be hard to turn it around from there," he said, as reported by BBC Sport.
"We know how intense Newcastle are and the way they play. A lot of the chances they created were from our ball losses, and they got moving quickly on the counter-attack. We kept going and trying, but we have to take this one on the chin and move on."
Van Nistelrooy's opposite number, Eddie Howe, labelled his side's performance as a clear improvement after the Magpies failed to win any of their previous four league games prior to Saturday's contest.
"It was a good performance. The first goal was important. It took a well-worked set play to set the ball rolling, and the second goal was important too, so we were able to express ourselves a little more," he said.
"We’re disappointed we haven’t been able to show that more this season. Today was one of our better performances."
Howe's cautious optimism was balanced against a rallying message from his captain Guimaraes - who finally ended his wait for a first goal of the season - and the Brazilian called on his team-mates to maintain their momentum ahead of a midweek EFL Cup quarter-final against Brentford.
"I think we stepped up in this game. It's a massive win. The team played well, especially in the second half," he added.
"I'm very happy to score again. I've been trying for a long, long time, but I wasn't lucky. We need to keep going as we have a massive game on Wednesday.
"We need to step up in all of our games, not just against the big six. Today was big proof this team can do big things together."
McKenna delighted to be on right side of late drama as Ipswich sink Wolves
Kieran McKenna was delighted to see Ipswich Town on the right side of late drama as Jack Taylor's 94th-minute header handed them a vital win over fellow strugglers Wolves.
McKenna's men had been on the receiving end of late losses already this season, squandering valuable points at home to Leicester City and away to Brentford.
The Tractor Boys had already lost 15 points from winning positions in the Premier League ahead of Saturday's action, the most in the division this campaign.
Last weekend's home defeat to Bournemouth, which saw them concede two goals in the final five minutes to lose 2-1 having led for the majority of the match, was perhaps the most crushing loss of all and McKenna admitted it was a great feeling to experience the thrill of a late goal in their favour.
He told BBC Sport: "It is a really nice and brilliant moment for us, the supporters and everyone at the club.
"We have had some that have gone against us so it is nice to be on the other side of it."
The Ipswich boss refused to be drawn on the importance of a win against a team close to them in the table but was pleased to see his side bounce back after a three-game losing streak.
When asked whether the result could be crucial at the end of the season, McKenna responded: "Who knows?
"We have missed out on points lately that we feel we should have won.
"To pick up those points was really good. We will train this week and take each one as it comes. We will enjoy every one."
Ipswich will try to claim back-to-back victories for the first time this season when they host Newcastle United next weekend.
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa: Dramatic Elanga strike takes hosts into top four
Anthony Elanga played the role of super sub as Nottingham Forest scored two late goals to clinch a dramatic 2-1 win over Aston Villa and go fourth in the Premier League table.
Forest and Villa entered Saturday's late kick-off fifth and sixth in the standings respectively, with both knowing a victory would lift them into the UEFA Champions League places.
Chances were few and far between until the second half, when Jhon Duran – having replaced Ollie Watkins in the Villa attack – opened the scoring with a fine header, generating all his own power to guide John McGinn's cross into the roof of the net.
Chris Wood saw a potential leveller disallowed following a VAR review in the 82nd minute, with substitute Elanga adjudged to be offside when breaking into the box to cross for the New Zealander.
However, Forest continued to push and equalised via a powerful Nikola Milenkovic header in the 87th minute, Emiliano Martinez getting two hands to the ball but failing to prevent it creeping over the line.
Elanga then completed the turnaround four minutes into stoppage time, side-footing home after Elliot Anderson dispossessed Matty Cash to cross from the left-hand side.
That goal ensured Forest climbed above Manchester City with 28 points, three ahead of Villa, ahead of visiting Brentford next Saturday.
Data Debrief: Late show for Forest
Forest emerged as the winning side despite trailing after 86 minutes and 14 seconds – the latest they have ever been behind in a Premier League game before going on to win.
Meanwhile, it was the latest point at which Villa had led and gone on to lose in the Premier League since November 2019 versus Liverpool (1-0 up until 86:35, lost 2-1).
With 28 points, Forest have managed their best start to a top-flight campaign through 16 games since 1994-95 (also 28), when they went on to finish third.
Bayern to use Mainz defeat as 'fire' for Leipzig clash, says Kompany
Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany had a clear message for his players following their shock 2-1 defeat away at Mainz, which was their first Bundesliga loss of the season.
Lee Jae-Sung struck twice either side of half-time, and despite Leroy Sane reducing the deficit late on, Bo Henriksen's side were able to hold on for a huge triumph.
Mainz have now won four of their last five Bundesliga home games against Bayern. Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, no other side has won more against them.
It also marks Kompany's first league defeat since taking the reins at the Allianz Stadium, having only lost in the Champions League and DFB-Pokal in his debut season.
And Bayern struggled at the Mewa Arena, despite becoming the only team to score in all of their 14 Bundesliga games so far this season.
Kompany's side managed an expected goals (xG) total of 1.48 from their 13 efforts, though they had just one on target, which came from Sane's strike late on.
On the back of feeling frustrated at seeing his streak ended, Kompany insisted there was no time to dwell on the result, ahead of hosting RB Leipzig in their final game of 2024.
"We played against a team with a lot of life and spirit, they were prepared to fight for every moment," Kompany said post-game.
"From our side, there was not a lack of fighting. We did that to the best of our ability. Today we were just not at our best.
"This game, we can't play it any more, it's done. We'll use it to build a fire for next week. That's the only way to give an answer.
"We can't win this game in Mainz this year, but in the future, we're looking forward to it."
The clash with Leipzig is followed by a three-week break from league action, as the Bundesliga hits pause until mid-January.
Bayern are still top of the Bundesliga table, but saw their lead reduced to four points on Saturday after champions Bayer Leverkusen beat Augsburg 2-0.
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