Jack Iredale’s first ever Bolton goal in Wanderers’ 3-0 Sky Bet League One win over Lincoln was a touch of deja vu for manager Ian Evatt and his squad.
Out of action with a knee injury since January 2, Iredale opened the Trotters’ goalscoring account after four minutes; his first since netting for previous club Cambridge 22 months ago.
The versatile Australian’s header came from Aaron Morley’s corner before Victor Adeboyejo doubled the home side’s lead from another corner after 59 minutes.
Imps skipper Paudie O’Connor then turned substitute George Thomason’s cross into his own net for Wanderers’ third to complete a miserable opener for Mark Kennedy’s side.
“Jack scored exactly the same goal in training,” said Evatt. “So to replicate that was fantastic and the delivery from Aaron was perfect.”
Evatt agreed Iredale’s return has come at the right time, with George Johnston out for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“We know Jack has flexibility. He can play full-back, wing-back or as a centre-half and we like those types,” he said.
“George is one of the best one-v-one defenders in the division but Jack’s range of passing gives us a chance to cause problems.”
On Bolton’s best opening-day win for 12 years, Evatt said: “I am pleased to score from two set-plays because it is something we have taken pride in of late.
“Some of our general play was excellent, particularly in the second half. Some of the moves were smooth, crisp and sharp.
“There is still a lot to work on but it is a decent start because they are a difficult side to break down.”
Lincoln manager Kennedy said: “No one wants to lose 3-0 but we have lost to two set-pieces and an own goal. That is disappointing.
“We said to the guys after the game, ‘What cost us the game? They said: ‘Set-pieces’ – but it was actually individuals not doing their jobs properly.
“When you watch the teams who are the best at set-pieces, they have two things in common: the first one is delivery and the second is the desire to head or defend goals. That was the difference.
“I have no problem with possession stats. I never expected to come here and dominate the ball. I am calm with that.
“Hand on heart it was a nightmare game coming into it. I really believed though we could take something from the game.
“I thought there were good moments, particularly in the first half and we started the second half well.
“We got into good areas of the pitch but didn’t show the killer instinct to go and deliver key crosses in good areas.”
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
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