Nigel Clough was pleased with Mansfield’s reaction to being reduced to 10 men in their 2-2 draw at Crewe and felt his side deserved to come away with a victory.
Defender Calum MacDonald received what Clough thought was a “very harsh” straight red card for a challenge on Chris Long just before the hour mark, which halted the Stags in their stride after they commanded a two-goal lead in the first half at Gresty Road.
Davis Keillor-Dunn punished Crewe twice inside three minutes, but Mickey Demetriou hit back for the home side and Rio Adebisi levelled from the free-kick which resulted from the sending off.
Clough said: “It was a good point in the circumstances when you’re facing 35 minutes and more with 10 men, but over the course of the whole game we should have had the three points.
“I didn’t think we had to defend that much and after the equaliser I don’t think Christy Pym had a shot to save. We were good going forward and I was pleased with our shape when we went down to 10 men.
“We were positive and we tried to be entertaining. We got two goals and we should have got more. Keillor-Dunn had a great chance to make it 3-0 in the first half, which would have probably sealed the game then. But we gave away a needless corner and then within minutes of hitting the post we get what I thought was a very harsh red card.
“For the red card, both Calum and their player looked to be high and it’s a yellow card in my view.”
Keillor-Dunn despatched two fine strikes to put Mansfield in the driving seat, firing past keeper Harvey Davies from the edge of the box in the 22nd minute, then turning neatly to tuck a low finish from inside the box soon after.
Crewe grappled their way back into contention with a close-range finish from veteran defender Demetriou at a corner following the half-hour mark.
Keillor-Dunn wasted a good chance to claim a hat-trick when he skewed an effort onto the post and then, down to 10 men, the visitors found themselves pegged back by Adebisi’s header from Jack Powell’s cross.
Crewe boss Lee Bell said: “I was pleased we scored from two set-plays as our percentage from them last season was really low. We’ve got to get better there and we had good delivery into the box; Rio (Adebisi) has a knack for that, he’s good in the air.
“We were under a lot of pressure early on but we turned that around and Chris Long hit the bar. It was probably too exciting – at one stage it could have been 7-5 to them. But it was perhaps a bit of a missed opportunity after coming back from 2-0 down to level.”
Bell believes the new added-on time directive needs careful examination as he feels it will take its toll on players.
After more than 17 extra minutes were added on by referee Ben Atkinson, Bell said: “In some case you could be asking the players to continue for another half an hour. It doesn’t feel like football – you can’t manage the games as you don’t how much time is left.
“The players could break under this and I hope the officials will see some sense.”
Van Nistelrooy wishes Man Utd success under Amorim
Ruud van Nistelrooy says Manchester United deserve to be successful under new head coach Ruben Amorim, having left the club after the Portuguese's arrival this week.
Amorim officially left Sporting CP for United on Monday, with Van Nistelrooy having overseen four matches as interim coach after Erik ten Hag was sacked last month.
United won three and drew one of those matches, beating Leicester City twice and overcoming PAOK in the Europa League while drawing 1-1 with Chelsea in the Premier League.
At 39 years old, new boss Amorim will become the youngest man to lead United since a 33-year-old Wilf McGuinness took charge of them on Boxing Day 1970 against Derby County.
Van Nistelrooy, who had initially hoped to stay on in a backroom role under Amorim but departed earlier this week, is backing the Red Devils to be successful.
In a farewell post on Instagram, the former striker wrote: "To everyone at Manchester United football club, in particular the backroom staff, the players and the fans.
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your incredible efforts and support. It has been a privilege and honour to represent the club as a player, coach and manager, and I will always cherish the memories we have shared together.
"M.U.F.C will always have a special place in my heart, and I hope there are many more glory days at Old Trafford very soon - not only because I want the club to do well, but because you all deserve it!"
Amorim's first assignment as United boss will be a Premier League trip to Ipswich Town next week, before Bodo/Glimt visit Old Trafford in the Europa League on November 28.
Between his March 2020 appointment and his departure this month, Sporting won 77% of their Primeira Liga matches, the best win ratio in Europe's top 10 leagues in that span.
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.
McTominay has no regrets over Man Utd exit
Scott McTominay says he has no regrets about leaving Manchester United to join Napoli after a lightning-quick start to life in Italy.
He has scored three goals in 10 appearances for the Italian club in all competitions, netting twice in Serie A to help them sit top of the table after 12 games.
Only Romelu Lukaku has scored more league goals for Napoli than him this season, while McTominay has also had the second-most big chances (four) among his team-mates, scoring two of them.
Before his transfer deadline day move, McTominay had spent 22 years at United, joining their academy aged five before making his debut in May 2017.
The Scotland international made 255 appearances for the senior team, scoring 29 goals, including 10 during his most prolific season in 2023-24, and providing eight assists.
While McTominay admitted leaving his boyhood club was not an easy choice, he is pleased with the outcome of the choice.
"Obviously, it's a big decision, there's no denying that. It was a huge decision for me and my family and my friends," he told The Times.
"At times like that in your life, you just have to say, 'Do I want to do it? Absolutely,' and go for it. There's no looking back. I've never had any regrets in my life, or my career and I continue that way to this day.
"I want my career to be successful, and I'm going to go out of my way to try and push myself to be the best football player and best person that I can possibly be."
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
