Conor McAleny equaliser earns Salford draw with Crawley

By Sports Desk August 12, 2023

Conor McAleny’s second-half strike earned Salford a 1-1 draw at home to Crawley.

McAleny’s effort cancelled out Luke Garbutt’s own goal just before the break, but Crawley were unfortunate not to come away with the win after hitting the woodwork four times.

Both teams had early chances, Crawley’s Liam Kelly firing a speculative effort against the crossbar and Salford’s Stevie Mallan twice working Corey Addai.

The best chance of the first half fell to Crawley’s Danilo Orsi, who struck a post with his first effort and then, with the goal gaping, somehow managed to hit the bar with the rebound.

The visitors took a deserved lead after 40 minutes when Dion Corey met Will Wright’s free-kick before the ball deflected in off Garbutt for an own goal.

Wright and Jay Williams both came close to doubling the lead.

But McAleny equalised in the first minute of the second half, turning in Mallan’s cross at the back post.

Adam Campbell was denied by a post for Crawley, while at the other end Ryan Watson fired just over as both teams pushed for a winner, but they had to settle for a point apiece.

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  • Scotland denied '100% penalty' against Hungary, says Clarke Scotland denied '100% penalty' against Hungary, says Clarke

    Scotland head coach Steve Clarke was adamant his side should have been awarded a penalty as their Euro 2024 campaign ended with a 1-0 defeat to Hungary in Stuttgart. 

    Kevin Csoboth scored the winning goal in the 10th minute of injury-time to put Scotland out of another major tournament in the group stages. 

    However, things could have been much different for Clarke's side.

    Stuart Armstrong looked to have skipped beyond Hungary's Willi Orban in the 80th minute, before the RB Leipzig defender grappled across the midfielder, with both tumbling inside the area. 

    Referee Facundo Tello waved away Scotland's appeals, and a subsequent check by VAR deemed the challenge not worthy of awarding a spot-kick. 

    “It was 100% a penalty," Clarke said. "Somebody, somewhere has to explain to me why that's not a penalty. It’s a one goal game, we get the penalty and it could have been a different night.

    “I've got other words, but I'm not going to use them. I don't understand how VAR can look at that and say it's not a penalty.

    “In a European competition, it may have been better to have a European referee but we had European VAR and maybe a referee didn't see the challenge clearly on the pitch, so what's the purpose of VAR if they are not going to come in on something like that. It was a penalty.”

    Having qualified for successive European Championships, this was Scotland’s 12th major tournament group stage, and in 50% of those they have failed to win a single match – at the 1954, 1958, 1986, and 1998 World Cups and EURO 2020 and 2024.

    “We gave everything, there’s nothing you can fault there. It was a very tough game against a good opponent," said Clarke. "A very close game that was always going to be decided by the first goal. You could tell that after half an hour.

    “Unfortunately for us when we opened up towards the end of the game to try and chase the winner, that we felt we needed to get to the next stage, we got caught on the counter.”

  • Euro 2024 Data Dive: Late goals and broken records tee up dramatic finish to Group A Euro 2024 Data Dive: Late goals and broken records tee up dramatic finish to Group A

    Sunday's action at Euro 2024 saw the conclusion of Group A, with late drama ensuring a last-gasp shake up to the standings.

    Germany looked sure to be on the end of a shock defeat to Switzerland until substitute Niclas Fullkrug stepped up to make it 1-1 in stoppage time and send the hosts through as group winners.

    Meanwhile, Scotland crashed out of the tournament without a win after conceding the latest goal ever scored at the Euros, with Hungary keeping their hopes of knockout football alive with their 1-0 victory.

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    Switzerland 1-1 Germany: Neuer makes history, but Fullkrug grabs headlines

    Having already qualified for the last 16, the hosts left it late to seal top spot in the group, needing Fullkrug to make a much-needed impact off the bench in Frankfurt.

    Dan Ndoye had given Switzerland a first-half lead with his maiden international goal to become the nation's second-youngest goalscorer at the Euros (aged 23 years 242 days), but Switzerland could not hold on.

    Manuel Neuer was left helpless against the forward's first-time finish on his 18th appearance at the European Championships, the most among goalkeepers at the tournament (overtaking Gianluigi Buffon – 17). At major tournaments, only Cristiano Ronaldo (45) has played in more games than the Bayern Munich stopper (37).

    Julian Nagelsmann named the same starting XI for three consecutive games, the first time Germany have done so in the competition's history, though it looked like tiredness was starting to take its toll as they struggled to break down their opponents.

    Toni Kroos finished the game with a passing accuracy of 92.5%, only averaging lower than that in one game for Real Madrid in 2023-24), but also equalled a record in the late drama.

    Having completed 323 passes so far at Euro 2024, Kroos has made the joint-most on record (since 1980) by a player in the group stage since himself at Euro 2016 (also 323).

    Germany eventually had 18 shots, with Fullkrug picking out the top corner with the final one; the striker has scored 13 goals in just 19 international appearances, while his four as a substitute at major tournaments are more than any other European player.

    Despite ultimately losing out on top spot, Switzerland have now gone unbeaten in their last four games against Die Mannschaft (W1 D3), with no nation currently enjoying a longer unbeaten streak against Germany (England and Spain both have ongoing runs of four).

    Scotland 0-1 Hungary: Csoboth breaks Tartan Army's hearts

    Meanwhile in Stuttgart, it was Hungary celebrating a late strike to seal a 1-0 victory that ensured an early exit for Scotland as they chased what would have been a landmark win.

    Kevin Csoboth cemented his place in European Championship history with his counter-attacking finish as he netted the latest goal ever scored in the tournament's history (excluding extra time), timed at 99 minutes and 32 seconds.

    Despite needing a win to finish third, Scotland failed to have a single shot on target in the game. In total, the Tartan Army had just 17 shots at Euro 2024 – since the group stage was introduced in 1980, it is the joint-fewest by a national team, along with Northern Ireland at Euro 2016.

    Indeed, only twice at Euro 2024 has a team failed to manage a shot on target in the first half of a match and both have been Scotland (also on MD 1 against Germany).

    Scotland pushed numbers forward for their last-minute corner with the hopes of reaching the knockout stage of the Euros for the first time, but instead will leave a major tournament group stage without a win for the sixth time (1954, 1958, 1986 and 1998 World Cups and Euro 2020 and 2024).

    While looking down and out after failing to win either of their opening games, Hungary finally ended a run of eight games in the competition without a win, registering their first victory since beating Austria 2-0 at Euro 2016 – this was also their first clean sheet since that win.

  • Hungary hoping to 'do it' for Vargas after worrying injury at Euro 2024 Hungary hoping to 'do it' for Vargas after worrying injury at Euro 2024

    Hungary are hoping to "do it" for Barnabas Vargas after the striker's concering injury marred a monumental Euro 2024 win over Scotland on Sunday.

    Kevin Csoboth proved the hero in a 1-0 triumph in Stuttgart, scoring the latest European Championship goal on record after netting a strike timed at 99 minutes and 32 seconds.

    The Group A clash was only going on so late due to Vargas' head injury after the Hungary man collided with Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn in an aerial duel and left the pitch on a stretcher.

    Hungary players crowded around Vargas to create a protective wall for his privacy during treatment, and Callum Styles says his side are hoping to make it into the last 16 in honour of their team-mate.

    "That gave us that extra bit, obviously we don't ever want to see that on a football pitch but thankfully he's conscious now," Styles said of Vargas.

    "Hopefully we do it all for him."

    As for the victory, Styles added: "It means everything, obviously we were celebrating with the fans then, my voice is a little bit gone because of all the shouting.

    "Hopefully that does the job but we've done all we can now so we'll have to wait."

    Hungary will need results to go their way if they are to progress as one of four best third-place finishers at the tournament.

    Head coach Marco Rossi was delighted nevertheless with his side's efforts.

    Rossi said: "It was unbelievable. We never achieved nothing in the past without big, big suffering. Today was no different.

    "I think that we played the match that we needed to play. We can say that we did enough well, we created many options, many situations, of course, we left something also to them.

    "But in overall, I think if I say that it was a deserved win, I'd be right."

    Defeat saw Scotland eliminated in the group stages for the 12th time at a major tournament (World Cup and Euros).

    Scotland captain Andy Robertson could only apologise after another disappointment on the international stage.

    "We gave everything," Robertson said. "We knew we had to win this game, but both teams had to win. That's how it goes, it will take a long time to get over this one.

    "Today and for a long time we have to get over this unfortunately. Tonight's devastating, the lads are absolutely gutted.

    "But it's up to us to pick them up and that will happen slowly but surely. But thank you to the country because we felt everyone behind us, and we knew the excitement back home -- sorry for letting you down."

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