Mark Bonner hailed the quality of his new-look Cambridge squad after substitutes Fejiri Okenabirhie and Sullay Kaikai scored late to secure a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers and send the Us top of League One.
Okenabirhie netted his first league goal for the club with a curling finish in the 78th minute before summer signing Kaikai scored in stoppage time to seal a third win in four and consign Rovers to a first league defeat of the season.
After a summer of change at the Abbey Stadium, with 10 players leaving the club and six arriving, Bonner is happy with the options at his disposal.
“I think with the quality of the players we have we’re in a good position, and the impact Fejiri and Sullay had when they came on was outstanding,” he said.
“You need those attacking options off the bench. Fejiri is in a good place at the moment and that was a brilliant finish, but there were good performances all over the pitch.
“From start to finish the players did everything we asked, they carried out the game plan and we looked a really good team.
“We were patient, we had some good attacking situations and our defensive structure was strong. That’s three clean sheets in four games, which we’re really pleased with.”
It was Cambridge’s 2,000th game in the Football League, and they were indebted to goalkeeper Jack Stevens for a crucial save from Aaron Collins in the second half when the scores were level.
Collins raced clear on goal in the 68th minute after a long ball forward from Tristan Crama, but Stevens stood up well to block his shot.
Prior to that there had been little by way of goalmouth incident, but Okenabirhie made the breakthrough in the 78th minute with a fine finish after good work from Kaikai and Jack Lankester.
Then in the 96th minute, with Rovers on the attack in search of an equaliser, Cambridge broke and George Thomas and Okenabirhie combined to leave Kaikai with a simple finish.
Bristol Rovers assistant manager Andy Mangan said: “Credit goes to Cambridge because they came with a game plan and it has worked.
“We didn’t take our chances and we need to be better in all departments. We had opportunities but we never really got going properly today. We’ve got to move the ball quicker and try and pull them apart, and these are areas we need to develop.
“We’ve got a strong squad, probably the strongest Bristol Rovers has ever had, and with that comes pressure. Today we’re frustrated because we didn’t put enough pressure on Cambridge, but we need to stick together – we’re a new group and today we’ve seen there are things we need to improve on.”
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Pirlo sacked as Sampdoria head coach after dismal Serie B start
Andrea Pirlo has been sacked as Sampdoria's head coach after just over a season at the helm.
Pirlo, who managed Juventus for the 2020-21 campaign, has been relieved of his duties after an underwhelming start to their Serie B season.
After finishing seventh in Italy's second tier last term, the 45-year-old was given the green light to try and return to Serie A at the second time of asking.
However, an opening day draw with Frosinone was followed up with back-to-back defeats to Reggiana and Salernitana, leaving them second-bottom in the division.
During his time in charge, Pirlo won 18 of his 45 matches in charge (D10 L17), averaging 1.42 points per game, a total only bettered by his time with Juventus (2.15).
Sampdoria return to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this weekend in search of their first three points of the season, welcoming Bari to Genoa on Saturday.
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