John Coleman believes that his Accrington team turned in their best performance of the season in a 2-1 win over Salford at the Peninsula Stadium.
Shaun Whalley and Josh Andrews were on target in the first half before Ryan Watson added a consolation from the spot for the hosts late on.
It was a display that certainly filled the Stanley manager with pride, with his side taking 10 points from their opening five games.
Coleman said: “I think that’s the best we’ve played. We had a set plan that we were going to sit in second half but we didn’t. In the second half, we should have scored another couple but didn’t.
“A nervy couple of minutes when they got the penalty but the lads have seen it out.
“I can’t fault anybody, there were some big performances in there and we should have got that third.
“That game plan was a long time in the making and we come up with a game plan that we practiced in training.
“We were going to try and stifle them and force them into areas that favoured us and consequently it worked because we took the ball off them in dangerous areas.
“When we do that we’re really good because we counter really well and we did that today, made numerous chances, and thankfully a couple went in.”
Salford went into half-time 2-0 down and when their frustrations continued in the second half, it forced Neil Wood to reshuffle his pack.
Stevie Mallan and Matthew Lund both made way for Watson and Ossama Ashley in a double substitution in midfield.
Attackers Connor McLennan and Marcus Dackers then came on for Conor McAleny and Theo Vassell as Salford went more direct.
Ammies head coach Wood said: “Slow start, we were poor for 25 minutes. We gifted two goals away from our point of view which is disappointing because we spoke about that a lot during the week.
“I think if we’d have started the game like we finished it we’d have been OK.
“We played a lot of backward passes in the first half, bringing pressure on ourselves and we didn’t need to do that.
“Second half we were much better but we can’t keep doing that for the first 25 minutes.
“We had two strikers on the pitch and the press was there for us to play over and we created chances and caused problems with that. If it needed to be a bit more direct then it was causing problems.
“I thought we were too negative and didn’t see forward passes enough and weren’t brave enough to play forward in the opening 25 minutes.”
Neymar should have won five Ballons d'Or, claims Buffon
Neymar should have won the Ballon d'Or five times, so says Gianluigi Buffon.
Italy great Buffon played alongside Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain for a season in 2018-19.
Neymar joined PSG in a world-record transfer from Barcelona in 2017, but was unable to drive the French club to their maiden Champions League trophy.
He left in 2023 to join Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, but has hardly featured for the Asian giants. He is back on the sidelines due to a hamstring issue, having only just returned from a year-long lay-off after sustaining an anterior crucial ligament (ACL) injury.
Neymar was tipped for greatness when he moved to Europe from Santos, but despite a glittering career, especially at Barcelona, he never has managed to win the Ballon d'Or.
And that is something that upsets his former club-mate Buffon.
"It's hard to pick a rival," Buffon told Corriere della Sera
"I've played against three generations: Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta… Choose one? Neymar.
"For the player he is and the person he is, he should have won five Ballons d'Or."
Even at PSG, Neymar was often overshadowed by Kylian Mbappe.
When Messi joined that deadly duo in 2021, meanwhile, the trio could not have the impact on the European stage that PSG's Qatari owners would have wished for.
Palestine hold South Korea as Japan down China in World Cup qualifying
Son Heung-min scored but South Korea were held to a 1-1 draw by Palestine in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday.
Tottenham forward Son netted in the 16th minute at Amman International Stadium in Jordan.
That came four minutes after Palestine had taken the lead through Zeid Qunbar.
Yet South Korea could not build on that momentum. Despite finishing with 15 shots, they accumulated only 0.84 expected goals (xG).
South Korea, who are six points clear in qualification Group B, had five shots on target, with Son having four of them, as Palestine held on for a memorable result.
In Group C, Japan consolidated their lead with a 3-1 defeat of China in Xiamen.
Koki Ogawa scored twice, opening the scoring and netting Japan's third.
Ko Itakura put Japan 2-0 up on the stroke of half-time, with Lin Liangming pulling one back for China early in the second half.
The match was briefly disrupted as some spectators ran onto the pitch.
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
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