Exeter boss Gary Caldwell praised a “perfect away performance” after a 1-0 win at Burton sent the Grecians top of League One.
On-loan midfielder Ryan Trevitt scored the winner in the 75th minute.
“Absolutely delighted to come away from home and I thought it was a perfect away performance and a brilliant three points,” Caldwell said.
“I am really proud of them. We came with a clear game plan to dominate possession and control the game. With that you are always going to have to defend long throws and corners here.
“They are a good side that put you under a lot of pressure and when we were asked to do that, I thought we were excellent.”
Exeter survived a scare when Albion skipper John Brayford hit the bar inside the first 90 seconds before growing into the game.
Caldwell said: “We had to compete in those first 15 minutes to see off that early threat and then after 20 minutes or so we got control of the game and dominated possession and from there I felt very comfortable.”
Exeter proved difficult to break down and Caldwell praised the whole team approach to games.
“Our number nine is our first defender, and our goalkeeper is our first attacker,” he added.
“The way we want to play is to have that team ethos and right now we are getting both parts of the game right.”
Burton boss Dino Maamria had to watch from the stands as he served a one-match touchline ban and also saw his side finish with 10 men when substitute Steve Seddon was sent off for a second yellow card deep in added time.
“It was very tough for me,” he admitted.
“I never want to experience that again. Probably my team needed me today on the sidelines to inject that bit of energy in the second half.
“Exeter are a good team, very rigid and they don’t give a lot of chances away.
“I thought we had most of the game in the first half, but it was always going to be a tight game and whoever was going to score first, it was going to be difficult for the other team to come back.
“It was a sweet shot from Trevitt right into the bottom corner and we sent all our attackers on and some of them showed glimpses of what we can expect when they are fit.”
Goals have been a problem for the Brewers with most of their strikers injured or only just returning to fitness, but Maamria hopes that with two weeks off players will return and fortunes change.
He added: “Hopefully we can get some of our forward players back fit and that is what we are lacking. Everyone can see that we are lacking goals at the top end.”
Chicago Fire 1-4 Inter Miami: Suarez on target once more in road win
Luis Suarez scored two and orchestrated another as Inter Miami cruised to a 4-1 win over Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on Saturday.
His shot led to the opening own goal before his second-half double put the game out of reach as Miami stretched their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to nine points.
Suarez played a neat one-two with Diego Gomez to set up a strike from the edge of the box, and though Chris Brady did well to save it, he pushed it straight against Tobias Salquist, who chested it over the line 25 minutes in.
The Uruguayan thumped a free header against the bar minutes later, but finally got his reward just after the break – he raced in behind before slotting a neat shot in at the near post.
Alba then picked him out for his second in the 65th minute, fizzing a low cross into the six-yard box for him to guide past Brady.
Gomez was unlucky from distance as his drilled shot hit the inside of the post before Georgios Koutsias' instinctive close-range finish beat Drake Callender.
Substitute Robert Taylor then rounded off the scoring with a lovely first-time finish in stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Suarez continues to step up in Messi's absence
Miami have now been without their talisman Lionel Messi for three months due to the Copa America and an ankle injury, but Suarez has proven once again that they still pose a threat without him.
He has scored four times from a total of 12 shots since MLS resumed, with nine of those coming in this game.
The 37-year-old ran the show, leading the team in expected goals (1.4), shots on target (five), touches in the box (eight) and big chances (four).
Fonseca shrugs off talk of rift with Milan duo
Paulo Fonseca was quick to dismiss talk of any tension with Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez, who both appeared to snub him shortly after coming off the bench.
The pair came off the bench to help earn a 2-2 draw with Lazio on Saturday, being brought on in a quadruple change by Fonseca after being left out of the starting line-up.
Milan were losing 2-1 at the time of their introduction, and they immediately turned things around, with Hernandez and debutant Tammy Abraham, another substitute, involved in Leao's equaliser.
Minutes later, the game stopped for a cooling break, with both managers using the opportunity to instruct their players, but both Leao and Hernandez remained on the far side of the pitch, taking no part in the team talk.
"The situation with Theo and Leao, there is no problem and I think Theo has already explained," Fonseca told DAZN.
"We don't need to create any problems. This week I spoke with the players and they accepted my decision. There is no problem, I was concentrated, and I didn't see that they weren't there."
Hernandez had already given his reasons immediately after the game.
"We had been on for two minutes, we didn't need the cooling break," Hernandez said.
"It was nothing against the team and the coach. Then people talk, say things that aren't true. Rafa and I are always with the team to help, and that is the important thing."
Milan are still without a league win this season after three games, but Fonseca says he saw a decent performance in the opening half, giving him something to work on.
"We had a good first half. We always managed the game well with the ball. When you control the game like this, we have to have more moments to become dangerous, but it's something we have to work on," Fonseca told Milan TV.
"We must always have the courage we had in the first half because we did good things. If we had won the other two games, this could have been a good result, but it is not so. But we have to start from today's first half."
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.
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