Manager Phil Parkinson was full of praise for the way his Wrexham side battled with 10 men after a first-half goal from striker Ollie Palmer gave them a 1-0 victory at Crawley.
Wrexham came back three times after having a player sent off to clinch a 3-3 draw at Crewe a fortnight ago and the Red Dragons held firm for the last 24 minutes at the Broadfield Stadium with a man down to move above Crawley and into the top seven.
Palmer’s 13th-minute goal against his former club proved decisive and Parkinson was delighted with the way his men dug in after substitute Andy Cannon received a straight red card for bringing down Adam Campbell only seven minutes after coming on.
Parkinson said: “It was a huge win and there is a great togetherness about this group.
“You need to be resilient and in adversity the lads really dug deep and it was a great three points.”
Parkinson was critical of referee Ollie Yates as he had no doubt Cannon’s challenge on Campbell did not warrant a sending off.
He admitted: “The referee changed his mind after the lad rolled on the floor very theatrically.
“But back-to-back clean sheets and four points from our last two games is a very good return.
“Crawley had possession around our box but didn’t really cut us open.”
Crawley manager Scott Lindsey felt his men paid a heavy price for Danilo Orsi’s first-half miss but was “proud” of his players for the way they performed against “a really strong Wrexham side”.
He said: “I thought we did enough to win the game. I’m frustrated because we have players on the pitch who are capable of scoring.
“Wrexham scored a goal out of nothing and then put men behind the ball and banked in. We didn’t have enough guile in the final third.”
Crawley have suffered back-to-back defeats after a six-match unbeaten run and Lindsey said this must not detract from their best start since promotion to the EFL in 2011.
He added: “We want to own the football; we created more chances in the first half but probably not enough after that with the possession we had.
“Most teams will give us respect. This is high-flying Wrexham who were record-breaking in the National League last season but little old Crawley dominated the game and I’m really proud of my team.”
Villa 'deserved more' from draw with Palace, says Emery
Unai Emery suggested Aston Villa "deserved more" than a point after coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace at Villa Park.
The result sees Villa's winless streak extend to six matches across all competitions (D2 L4), equalling their longest run without a victory under Emery (also six in April-May 2024).
After Ismaila Sarr's early opener, the hosts needed Ollie Watkins to pull them level before Ross Barkley cancelled out Justin Devenny's strike with 13 minutes to go.
Yet having seen a penalty saved and hitting the woodwork, Emery felt his team should have got more from the match.
"We deserved more, but we made some mistakes that we need to correct. We had chances to score, we came back. The penalty was a key moment," he told Sky Sports.
"In the second half, we pushed and felt close to scoring, but we have to accept one point."
Youri Tielemans had the opportunity to put Villa ahead on the stroke of half-time from the spot but placed his shot at a saveable height for Dean Henderson, who guessed the right way.
It allowed Palace to break down the other end through Sarr, who squared to Devenny to send the visitors into the lead just before the break.
Emery admitted his players are "concerned" about their vulnerability in transitions and rued the mistakes being made.
"Here at home, we were thinking how strong we were, winning 15 games in a row and how we can recover confidence, impose our gameplan. We are losing some opportunities. We are conceding a few chances for the opponent and making some mistakes," he told reporters.
"We are not getting three points but deserving here at home to win. We played well against Arsenal, Bournemouth, Man United and here. But we are making mistakes and they are punishing us.
"Overall we had more chances, we dominated the match. We have to correct matches where we play like we did today and get more points."
Villa led their opponents comfortably on expected goals (xG), accruing a total of 3.18 compared to Palace's 1.27.
The visitors also had key players Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton out, leading Oliver Glasner to be pleased with his side's fighting display.
"I'm very proud of the team's performance. We’re missing some key players in attack, but we still scored two amazing goals," he said.
"I'm very proud how they played together, worked together, fight together and believed in getting a point here.
"Overall, it was a good performance for us, and we go home very pleased with the point."
Leverkusen were 'bullied' early on in Heidenheim win, says Alonso
Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso was critical of his team's poor start in their 5-2 comeback victory over Heidenheim on Saturday.
The current Bundesliga champions went two goals down inside the opening 21 minutes at the BayArena, before battling back to hammer their visitors.
The teams went in level at half-time, while Patrik Schick completed a hat-trick in the second half to secure their second victory in seven league games.
"The first 20 minutes were hard, hard on the pitch and hard mentally," Alonso told a press conference.
"They bullied us in midfield. We could not find any good situations.
"We then managed to find better solutions after the break, and we were more stable. That was the key to the better second half."
Leverkusen are fourth in the Bundesliga, nine points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. They improved significantly after Heidenheim forward Marvin Pieringer was taken off injured in the 28th minute, having suffered due to his pace prior to that.
"We had a bit of a doubt at the start, it was too hectic, we were too nervous," he added.
"We could relax a bit during the break, and then we saw a much better second half, with more control and more stability. Mentally, we were much better."
Aside from their poor start, Alonso singled out Schick in particular for praise after the game, with his perfect hat-trick having helped win the match for the hosts.
Schick has now scored 3+ goals in a Bundesliga game on three occasions for Leverkusen - only Ulf Kirsten (seven) has done so more times for the club.
"It was a perfect hat-trick. It is so important for a striker to get into this rhythm, to have that feeling and with us having a lot of matches during this time," said Alonso.
Arsenal's improved form after Odegaard's return 'not a coincidence', says Arteta
Mikel Arteta insisted it was "not a coincidence" that Martin Odegaard's presence led Arsenal to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in one of their best performances of the season.
Arsenal's win was their 2,000th in English top-flight history, making them just the second side to reach this milestone after Liverpool (2,068).
Odegaard had been sidelined through injury since September with an ankle injury sustained while on international duty with Norway.
He returned to the starting line-up last time out against Chelsea and now has two assists from two since his return after setting up Bukayo Saka for the opener against Forest.
Arsenal ran out comfortable winners after Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri extended their lead and Arteta is confident the influence of his captain helped.
"It's not a coincidence. The team flows in a different way when [Odegaard] is playing," he told BBC MOTD.
"I think we started really well. The sense I was getting in the last 48 hours after the international break, the boys coming together and were all at it.
"It was good to see the impact of the substitutes [Thomas Partey - goal; Ethan Nwaneri - goal; Raheem Sterling - assist]. Everyone has to feel important. It was a good afternoon."
Partey grabbed Arsenal's second just seven minutes after entering the pitch, curling into the left corner from outside the box following Arteta's half-time swap for Jorginho.
Four of Partey's seven Premier League goals have come from outside the box. Of all Arsenal players to score more than five goals in the competition, he’s the only one to net more than half from outside the box.
Arteta had particular praise for fellow goalscorer Nwaneri, who, at 17 years and 247 days, became Arsenal’s second youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer, behind only Cesc Fabregas in August 2004 (17y 113d).
"He is the second youngest [Premier League goalscorer] in our history. That's a story in itself. He's brave. You see the reaction of fans, and they were singing 'he's one of our own'," added the Arsenal boss.
"I think we have to put brick by brick and make sure the cement doesn't get dry. Hopefully, we can build a beautiful thing with him."
Arsenal outplayed their opponents, leading them on expected goals (xG) with a total of 1.4 compared to Forest's 0.4 xG.
"On a day like this, you need to be solid defensively and take your chances. Ultimately it was not good enough, and it was three relatively easy goals for them," James Ward-Prowse told Sky Sports.
"We are going to have to improve our defensive structure."
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