Graham Coughlan paid tribute to Omar Bogle as his two penalties helped Newport to a 2-0 win over Gillingham at Priestfield, while the Welsh club said they were “extremely disappointed” after a Gills supporter appeared to make a racist gesture towards the striker as he celebrated.
The County forward found the net twice in the space of seven first-half minutes, and appeared to be racially abused by a Gillingham supporter after the first goal – with the fan promptly issued a lifetime ban, according to Gills director of operations Joe Comper.
And Newport boss Coughlan, a central defender in his day, gave Bogle the ultimate compliment after the win.
He said: “He was a real handful all afternoon, which we know he’s got in his locker. He worked his socks off. As a centre-half, I wouldn’t have enjoyed playing against him when he’s in that form. I just had a little nibble at him inside as I thought he should have got a hat-trick.
“He had a couple of chances to do so and that’s the ruthlessness that I’m after. I could have rested a bit easier on the sidelines if we’d have got another one!
“I thought we were magnificent. I’m really proud of the way they managed the game. Let’s be honest – it is a big, big win for us. We really needed that.”
On the supporter incident, he added: “It has no place in the game. But, I’ve got to say that, having competed against Gillingham for years, I don’t think that’s representative of this football club. It’s a minority and these people don’t represent the club or the fans.”
A statement on Newport’s website read: “Newport County is extremely disappointed with the racist gesture made to striker Omar Bogle by a Gillingham supporter during today’s League Two fixture at Priestfield Stadium.
“Newport County abhors any forms of racism, prejudice or discrimination and has a zero-tolerance policy towards incidence of such nature.
“The EFL have confirmed that the individual has been identified and arrested.”
Anti-discrimination body Kick It Out wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “We are aware of the disgusting abuse from a fan directed towards Newport forward Omar Bogle during Saturday’s League Two match at Gillingham.
“There is absolutely no room for so-called supporters like this in football and offences such as this should be met with the strongest possible punishments.
“We send our support to Omar and remind fans that discriminatory behaviour will not be tolerated. If you see it or hear it, report it.”
Bogle opened the scoring when he was fouled by Gills keeper Jake Turner after a careless back pass from Cheye Alexander.
And he doubled the advantage, making no mistake again from the spot, when Alexander was at fault once more, this time bundling over Matty Bondswell, leaving Gills interim boss Keith Millen particularly frustrated.
He said: “It’s a tough one to get my head around. I wasn’t expecting that performance or the result. It’s difficult to digest, especially off the back of the last two performances.
“They changed their shape, which threw us a little, as they’ve never done that before and we did a lot of work on how they normally set up. But we played against a 5-3-2 on Tuesday, so it’s not rocket science. We didn’t get to grips with it and we didn’t really look like creating chances.
“When you look at the two penalties and the build-up to them, we should have played forward instead of going for a back pass for the first, then we gave the ball away for the second and they punished us.”
On the supporter incident, he added: “It’s disgusting. It’s not acceptable. As a club we don’t accept it, it’s wrong. It involved one person in a crowd, and thankfully the club have identified him and acted quickly. I feel sorry for the rest of the Gillingham fans as there are a lot of really good supporters here.”
LA Galaxy test not ‘David against Goliath’ for Minnesota, claims Ramsay
Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay believes this season has already been a success for his side, no matter the result of their Western Conference semi-final against the LA Galaxy.
The Loons are the lowest-ranked side left on the West side of the MLS playoff bracket after finishing sixth in the regular season, though have impressed in the postseason so far.
They edged Real Salt Lake in their best-of-three series, winning both games on penalties, though come into their encounter with the Galaxy as the underdogs from the outside.
However, Ramsay does not see it that way, believing that his players could cause an upset this weekend.
“There is, of course, a level of satisfaction, but I think it’s difficult to do that until you know how everything pans out,” Ramsay said. “I’ve tried not to think too much beyond the upcoming game and sort of take the balance of the season as a whole once that’s done.
“But I don’t think anyone can deny that relative to the circumstances and the expectations that we’ve had a really good year and sort of anything from this point onwards set against what was talked about prior to the season would, of course, be a bonus.”
“That’s not to say that I don’t feel nor expect us to go another step beyond because, if I look at our form at the moment, I do feel we’re a good match up for anyone in the league.
“There’s absolutely no way that we’re going into this game feeling as though it’s David against Goliath, and we’re huge underdogs, and you’ve got a 20% chance of winning the game. That’s just not how we look at it. So I’m trying to, again, balance those two perspectives.”
LA Galaxy, meanwhile, swept aside the Colorado Rapids in their best-of-three series, helped by the influential Gabriel Pec, who has starred in his first season in the MLS.
The Brazilian has 37 goals involvements (19 goals, 18 assists) so far this season, with his 61 chances created, a total only bettered by Riqui Puig (63) this campaign.
And Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney is confident he can help lead his team all the way to glory this term after seeing first-hand the improvements he has made.
“I’ve seen the evolution on the field,” he said. “When he first came there was a lot of stress. You could tell he came from a club [where] winning and losing and producing were heavy.
“I saw a player who had unique talents and then inside of that some really, really great talent that needs to come out.”
“When we watched video of him, the interesting thing was when he was scoring goals, he was constantly ending up inside the box. So the question was ‘how do we get this guy inside the box more often?’
“What’s been great about him is he’s just had a lot of open-mindedness to develop different parts of his game.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
LA Galaxy – Riqui Puig
Puig has also been in fine form for the Galaxy, registering 14 goal involvements (eight goals, six assists) in his last eight games for the club in all competitions.
He scored twice in each of the Galaxy’s two wins over Colorado in the first round, the fourth player in MLS history, and third for the Galaxy, to score multiple goals in consecutive matches in a single postseason, something no player has done in three straight playoff matches.
Minnesota United – Kelvin Yeboah
Yeboah has been one of the standout players in the MLS since joining Minnesota from Serie A side Genoa in July, and he will be looking to continue that form this weekend.
He set up Joseph Rosales for the Loons’ only goal in their first round series against Real Salt Lake. Yeboah (five goals, two assists) has been involved in seven of Minnesota’s last 12 goals (excluding own goals) dating back to mid-September.
MATCH PREDICTION: LA GALAXY WIN
This will be the second postseason meeting between the Galaxy and Minnesota after LA knocked the Loons out in Minnesota in the first round in 2019. The Galaxy have also lost only one of their seven all-time home matches against Minnesota (W4 D2).
The Galaxy scored nine times in their two first-round matches against Colorado, equalling the most goals scored in a span of two playoff matches in MLS history. No team has scored more than 12 goals in a span of three matches in a single postseason before (Toronto in 2016, San Jose Earthquakes in 2003).
Minnesota won on penalties in both matches against Real Salt Lake in the first round, becoming the fourth team in MLS history to win multiple penalty shoot-outs in a single postseason (Real Salt Lake 2009, New York City FC 2021, Seattle Sounds 2024). No team has won three shoot-outs in a single postseason.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LA Galaxy – 50.8%
Draw – 24.9%
Minnesota United – 24.2%
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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