Notts County boss Luke Williams said his promoted side still need to adapt to League Two after seeing them “fall off the edge of a cliff” during the second half of their 4-2 home win over Bradford.
County looked to be cruising to victory after a superb first-half display saw them score four unanswered goals through a brace from Macaulay Langstaff in between efforts from David McGoldrick and Dan Crowley.
However, the Magpies were unable to replicate that performance after the break and Bradford halved the deficit through Richard Brindley’s own goal and Jamie Walker’s strike with 15 minutes left.
The visitors could not get any closer as the hosts held on for a 4-2 win that keeps them up amongst the leaders in the division, but Williams was left with plenty of food for thought.
He said: “It was a game of two halves, exactly that.
“The first half as good as we were, we were equally poor in the second at times. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half and I think that was us playing football how I want us to play and the vision that I have for the team – they were breathtaking at times.
“In the end, on the balance of things we are worthy of the win, but only just.
“The first action (in second half) is ridiculous; we gave the ball away on the halfway line which sets up the counter-attack which sets the tone and then we’re sloppy. We’re missing intensity and the awareness is not there anymore – people were getting the ball pinched off them.
“They caused us so many problems for a side that were 4-0 down. We should have been able to cope with that better, but we didn’t.
“Too many times we’ve been 3-0 up at half-time and we know we deserve to be because we played well, so then to fall off the edge of a cliff in that way is something we are continuing to work on.
“I believe that we need a period of time to adapt to the level and we haven’t. It might look like we have with the way we play in the first half, but 45 minutes is not a game of football.”
Bradford boss Graham Alexander bemoaned his side’s display in the opening 45 minutes, accepting some of the blame falls on him for his tactical approach to the game.
“We were nowhere near good enough in the first half and the scoreline suggests that. We were too passive so I will take a share of the blame in that first-half performance,” he said.
“I was thinking to try and set up to be more compact but that wasn’t the case, Notts County were able to cut us open several times, but we had opportunities to score in the first half.
“That would have given us some encouragement to be aggressive and change the momentum in the first half if we took those opportunities.
“We understood that coming back from 4-0 down was going to be a huge task, we had to go out and win the second half. We took risks, were on the front foot, the players responded in the way I thought they would. We showed that we have the right mentality but it’s about showing that game plan from minute one.
“I just thought those two goals in the first half put doubt in our players minds, and instead of taking one step forward, we took one step back in nearly every action.
“You can’t play like that against any team, let alone Notts County. But in the second half we had less respect and backed ourselves more and we had the opportunity to get something out of the game.”
Al Kholood 2-4 Al-Hilal: Koulibaly on target as champions move to summit
Al-Hilal withstood a late Al Kholood rally to move top of the Saudi Pro League following a 4-2 victory at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
The damage was done during a late first-half surge by the reigning champions, who leapfrogged Al-Ittihad to the summit of the table.
Al-Hilal broke the deadlock in the 38th minute through former Napoli and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who finished after Renan Lodi initially struck the woodwork.
Malcom doubled the lead four minutes later, then Ali Al Bulayhi made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Former Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest defender Lodi then got in the act to make it four within three minutes of the restart.
The hosts finished the contest the stronger of the two sides with Hammam Al Hammami and a William Troost-Ekong penalty halving the deficit, but that rally could not prevent the visitors from remaining perfect after their first five games.
Data Debrief: Al-Hilal remain perfect
Al-Hilal have won each of their opening five games in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time in their history, also achieving the feat in 2010-11 and 2018-19.
Jorge Jesus' side also continued their dominant record against newly promoted clubs, having now won each of their last nine such matches.
Despite their late surge, Al Kholood suffered their third defeat of the season, though there was individual cause for celebration, as former Al-Hilal player Mohammed Jahfali came on for his 200th Saudi Pro League appearance.
International record goalscorer Sinclair to retire after NWSL season
Christine Sinclair, the all-time record goalscorer in international football, will retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League in November.
Sinclair, 41, has 190 goals in 331 appearances for Canada, making her the top scorer across both men's and women's football.
She has played for the NWSL's Portland Thorns since 2013, helping them to win the inaugural title that year. She added further league crowns to her collection in 2017 and 2022.
The Canadian great has had similar success with her national team, winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is also one of three players to score at five World Cups, alongside Brazil's Marta and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sinclair retired from international football in December 2023, and will now call time on her club career.
"Portland, thank you will never be enough. Soccer has been my passion since I was four years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined," Sinclair wrote on Instagram.
"As I finish out this last ride, I want to say what a privilege it has been to represent this unique, beautiful, and passionate city that I will always call home."
St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth
John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.
The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.
St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.
They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
"We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.
"We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.
"This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."
Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.
Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.
"It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.
Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).
Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia
Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.
Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.
Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).
However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 43.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
