Lee Bell saluted the resilience of his players as Crewe grabbed a stoppage-time winner following a lacklustre display in a 3-2 victory against Doncaster.
The high-flying Railwaymen played second fiddle to Grant McCann’s Rovers for long periods and were pegged back by Joe Ironside’s second-half header after having come from behind to lead at the break through goals from defenders Luke Offord and Connor O’Riordan.
Just as the visitors looked to have earned a point their strong second-half showing deserved, giant centre-half O’Riordan grabbed his second goal of the game when he fired in from close range.
“We showed tremendous resilience and we battled throughout the game,” said Bell. “I am always confident we can get something from games like that and the lads can come up with something. They work so hard and wins like that are so important to get when you’re not quite at your best.
“That was Luke’s first goal in the league this season, while in training I call Connor ‘Tore Andre Flo’ as he always scores goals. The main thing though is not who scored but that we got a win when the performance was below par.
“Doncaster are a very aggressive team and we didn’t spot at first that they were nullifying us man for man all over the pitch. But we overcame that and showed great resilience to get the win. We’re heading in the right direction and we’ve got to keep going if we want to do something this season.”
Crewe’s win was their fifth in their last six outings, but they fell behind early on when West Brom loan striker Mo Faal took Ironside’s pass and blasted a fierce low shot past keeper Harvey Davies.
Bell’s men levelled when Offord played a one-two with Aaron Rowe to surge clear in the box and drive an effort out of the reach of Jones (29). O’Riordan took his first from a difficult angle after taking advantage of a ricochet off a Rovers defender after Mickey Demetriou had delivered a long throw just before the break (44).
Ironside had Rovers back on terms after the interval (57) with a powerful glancing header, from James Maxwell’s cross, arrowing into the top corner as the visitors dominated much of the second half during which efforts from Ben Close and substitute Tommy Rowe almost secured the lead.
But Crewe had struck in stoppage time to win their last home game against rivals Notts County and they repeated the feat when Rio Adebisi crossed to the near post and O’Riordan evaded a defender to tuck home a close-range finish (90+2).
Doncaster boss Grant McCann admitted that while losing late on was a blow, he was delighted with his side’s performance.
“If we keep playing like that then we will get our just rewards. We just came off it a bit at the end and got punished. But we know that we’re a match for any team in this division,” said McCann.
“We have our moments away from home where things are not going our way. But I don’t think Crewe tested Louis Jones at all in the second half, but the one chance they had they scored from it.
“We had numerous opportunities and created so many chances in the second half that I thought we were going to win the game. But from what we were like down at AFC Wimbledon a fortnight ago, when we were powderpuff, that was chalk and cheese. I said to the boys after ‘if we are going to get beat that is the way to get beat’.”
'I have nothing against him' - Leao brushes off rumours of feud with Fonseca
Rafael Leao has shrugged off suggestions of a feud between him and Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca despite starting fewer games in recent weeks.
The winger started three consecutive Serie A matches on the bench after the last international break, coming on to make substitute appearances in two of those.
He returned to the starting line-up for their 3-3 draw with Cagliari last time out, netting twice in the first half to bring his tally up to three goals for the season, and 50 overall in Serie A.
Leao has also provided three assists in the Italian top-flight, while he has both attempted (36) and completed (24) the most dribbles of any Milan player in the competition.
There were reports of tension between Leao and Fonseca due to the former's lack of playing time in recent weeks, but he brushed off the idea.
"These things happen during the season, I have nothing against him, and he has nothing against me," Leao said while at Portugal's training ground.
"It's all settled. I don't like being on the bench, obviously, but he makes the decisions and I, as a player, have to respect the coach.
"When I step onto the pitch, I have to do my best to help the team."
Leao has also impressed with performances in the Champions League this season, especially against Real Madrid in a 3-1 win, as he registered an assist for their third goal.
However, he has also come under criticism in Italy, with one pundit claiming he has a poor work ethic, suggesting he only puts in effort in big games.
"Clearly, I do not agree with that," Leao added about the recent comments.
"I have been having a great season at Milan but, like everyone else, there are ups and downs. The campaign has only just started. Look, I know that I am not the perfect player and sometimes I can do much better.
"I am not shaken by this criticism. I have people who help me to improve and those are the ones I have to listen to. This criticism just spurs me on to respond on the pitch."
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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