Crawley boss Scott Lindsey admitted his men “probably got away with it” after they managed to scrape a 2-1 home victory over Harrogate in an underwhelming display.
A second-half goal from Klaidi Lolos settled the issue after Jack Muldoon had cancelled out a long-range strike from Crawley skipper Ben Gladwin midway through the first half.
Lindsey was quick to admit that the Reds, who had won only one of their previous seven league games, were far from their best and on another day would not have escaped with three points.
The former Swindon manager said: ”We weren’t at our best. We were loose with the ball and turned it over too much.
“But all credit to the lads for showing a lot of character. Harrogate made a lot of chances and on another day we might have lost.
“Since I’ve been manager, we’ve been great at home and I always fancy us to score, but Harrogate had too many chances and we probably got away with it.”
Gladwin didn’t celebrate his goal when putting the Reds ahead in the 23rd minute with a terrific shot and Lindsey explained: ”Glads was not happy with the general performance and that’s why he didn’t celebrate.
“He was disappointed and I didn’t expect him to celebrate because I know what he’s like.”
Harrogate had won their previous four away league games and manager Simon Weaver was dismayed his men failed to make the most of a string of opportunities.
He said: ”It is disappointing to lose a game when we had so many chances and had a lot of the ball. We had a lot of corners and lots of shots but just couldn’t finish it off. It was very frustrating.”
Weaver admitted he did not expect Crawley to turn the ball over as often as they did and added: ”We watched Crawley a few times this season to see how they’ve been playing and I thought we could cause them a few problems.
“We made plenty of chances and some of our build-up was excellent. But, to be fair, they gave us some help and we didn’t expect them to give us as many turnovers as they did.
“It was a pity we didn’t expose them fully. When we have scored, it has been with a good old-fashioned ball into the box and a header – I just wish we had done that more.”
Venezuela 1-1 Brazil: Super sub Segovia holds Selecao to shock draw
Substitute Telasco Segovia delivered the pivotal goal that saw 10-man Venezuela hold Brazil to a 1-1 draw in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.
The shock result leaves Brazil in third place, trailing second-placed Colombia by two points and far short of Argentina in first.
Brazil opened the scoring just before half-time as Raphinha curled a delightful free-kick over the Venezuela wall from 20 yards out to break the deadlock.
On the other side of the break, however, half-time substitute Segovia equalised just 41 seconds after the restart, striking from outside the box, having run onto Jefferson Savarino’s short lay-off.
The visitors were provided with a prime opportunity to restore their lead when Rafael Romo fouled Vinicius Junior in the box. But the Real Madrid forward was unable to capitalise on the resulting penalty, seeing his initial effort saved before firing the rebound wide.
As tensions rose, the game delivered further drama as Alexander Gonzalez received his marching orders in the 89th minute for lashing out at Vinicius after fouling Gabriel Martinelli.
In a farcical ending to the lively affair, sprinklers popped up in the pitch in added time to delay proceedings, but neither side could find a way through.
Data Debrief: Instant impact for super sub Segovia
Segovia's goal, 41 seconds after coming on, is the fastest for a player coming off the bench in the last three editions of the South American World Cup Qualifiers.
Venezuela have now scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, only Brazil (four) and Colombia (four) have scored more in the 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers.
Kelleher repays Ireland trust in Finland victory
Republic of Ireland winger Mikey Johnston said the team had always trusted Caoimhin Kelleher after he made a crucial penalty save in their 1-0 Nations League win over Finland.
Johnston's corner set up Brighton and Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson for the decisive goal on the stroke of half-time, after Finland had twice been denied by the woodwork.
The visitors had a golden chance to level in the second half, but Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher made a stunning save to deny Joel Pohjanpalo from 12 yards following a handball from Ferguson.
The result means Finland are relegated from Group B2, while Ireland must come through a play-off to remain in the competition's second tier.
Speaking after the game, Johnston credited Kelleher's all-important penalty save, saying: "I always trust him to go and save a penalty. He has reacted really well and stepped up in a big moment.
"We were aiming for the win. They had moments but there were a few chances we could have taken as well.
"We're happy that we've come away with the win. Sometimes in the last year we would have been on the other side of a bit of bad luck."
Ireland round off their campaign against England on Sunday, in Lee Carsley's final game in charge of the Three Lions before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins in January.
France 0-0 Israel: Les Bleus advance despite frustrating Nations League draw
France advanced to the quarter-finals of the Nations League despite being held to a frustrating goalless draw by Israel at the Stade de France.
Israel picked up their first point in Group A2 by producing a stubborn defensive performance against a France team missing Kylian Mbappe following his omission by Didier Deschamps.
Daniel Peretz kept out Randal Kolo Muani and N'Golo Kante in the early stages as France dominated possession, before the visitors missed a glorious chance in the 37th minute.
Dor Turgeman flicked on a free-kick towards the far post, where Raz Shlomo just failed to get a decisive touch in front of a gaping goal.
Ibrahima Konate headed over the crossbar early in the second half, but clear-cut chances were few and far between for Deschamps' disjointed France side.
Their best opportunities to take three points came in stoppage time, but Marcus Thuram headed straight at Peretz before the Israel goalkeeper made a sprawling save to deny Christopher Nkunku right before the full-time whistle.
Despite their failure to find a winner, France secured safe passage to the last eight alongside Italy, with Israel remaining bottom of the group, three points behind Belgium.
Data Debrief: No Mbappe, no joy for France
Having left Mbappe out of their squad for the second successive international break, France struggled in front of goal despite dominating for long periods in Paris.
They fired off 24 shots worth 2.31 expected goals (xG) to Israel's three efforts worth 0.05 xG, hitting the target on eight occasions but failing to beat Peretz.
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