Reading manager Ruben Selles praised the “power” of winger Femi Azeez after he opened the scoring in an impressive 2-0 Sky Bet League One home victory over Wigan.
Azeez, 22, gave Reading an interval lead with an unstoppable 20-yard drive and Sam Smith doubled the advantage five minutes after the break.
Wigan offered little going forward in either half, with Reading comfortably seeing the game out to move up two places in the division and just one point from safety.
After the 3-2 defeat at Shrewsbury on November 11, Selles’ side sat bottom of the table and were 10 points adrift of retaining their third-tier status.
“Our experience with players like Femi, they just need to grow into the game and find a way to crack the code,” Selles said.
“I think Femi has been doing a really good job for us the entire season.
“In the beginning, he needed a little bit more luck with his end product, but he has been working hard on that.
“And when he finally got it, he now has that confidence. He is just such a powerful player for us.
“I’m very happy with the performance today, especially as it is at the start of such a busy period.
“I think that the players put everything into it to get the three points.
“Perhaps in the first 15 minutes, we didn’t feel comfortable. But after that, we managed the game until the very end.
“So we’re happy to enjoy the victory today but our recovery has already started to be ready for the next game.”
Wigan are now without a league win in three outings.
“These games aren’t so easy and I think that, in the defining moments, Reading were better,” said manager Shaun Maloney.
“Even at half-time, I was happy with the performance in the first half.
“But the big criticism of the players is that when we play like that, when we stop Reading from playing, we can’t come in 1-0 down (at the break).
“The performance was pretty good, maybe in that final third was the area that we just dropped slightly.
“But I can’t be too critical of the players in those positions because, for so much of the season, they’ve been very good.
“It was just those two big moments. In terms of their goals, they took their chances and we didn’t. That was the main difference.
“We had to change our defensive line today and tried to find a structure that made us as solid as we could be.
“In terms of that, I was actually quite happy with how we started the game, but we became a little bit less controlled in the second half.”
Putellas signs two-year deal with Barcelona
Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas has signed a two-year deal until 2026, the club announced on Thursday.
Putellas was due to be out of contract next month, but extends her 12-year relationship with Barcelona, with the new deal also including an option for an additional season.
The 30-year-old is a two-time Ballon d’Or winner in 2021 and 2022, though she has struggled with injuries that have kept her sidelined since winning the second.
Overall, she has made 424 appearances, scoring a record 189 goals for the club, playing a pivotal role in Barcelona’s recent domination in women’s football.
Putellas has won 29 major trophies with Barcelona and is looking for another on Saturday when they face Lyon in the Champions League final.
Having already clinched Liga F, the Copa de la Reina and the Spanish Supercopa this season, Putellas can help Barcelona to complete an unprecedented quadruple with a win over the French champions.
Alonso wants to write more history with Leverkusen in Europa League final
Xabi Alonso is hopeful that his Bayer Leverkusen side can make more history in their Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday.
Leverkusen became the first side in Bundesliga history to go unbeaten in a single season on their way to the top-flight title, and across all competitions, they have not lost any of their last 51 matches.
Now, they have the opportunity to complete an unbeaten treble if they can get past Atalanta before taking on Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.
Only three sides have previously won the competition without losing a game – Chelsea in 2018-19, Villarreal in 2020-21 and Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021-22, with Leverkusen looking to be added to that list.
Alonso is taking charge of his first European final as a manager and highlights the ambition the club have to do something significant.
"It would mean a lot, a lot to me [to win a European trophy]," he told UEFA. "To be able to share it with the people from the club, with the fans.
"You see what it meant when we won the Bundesliga. To be able to win a European title after so many years since we won [the UEFA Cup in 1988] would be historic, and we want to do that, to have a historic season.
"It would be something written in golden letters, not only in the history of our club but probably all European football. I hope we can."
Like his counterpart, Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini is also taking charge of a European final for the first time in his career.
The Italian side clinched a top-five finish in Serie A with their win over Lecce on Saturday and are looking to win their first major trophy in 61 years.
Looking back on the season, Gasperini says he is proud of the work his side have done to make it through to the club's first European final.
"It feels good," Gasperini said. "It's a great achievement and source of satisfaction, achieved with a really good season from this whole team.
"Is it the highest point of my career? Yes, in terms of accomplishment and prestige, absolutely. In terms of gratification, fortunately, I've had quite a few, although perhaps not on the same level.
"This team always wanted it. Sometimes, you get teams who are good technically but lacking in determination and hunger.
"From the start, from the group stage, since we played in Lisbon, in a group where we were not the favourites – Sporting [CP] were the favourites – we played great matches against strong opponents. Of course, winning at Anfield boosted our confidence even more."
Sargent earns recall as Pulisic, Balogun and Adams headline USA's preliminary Copa America squad
United States coach Gregg Berhalter has named a 27-man preliminary squad ahead of the Copa America.
Josh Sargent, the Norwich City forward, has earned a recall to the USA squad for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Colombia, and is set to feature for his country for the first time since 2022.
With first-choice right-back Sergino Dest injured, meanwhile, Berhalter has turned to Nashville SC's Shaq Moore in defence.
Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Matt Turner, Weston McKennie and Brendan Aaronson are among the established names to feature.
Former Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun, who opted to represent the USA rather than England, has also made the cut, as has Coventry City's Haji Wright, who has had a strong season in England's second tier.
Berhalter explained Sargent had been called up to give him another option in attack, with Wright seen primarily as a wide option.
"Between their club form and what they've done for the national team in the past, we think it's a talented group of strikers," he said.
Giovanni Reyna, the 21-year-old Borussia Dortmund attacker who has been on loan at Nottingham Forest since January, has also been included, despite a feud between Berhalter and the playmaker's family in the wake of the World Cup.
Antonee Robinson has had another impressive season with Fulham, and has been called up alongside club-mate Tim Ream.
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen was a notable omission, as were MLS stars Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris.
"This summer presents an opportunity for us to progress and grow as a team as we continue to build towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup," Berhalter said.
"We have a talented group of players and are excited about the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the world."
Berhalter will cut down his squad after the friendlies, with Copa hosts USA taking on Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia in Group C.
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