Grimsby post maiden away win against struggling Salford

By Sports Desk December 29, 2023

Grimsby claimed a first away win of the season with a 3-0 victory over managerless Salford at the Peninsula Stadium.

Harry Clifton’s strike sent the Mariners in a goal up at the break before Toby Mullarkey and Danny Rose struck in the second half.

Salford’s Matthew Lund and Grimsby’s Niall Maher both hit shots against the woodwork in the early stages.

Clifton then came up with the first half’s decisive moment after 39 minutes when he controlled Abo Eisa’s cutback and thrashed the ball home.

He nearly doubled his tally two minutes later, heading Anthony Glennon’s cross inches wide.

Salford, who sacked manager Neil Wood on Wednesday after eight league games without a win, started the second half brightly and Mariners goalkeeper Harvey Cartwright denied Ryan Watson before Lund missed a chance.

Mullarkey would have made it 2-0 were it not for a terrific save from Alex Cairns but he wasn’t to be denied again as he cut inside and placed neatly into the bottom corner with 20 minutes left.

It went from bad to worse for Salford when Rose curled one into the corner six minutes from time to complete Grimsby’s double over the Ammies.

Related items

  • Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Milinkovic-Savic leveller keeps champions unbeaten

    Sergej Milinkovic-Savic preserved Al-Hilal's unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season as his header earned the defending champions a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr on Friday. 

    Al-Hilal dropped their first points of the season having won their first eight games, but remained at the summit of the standings, moving one point clear of Al-Ittihad. 

    Al-Nassr found themselves in front inside two minutes when Otavio's clipped ball found Talisca, who took a touch before firing the ball beyond Yassine Bounou. 

    The first half saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca and Mohamed Simakan seeing their efforts unable to trouble visiting goalkeeper Bounou. 

    Al-Hilal, who had scored 23 goals in their first eight games, came closest to an equaliser after the break when Salem Al Dawsari struck the woodwork. 

    But the leveller came in the 77th minute when a free-flowing move ended with Milinkovic-Savic heading the ball in off the post after being picked out by Renan Lodi's cross. 

    Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing stages, with Ali Lajami coming the closest for Al-Nassr, but the points were shared at the Al Awal Park at King Saud University. 

    Data Debrief: Champions end Ronaldo streak

    Ronaldo's run of four straight games with a goal came to an end against Al-Hilal, though he was Al-Nassr's most potent attacking threat during the encounter. 

    The Portugal captain registered a team-high 0.37 expected goals (xG) to Al-Nassr's 0.9 total, while also having the joint-most touches in the opposition box (five - level with Otavio). 

  • Al Ittihad 1-0 Al Ahli: Al Shehri nets winner as Blanc's side match leaders Al Hilal Al Ittihad 1-0 Al Ahli: Al Shehri nets winner as Blanc's side match leaders Al Hilal

    Saleh Al Shehri scored the only goal of the game as Al Ittihad edged Jeddah rivals Al Ahli to go level on points with Saudi Pro League leaders Al Hilal. 

    Al Shehri turned in a cross from Moussa Diaby in the 42nd minute to give Laurent Blanc’s side a 1-0 lead in the derby, while Diaby was denied the chance to double that advantage in the closing stages by the woodwork. 

    Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli thought they had scored an equaliser through their captain Franck Kessie in the 59th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review. 

    Al Ahli had also gone close in the 51st minute when Ivan Toney rounded Al Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, but his strike was brilliantly cleared off the line by Abdulelah Al Amri. 

    Blanc’s side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.06 with four of their 12 efforts on target, while Al Ahli ended with an xG of 1.01 with three of their shots on target. 

    Al Ittihad have collected 24 points from nine matches - the same as defending champions Al Hilal who will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Friday. 

    Al Ahli, meanwhile, find themselves 13 points adrift of the summit in 11th place with just one win from their last five matches. 

  • Al-Nassr 0-1 Al-Taawoun: Ronaldo misses stoppage-time penalty in last-16 cup defeat Al-Nassr 0-1 Al-Taawoun: Ronaldo misses stoppage-time penalty in last-16 cup defeat

    Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr were knocked out of the King Cup of Champions at the last-16 stage, following a 1-0 defeat at home to Al-Taawoun.

    Waleed Al-Ahmed got the winning goal for the visitors after 71 minutes, but Al-Nassr spurned a brilliant opportunity to draw level right at the end of the match when they were awarded a penalty.

    But Ronaldo blasted the 96th-minute spot kick over the bar to hand victory to their opponents.

    Both teams spent the first half struggling to create anything of note in an attacking sense, which did little to create a good spectacle.

    Al-Taawoun looked more dangerous on the counter-attack, with the hosts indebted to a last-ditch tackle by Mohamad Simakan to snuff out a breakaway at the end of the first 45 minutes.

    The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with a set-piece goal required to open the scoring as Al-Ahmed headed in from a corner.

    Al-Nassr were given a lifeline to keep their hopes alive with time running out, but Ronaldo was unable to convert the penalty.

    Data Debrief: Al-Nassr fall the wrong side of tight margins

    The result means it is now back-to-back matches in which Al-Nassr have failed to win, which is their first such run since August.

    The match itself was a tight one, with Al-Nassr having five shots on target compared to Al-Taawoun's four.

    In terms of actual chances, Al-Nassr had opportunities equalling 1.56 xG, although it is worth remembering 0.75 of that came from their penalty. Al-Taawoun, meanwhile, generated an xG of 0.59.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.