Tranmere boss Nigel Adkins hailed his team’s “fantastic” first-half performance in a 2-0 triumph at Harrogate even though they failed to register a single shot in the opening 45 minutes.
The visitors secured a third successive win thanks to second-half goals from Charlie Jolley and Tom Davies but Adkins was just as impressed by the resilience his players showed before the break on a stormy night in North Yorkshire against a Harrogate side that had also racked up a hat-trick of consecutive victories.
He said: “The lads were fantastic in the first half because that was tough. Harrogate are in good form, are hard to get the ball off and are really threatening.
“We were also against the slope with the weather in our faces and it was blowing a gale, so it was all about showing resilience and staying in the game and I told the lads I was delighted with them at half-time.
“Then, the second half was brilliant – we scored a couple of good goals and could have scored a few more.
“Rob Apter had a couple of great chances, but I thought we showed great organisation and fitness levels. We also had players who made an impact coming off the bench.
“The lads showed spirit, desire, grit and determination in the first half and a nice bit of flair in the second half. That’s three wins on the spin now, including two on the trot away and we are building momentum and a belief by working our socks off.”
Harrogate manager Simon Weaver was left to reflect on a lesson learnt after his team’s first-half dominance was not reflected by the half-time scoreline.
“All the stats will point to a game that we dominated for long periods, although the second half was a lot more even,” he said.
“They were ruthless in front of goal when they got their chances, whereas we weren’t, so fair play to them.
“We could have been out of sight in the first half if we had turned our dominance into goals, but we didn’t and that might have deflated the lads, because we seemed to run out of steam.
“We lost a bit of composure and looked disappointed after conceding having played so well in that first half, but we have to move on quickly.
“We have been in fantastic form, as was shown in that first half when the confidence was flowing. It’s a lesson for us because, when you’re on top, you have to make sure you make the right decisions in front of goal and take your chances because, if we had, it would have been an altogether different story.”
No Neymar return until 2025, says Al-Hilal boss Jesus
Neymar will not return from his anterior cruciate ligament injury until January 2025 at the earliest, Al-Hilal boss Jorge Jesus has warned.
Neymar left Paris Saint-Germain for Al-Hilal in a €90million deal in August 2023, becoming one of the faces of the Saudi Pro League's major recruitment drive.
However, he only played five matches for the club before rupturing his ACL while on international duty with Brazil last October.
The 32-year-old subsequently missed the remainder of the season as well as the Selecao's ill-fated Copa America campaign, and he remains some way away from a return.
Neymar was removed from Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League squad in September, with the 19-time champions only able to register a maximum of eight foreign players for the first half of the season.
Reports had suggested Neymar was close to a return after Al-Hilal posted footage of him training on social media, but Jesus says Brazil's all-time leading scorer must wait until the halfway point of the campaign before being considered.
"Neymar is an important player for Al Hilal and the league in general," Jesus told reporters on Tuesday.
"I can't, however, specify a date as to when he will return, but we will look at the situation in January."
With no restrictions on foreign players featuring in the AFC Champions League, Neymar could, in theory, play in that competition if he returns to fitness before January.
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King's Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King's Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
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