Graham Alexander says Bradford did not get their just rewards for a dominant performance at Crewe, for whom Chris Long’s first-half penalty proved decisive in a 1-0 home win.
The Railwaymen were indebted to two stunning saves from young keeper Tom Booth which thwarted Andy Cook and Jonathan Tomkinson in the closing minutes. Cook also had a second-half set-piece header chalked off for offside as the Bantams went down to their first defeat in seven games.
“I don’t think we got what we deserved from that performance. It’s a disappointing result as we dominated and created the best chances in the game,” said Alexander.
“Crewe have got a decent home record, but the penalty is the only shot they had on target – Harry Lewis didn’t have a save to make for the rest of the game.
“I’m gutted, although it was a penalty and we just switched off for 10 seconds in the game. We kept Crewe far away from our goal and created a lot of opportunities. We were a bit careless with our deliveries at times when we got up there, but when we showed that quality we should have scored.
“I was struggling at half-time to find a way to improve it. They had scored, but we’d defended exceptionally well apart from a 10-second spell when they got the penalty and when we lost focus. But I thought we could have had a couple of penalties ourselves with the way Andy Cook was manhandled throughout the game.
“We did create chances, we hit the bar and their keeper has made a couple of good saves.
“All in all we should have got more points over the holiday period, but we have won games previously when we haven’t played as well as we have today.”
Since Alexander’s appointment as manager in early November, Bradford had won four times and drawn twice, including a morale-boosting home draw with leaders Stockport last Friday.
But they were behind in the 13th minute when some panicked defending from Norwich loanee Tomkinson offered Long the opportunity after he was tripped to send keeper Lewis the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick.
The Bantams responded to the early setback in a direct fashion, but failed to muster much in the way of clear opportunities in the first half, save from when Tyler Smith found some space to connect with Clarke Oduor’s cross, only to divert the ball just past the far post.
After the break, though, Bradford ramped up the pressure. The offside flag went up against Cook as the striker got above Booth to head in Richie Smallwood’s free-kick.
Crewe sub Elliott Nevitt blasted over in a rare home attack. But after Alexander made a raft of changes the chances kept coming. Substitute Vadaine Oliver went close with a header which crept past the post.
Cook went even closer when Booth tipped his powerful header from Bobby Pointon’s cross onto the bar. And the home keeper dived across to keep Tomkinson’s header from hitting the bottom corner in the final seconds of stoppage time.
Crewe boss Lee Bell said: “I’m delighted with the win and for the players as they’re top fellows who want to do well for the club. We had to battle for it, but we knew we had to do that as you can’t stop the ball being thrown towards your box.
“We played the game properly and we tried to play in the right moments – our professionalism and game management was excellent. It was a lovely move to get up there and Longy took the penalty really well.
“We’ve got players who want to do really well as they’re an honest bunch of hard-working lads. Courtney Baker-Richardson worked his socks off and put his body on the line. Their centre-halves had a tough time against him and it is such a big help to us when he performs like that.
“And Luke Offord was the best player on the pitch, he loves getting stuck in and he enjoys every side of the game.”
Al-Ahli 1-2 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic double keeps Saudi champions perfect
Aleksandar Mitrovic proved to be the difference once again for Al-Hilal as the reigning Saudi Pro League champions beat Al-Ahli 2-1 on Saturday.
Al-Ahil went in front with 12 minutes played when Gabri Veiga was sent through on goal by Franck Kessie, with the Spaniard rounding Yassine Bounou to open the scoring at King Abdullah Sports City.
The hosts went close to doubling their advantage soon after, with Riyad Mahrez and Ivan Toney going close, before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic saw his effort cleared off the line at the other end.
But parity was restored early in the second half through Al-Hilal's master marksman, as Mitrovic nodded home a trademark header from Renan Lodi's delivery.
Al-Ahil were then awarded a penalty when Rayan Hamed fouled Malcom inside the box, only for Mitrovic to see his effort saved by Abdulrahman Al Sanbi.
However, the Serbian was given the chance to redeem himself after the VAR deemed encroachment had taken place, and he made no mistake at the second time of asking to net his 14th goal of the season in all competitions.
Data Debrief: Mitrovic the main man
Mitrovic has been in fine form since his move to Saudi Arabia, with his latest double taking his tally to 54 goals in as many appearances for Al-Hilal.
This time out, he contributed 1.16 expected goals (xG) tally to the visitors' 2.24 total, while also recording the most touches in the opposition box (six).
Malcom also impressed for Al-Hilal, creating more chances (three) than anyone on the pitch, with his 14 passes into the final third a total only bettered by Ruben Neves (18) and Salem Al Dawsari (15) among his team-mates.
Al-Nassr 3-0 Al-Orubah: Mane double helps hosts close in on leaders
Sadio Mane scored a goal in either half, helping Al-Nassr cruise to a 3-0 win over Al-Orubah and close in on the top two in the Saudi Pro League.
Cristiano Ronaldo had given the hosts the lead from the spot, setting them on their way to a dominant victory.
After a slow start, Jean Seri was penalised for a handball, and Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot. After a stuttering run-up, he coolly slotted his strike into the bottom-left corner.
Mane got his first on the stroke of half-time, latching onto Ronaldo's pull-back before firing his low shot into the far side of the net.
He could have had a hat-trick, having also hit the woodwork and squandered a first-time shot by slicing it wide, but he did get his second in the 71st minute, guiding Nawaf Bu Washi's cross past Gaetan Coucke.
Cristian Tello came closest to a consolation for the visitors, smashing a long-range effort off the crossbar.
Data Debrief: Mane's time to shine
Mane, so far this season, has been providing the spark as a playmaker after registering five assists in Al-Nassr's first five games in the Saudi Pro League.
Today, however, he regained his scoring touch, getting his first two goals of the campaign.
He had the most shots (five), and shots on target (three), as he accumulated 0.97 expected goals (xG), while his seven touches in the box was the most of any player on the field.
Napoli 3-1 Como: Lukaku and McTominay on target to extend hosts' Serie A lead
Romelu Lukaku continued his fine start to life at Napoli as the Belgian notched a goal and two assists in his side's 3-1 win over Como on Friday.
The hosts found themselves ahead with just 26 seconds on the clock when Scott McTominay was picked out by Lukaku, with the Scotland international firing home his first goal for Gli Azzurri off the post.
But Como would draw themselves level two minutes before the break when Gabriel Strefezza's strike from distance rifled into the bottom corner.
However, Antonio Conte's side needed just eight minutes after the interval to restore their advantage when Sergi Roberto brought down Mathias Olivera in the box, with Lukaku stepping up from 12 yards to net his fourth Serie A goal of the season.
Napoli continued to push for a third goal to secure the victory, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia going closest but saw his effort saved by Emil Audero.
But the points were sealed in the 86th minute when Lukaku turned provider once again, holding off his marker before slipping through substitute David Neres who slotted home with a fine finish to extend Napoli's lead at the top of the standings to four points.
Data Debrief: Lukaku continues Conte love story
Lukaku has been a player reborn under Conte's stewardship. The Belgian is the player who has been involved in the most goals in his first five appearances for Napoli in Serie A since the Italian top-flight returned to 20 teams (since 2004/05) with three goals and four assists.
He has also managed to better his assist tally for the whole of last season, managing just three in 32 appearances for Roma last term.
McTominay's goal after 26 seconds is the third-fastest scored by Napoli since the start of a Serie A match in the three points for a win era, after Hirving Lozano's goal against Hellas Verona in 2021 (nine seconds) and Ezequiel Lavezzi's goal against Genoa in 2008 (25 seconds).
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