Troy Deeney expressed his anger as he was denied a first Forest Green win in a dramatic 2-2 draw at Salford, whose new manager Karl Robinson saw red in his first game in charge.
New Ammies boss Robinson was sent off 14 minutes into his Moor Lane bow to set the tone for an action-packed afternoon.
The hosts had handed their new head coach – who was appointed on Friday – a dream start through Matt Smith’s early opener.
But after his dismissal, Charlie McCann levelled before the interval and Mathew Stevens volleyed Rovers ahead with 20 minutes to go.
However, Salford were offered a late lifeline with a stoppage-time penalty, resulting in Ryan Inniss and Adrian Mariappa both being shown red, which Ryan Watson converted to end the hosts’ four-match losing streak and prolong Rovers’ winless run.
“I’m raging, angry, disappointed and all the above,” said Deeney, whose side were denied a first win since October.
“It’s the same story but a different day. 2-1 up, comfortable and it’s just poor from us.
“By no stretch of the imagination am I standing here defeated. It’s just the same mistakes keep happening and it just shows a lack of quality.
“We changed the manager because apparently it’s the manager’s fault, but it’s the players’ (fault). It’s not good enough.
“We need to be calm and collected in those moments and understand that we’re in control here. Fundamentally, we have to get better in winning positions.
“Whenever we make a change, we get weaker. They’re not focused sitting on the bench. It’s not clicking and it’s insanity if we keep doing the same thing.
“The only thing I can do now to change that is change the people.
“It’s disappointing. You either get one or the other where you work really hard and have no quality or you get loads of quality and don’t work hard.
“The positives are that we’re scoring goals, it’s just that the negatives are that we’re conceding goals and can’t see a game out.”
Despite their late reprieve, Salford’s winless run stretched to 11 league games.
Assistant Simon Wiles criticised the sending off of Robinson, who was deemed to have delayed the restart of play when Rovers had a throw-in.
“Everybody in the stadium was surprised (with the decision),” said Wiles, who stood in for post-match media duties.
“We couldn’t believe what had happened and it was very harsh.
“We were so bemused. He didn’t throw the ball away, there wasn’t any malice and he just picked it up and popped it to one side.
“From then, we just had to do everything that we could to make sure that we got something from the game.
“You’ve just got to look at the performance. The new gaffer’s been going on about being relentless and on the front foot and today epitomised that.
“From our side, we tried to replicate what he would want to see from us and the lads thoroughly deserved to come away from here with a point.
“We wanted to go for all three as well and that comes from the gaffer.
“Everything clicked early on, and the start of the game went exactly how we wanted it and the way the game ended, we’re glad we came away with something.
“We deserved more than a point from our energy, work rate and the relentlessness that we showed, but it’s definitely something to build on.”
Al Kholood 2-4 Al-Hilal: Koulibaly on target as champions move to summit
Al-Hilal withstood a late Al Kholood rally to move top of the Saudi Pro League following a 4-2 victory at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
The damage was done during a late first-half surge by the reigning champions, who leapfrogged Al-Ittihad to the summit of the table.
Al-Hilal broke the deadlock in the 38th minute through former Napoli and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who finished after Renan Lodi initially struck the woodwork.
Malcom doubled the lead four minutes later, then Ali Al Bulayhi made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Former Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest defender Lodi then got in the act to make it four within three minutes of the restart.
The hosts finished the contest the stronger of the two sides with Hammam Al Hammami and a William Troost-Ekong penalty halving the deficit, but that rally could not prevent the visitors from remaining perfect after their first five games.
Data Debrief: Al-Hilal remain perfect
Al-Hilal have won each of their opening five games in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time in their history, also achieving the feat in 2010-11 and 2018-19.
Jorge Jesus' side also continued their dominant record against newly promoted clubs, having now won each of their last nine such matches.
Despite their late surge, Al Kholood suffered their third defeat of the season, though there was individual cause for celebration, as former Al-Hilal player Mohammed Jahfali came on for his 200th Saudi Pro League appearance.
International record goalscorer Sinclair to retire after NWSL season
Christine Sinclair, the all-time record goalscorer in international football, will retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League in November.
Sinclair, 41, has 190 goals in 331 appearances for Canada, making her the top scorer across both men's and women's football.
She has played for the NWSL's Portland Thorns since 2013, helping them to win the inaugural title that year. She added further league crowns to her collection in 2017 and 2022.
The Canadian great has had similar success with her national team, winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is also one of three players to score at five World Cups, alongside Brazil's Marta and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sinclair retired from international football in December 2023, and will now call time on her club career.
"Portland, thank you will never be enough. Soccer has been my passion since I was four years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined," Sinclair wrote on Instagram.
"As I finish out this last ride, I want to say what a privilege it has been to represent this unique, beautiful, and passionate city that I will always call home."
St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth
John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.
The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.
St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.
They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
"We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.
"We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.
"This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."
Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.
Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.
"It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.
Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).
Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia
Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.
Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.
Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).
However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 43.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%
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