Morecambe manager Ged Brannan was thrilled to see Charlie Brown join the endless list of players to have haunted their old clubs after his late winner snatched a 1-0 victory at MK Dons.
Former Chelsea youngster Brown scored just three goals in 32 appearances for the Dons and struggled to get into the Shrimps side in the first half of the season after joining them last summer.
After opening his Morecambe account in the draw against Mansfield last week, it was his strike in the second minute of stoppage time that completed an impressive second-half turnaround at Stadium MK.
Brannan said: “You couldn’t write it, could you?
“Absolutely brilliant, what a lad, last week he scored again, he’s come on today and caught them on the break, dropped the shoulder and it was a great strike into the bottom corner.
“I’m made up for him, top lad, it was a great finish.
“You don’t want to know (what was said at half-time).
“We’ve had loads and loads of talks about conceding early goals, early in the second half as well, and to go and concede a goal after one minute was devastating because we know how much we’ve been working on it.
“We had a little heated debate at half-time, got a few things sorted out and, as you can see, it worked.”
The play-off chasing Dons were ahead inside 75 seconds thanks to an excellent curled finish from Max Dean and only excellent saves from Archie Mair to deny Warren O’Hora and Dean prevented them from building a commanding lead.
Morecambe hit back after 51 minutes when debutant goalkeeper Filip Marschall missed Jake Taylor’s corner and Jordan Slew bundled in.
Brown then provided the sting in the tail when he pounced on a slip by Lewis Bate before finishing beyond Marschall to earn just a second win in 12 Sky Bet League Two games for the Shrimps.
Dons boss Mike Williamson said: “I think in the first half every time they tried to press, we found a way and I thought we connected the centre-halves to the 10s a little bit better, and our movement was very good.
“We’ll have to watch it back and I thought for them coming out for the second half, they were disappointed from the first one and they can afford to take a few more risks and get on the front foot.
“That’s the nature of it when you’re 1-0 up, it’s always in the balance and we just needed to improve our ball speed, more than anything, and keep moving them like we did in the first half.
“But the lads have been fantastic. We focus on the things we can control and I thought they were very good at doing that today.”
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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