Player-manager Rhys McCabe felt his Airdrieonians side were worthy of their Scottish Cup win over St Johnstone.
Craig Levein’s men were on the end of an upset thanks to Nikolay Todorov’s goal nine minutes into the second half, with the Championship side knocking out their top-tier opponents 1-0.
“I think we deserved the win,” McCabe said. “Before, the message was come and show anyone watching the game that we are a good footballing team when we are on it.
“Focus on the performance levels and if we do that we can compete. When we are on it we are a good side and I think we can compete with anyone in Scotland, especially here at home. It’s a real kind of cauldron, the pitch suits us and suits the way we want to play.”
McCabe knew that coming up against a former international manager in Levein would present his side with a stiff test, but he was pleased to emerge on the right side of it.
“It’s not often you get to test yourself,” he said. “It gives you a wee gauge to where that next level is and ultimately I’m trying to get these boys, the young players, to that level and beyond.
“This is a top-level SPL side and ex-Scotland manager, so he’s no mug.”
Levein was bitterly disappointed but had little complaints about the outcome.
The St Johnstone boss said: “That was a difficult, difficult watch and I thought, firstly, Airdrie deserved to win.
“All credit to them – I’m not taking anything away from them but I thought we were really poor.
“We never, at any point, fixed it. We continually gave the ball away and we have good players who have proven they can keep the ball and build up the play through the middle of the pitch to give us chances to score goals.
“We have to look at the footage and work out what went wrong. I pretty much know what went wrong here, then we (need to) get on the training ground this week. We’ve only got a couple of days before the Aberdeen game to try (and get) ourselves back where we were.”
Red Bulls win New York derby as Seattle knock out Los Angeles FC
Goals from Felipe Carballo and Dante Vanzeir settled the New York derby as New York Red Bulls defeated New York City 2-0 at the Citi Field to enter the Eastern Conference final of the MLS Cup.
Uruguayan Carballo blasted an effort into the top corner in the 16th minute to give the visitors the breakthrough in the 16th minute before Vanzeir drilled an Emil Forsberg corner in off the post nine minutes later.
City probed for a way back into the game as they enjoyed about 70% of possession and attempted 25 shots. But failing to produce a goal despite an xG of 2.8, the 2021 champions crashed out.
Meanwhile, it was a clinical and well-organised display from the Red Bulls, who generated an xG of 0.88 with nine shots and were happy to sit back and protect their two-goal advantage for the majority of the game.
"It's a big win today, but in the end, it’s the next step. We have to continue this hard work and next week take the next step,” said Red Bulls boss Sandro Schwarz after the game.
Michel delighted with Girona's return to form after injury boosts
Michel puts Girona's rediscovered form down to the energy of the returning players from injury after they thrashed Espanyol in LaLiga on Saturday.
Girona had endured a shaky start to the season but moved up to fifth in the standings on 21 points after a superb home victory featuring a Bojan Miovski brace and goals by Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci.
Michel's side have now won their last three LaLiga matches, going on their best such run since between April and May 2024, the last time they recorded three victories on the bounce.
"Today's victory, which is our third [in a row], it's due to the fact we got people back, because we've rested, because we've had a very good week of training and because that energy today was noticeable," Michel told a press conference.
"The only thing I hope is that we continue to recover people, that we continue to have the necessary minutes for everyone and that, as we have very tough games coming up every three days, we need everyone to be at 100%; we'll see if we can achieve this without any problems."
Yaser Asprilla and Krejci, back from injury, combined for the fourth goal, but it was the pairing of Miovski and Gil who made the night with lethal attacks for the second and third goals.
"I am very happy for Miovski, he is a player who gives everything in training," Michel added. "I was worried because he wasn't scoring goals.
"He always tries to do his best for the team, he needs time. I am happy for him.
"Bryan is a very important player for everyone, his best version is yet to come. Right now, the process with him is what we all expect."
Last season's surprise package Girona face Austrian side Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Wednesday and the manager hopes they can repeat Saturday's performance in the European game.
"This is the Girona I want, 100%. We started the game very well, that's the reality," Michel added.
"The first half hour was spectacular, with and without the ball... We had a presence up front. The first half hour is what we want to do this season."
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