Dave Challinor lamented the “horrendous” goals Sky Bet League Two leaders Stockport conceded in their 3-1 loss to Crewe as he admitted his side’s performance was “miles off” what he expects.
Mickey Demetriou put the visitors ahead before Stockport’s Tanto Olaofe equalised at Edgeley Park, but goals from Ed Turns and Josh Austerfield either side of half-time ensured back-to-back victories for Crewe in their promotion quest.
Second-placed Mansfield are now a point behind the Hatters and Challinor was in no mood to forget a bad night at the office as he demanded improvement after a four-game winning run came to an end.
“It’s a poor night for us. I’m not great for positives straight after a game and I could be sentimental and say ‘we’ve had a good run and we’re in a great position’ but that’s not me,” Challinor said.
“I don’t care what team you are, you can’t concede them goals. We’ve conceded three goals from set pieces, horrendous goals. I thought we were poor from the get-go and take nothing away from Crewe.
“You get the equaliser and you’re sort of back in the game, you shoot yourself in the foot and you try and regroup and make some changes at half-time and then you shoot yourself in the foot straight after half-time.
“It then becomes a poor night and one that I’d love to say I’m going to brush under the carpet and move on from but I’m not because this isn’t a short-term process around what tonight looks like, it’s longer term than that and that was miles off it from one of my teams.”
Crewe remain third after the impressive win but narrowed the gap to Stockport to four points as boss Lee Bell enthused about his side’s showing.
He said: “I think it’s the best result for the players to come away against a really top team with good players and rightly so, they’re top of the league.
“To put on that performance, all credit to the players as they played exactly how we wanted them to play, with the energy and understanding that we’re after. It was top drawer. We couldn’t have asked any more of the players.
“We got goals. That’s what we wanted to bring to the game and we thought we could get some control within the game of how they’re playing.
“It’s just a really good result, really positive. We’ll enjoy the next five minutes and then we’ll be focusing, as soon as we get on the bus, on Saturday.
“I go back to being that consistent team and if you want to achieve anything in this league it’s the consistency, but it’s a really good night and I hope the fans enjoyed it.”
Ipswich Town 2-2 Aston Villa: Delap's double earns hosts a point
Liam Delap scored twice as Premier League newcomers Ipswich Town claimed a confidence-boosting 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Sunday.
Villa looked set to forge another comeback win when Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins propelled them into the lead.
But Delap, who had opened the scoring in the eighth minute at Portman Road, had other ideas.
At the end of a rapid counter-attack, Delap brilliantly bamboozled Diego Carlos before firing a left-footed effort into the bottom-right corner in the 72nd minute.
It might have been a hat-trick for Delap if not for Emiliano Martinez, who had made a fantastic save in a one-v-one with Ipswich's forward in the first half.
Pau Torres preserved a point for Villa with a brilliant last-ditch block from Wes Burns, while both goalkeepers were also called into action – by Ross Barkley and Jack Taylor respectively – late on.
Data Debrief: Delap's double delight
Delap became the first Ipswich player to score a double in a Premier League match since Marcus Bent in March 2002 (v Newcastle United), and the youngest to do so in the competition for the Tractor Boys, at the age of 21 years and 234 days.
It was also his first career double in a league match.
At the opposite end, Watkins – who headed in from a Leon Bailey cross after teeing up Rogers' equaliser – continued his fine form in front of goal. The England striker has now scored and assisted in eight Premier League matches in his career, which is the joint-most of any player for Villa (matching Dwight Yorke and Gabriel Agbonlahor).
Celta Vigo 1-1 Girona: Aspas scores late as visitors' winless run goes on
Girona's are now without a win in four LaLiga matches after Iago Aspas' late goal held them to a 1-1 draw at Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Girona, surprise third-place finishers last season, dominated possession in the early stages before taking the lead in the 38th minute when Yangel Herrera rose high to head in Daley Blind's cross.
Celta responded well but initially struggled to test Paulo Gazzaniga in their search for an equaliser, with Girona offering little in terms of threat at the other end.
The hosts eventually found a way through in the 81st minute - Williot Swedberg laid the ball off to Aspas, who made no mistake with his composed finish.
Girona sit 12th in the LaLiga table on nine points from eight games, while Celta moved to ninth place with 10 points ahead of the remaining weekend fixtures.
Data Debrief: Girona stumble again
Girona may have had fewer shots than their hosts (nine compared to Celta's 12), but they looked set to end their winless run despite that. In the first half, they had three big chances, of which they took one.
In the end, Celta's push for an equaliser paid off, with Aspas netting the winner with their first shot on target. They only had two overall, with the other coming just seconds before the final whistle.
It was the Celta captain's fourth goal in LaLiga this campaign, and his 160th in the competition overall (365 appearances).
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.
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