Mansfield crush 10-man Salford and take over at the top of League Two

By Sports Desk February 24, 2024

Mansfield’s soared to the top of Sky Bet League Two with a 5-1 demolition of 10-man Salford.

The visitors arrived in Nottinghamshire unbeaten in eight games, but Mansfield went ahead in the 18th minute as Aaron Lewis’ teasing cross from the right was met by Will Swan’s flicked close range header past a helpless Alex Cairns.

Home goalkeeper Christy Pym denied Junior Luamba with his legs as the unmarked Salford player volleyed at goal from Elliot Watt’s far post cross in the 22nd minute.

Luamba did beat Pym to level three minutes before the break, after showing great pace to get away down the left and then inside two opponents before tucking away a low near-post finish.

However, Mansfield still went in at half-time ahead as a Davis Keillor-Dunn corner in the ninth of 10 added minutes was turned home by Baily Cargill at the far post.

It was 3-1 12 minutes after the interval as Aaron Lewis’ ball over the top sent Stephen Quinn clear and, as Cairns came to meet him, he squared for Keillor-Dunn to find the empty net for his 17th goal of the season.

City’s afternoon worsened in the 73rd minute as Theo Vassell hauled down Lucas Akins as he tried to go clear and was shown a straight red card.

The hosts added a fourth with nine minutes remaining as Akins ran clear onto Lewis Brunt’s ball over the top and slotted home a low finish.

In added time Hiram Boateng poked home the fifth with a first-time finish from Louis Reed’s cross from the right.

Related items

  • Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot

    Adrien Rabiot believes Sunday's win over Italy showed "the true face of the France team" as they secured top spot in Nations League Group A2.

    The midfielder headed home twice in their 3-1 victory, meeting excellent deliveries from Lucas Digne on both, with his second goal restoring the all-important two-goal cushion that ensured they finished above the Azzurri in the group.

    This comes after France had failed to find a way past Israel in a frustrating 0-0 draw last time out.

    However, Sunday's victory ensured France will be seeded in the quarter-finals draw as they seem to have put their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, in which they won just twice as they struggled in front of goal, behind them.

    Les Bleus also avenged the 3-1 defeat to Italy on home soil in the reverse fixture, something Rabiot said was playing on their minds while they prepared for their trip to San Siro.

    "It's been a long time since we've played a match like this, that we haven't fought in this way all together, until the end," he told TF1.

    "We also had the objective of winning with a two-goal difference, we did it. But frankly, the mutual aid that there was in this match, the combativeness, the team spirit, it's to be highlighted. Frankly, we enjoyed playing this match.

    "It was a different context [Thursday]. Above all, there was a revenge to be taken compared to the previous match against Italy, who had come to win at home. It's a great evening. I hope we will continue to show this face. It's the true face of the France team."

    Digne officially got two assists in the victory, but he also played a big role in France's other goal – his free-kick rattled the crossbar before bouncing in off the unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario.

    In fact, France scored three goals from set-pieces in a match for the first time since 1991, when they netted three times from dead-ball situations against Albania.

    "[The free-kick is] a technical gesture that is worked on in training. The more you do, the more automatic it becomes, and it pays off," Digne said.

    "Offensively, it's not bad at all. As a defender, I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet, but we can't have everything. We finished first, it's great.

    "We had a revenge to take from the first leg, we wanted to show a completely different face. And in addition to our slightly worse match against Israel... We really wanted to show that this jersey is close to our hearts. The whole group was present. It was really a complete match."

    France's Nations League quarter-finals will be played in March. 

  • Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive

    Relegated Israel stunned Belgium 1-0 in their final Nations League game as Yarden Shua's late goal earned them their first win in the competition this season.

    The Red Devils, who were without a number of key players for the tie in Hungary, were masters of their own downfall as they gifted Israel the winner with four minutes left on the clock.

    In a cagey first half, Eli Dasa breached Belgium's backline 24 minutes in and beat Koen Casteels with a crisp low effort, only to be denied by the foot of the far post.

    Casteels was alert just before the break, getting down low to push Dor Peretz's low drive away from the bottom corner.

    Domenico Tedesco's half-time team talk looked to have buoyed his side as they upped the pressure, with Lois Openda hitting the side netting before Johan Bakayoko forced a fingertip save out of Daniel Peretz just after the hour.

    However, in their rush to find a winner, Belgium were caught playing out from the back. Dor Peretz latched onto Matte Smets' loose backpass, and though he was bundled over in the box, Shua coolly picked out the bottom corner.

    Israel finish bottom of Group A2 and are automatically relegated to League B, while Belgium sit above them due to a superior goal difference in their head-to-head record –they now have a relegation play-off to overcome.

    Data Debrief: Tough times for Tedesco

    It has been a Nations League campaign to forget for Belgium, who managed just one win and finished with a whimper as they went winless in their final four matches (D1 L3).

    They just edged the shot count in Budapest, having 12 attempts to Israel's 10, but without the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne to call on, they lacked a clinical edge.

    While Belgium struggled in attack, their defensive struggles will also be a worry for Tedesco. They failed to win any of the four games in which they fell behind in the group, earning just one point from a losing position.

  • Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory

    Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.

    Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.

    The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.

    Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.

    Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.

    Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.

    Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign. 

    Data Debrief: Total dominance

    Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.

    Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.

    Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.