Walsall boss Mat Sadler admitted his side’s margin of victory at play-off rivals Harrogate should have been greater than 2-0.
The visitors racked up a third straight win as Liam Gordon opened the scoring early in the second half and substitute Mo Faal was then credited with an 84th-minute effort, even though it appeared to be missing the target before taking a huge deflection off home defender Liam Gibson.
But Faal and Ross Tierney were both guilty of squandering other simple second-half chances for the Saddlers, while Douglas James-Taylor hit an upright with only goalkeeper James Belshaw to beat in stoppage time.
Ultimately, the wastefulness mattered little, though, as Walsall managed a first League Two clean sheet on the road this season.
Sadler said: “The first half was pretty even. Harrogate were getting behind the ball well and creating two-v-one counter-attacks on the break, which they do very well.
“It wasn’t until about 25 or 30 minutes in that we started problem solving on the pitch and grew into the game.
“After that, we opened the game up and had some fantastic chances, so the final scoreline should have been far more than 2-0.
“But, while I want us to be more clinical than we were, I’m absolutely delighted with the overall performance and I think it has to go down as one of our best away from home for a long time.
“We also had more than 600 fans who had travelled a long way for the game and didn’t stop singing all afternoon and getting behind the lads, so to give them the reward they deserved was very pleasing too.”
Harrogate had started the afternoon nine places above their opponents in the division’s final play-off place but ended it level on points in a congested table.
Manager Simon Weaver lamented his team’s lack of cutting edge.
“We were disappointed to concede the two goals,” he said.
“The second one was a counter-attack against the run of play really and we got caught out a few times like that, so we have to make sure we get our numbers right at the back, but I thought we were in the ascendancy for large parts and there was a lot of good play.
“I can’t just define it as a poor performance because we lost the game, but certainly our final pass and finish was missing, which came down to decision making and being ruthless.
“We know we have good players who are capable of that, but we fell a bit short in that department for this game.
“I thought we were building our momentum again after conceding first and the crowd were right behind us, which we really appreciated, but when you’re getting that far up the pitch, you need to find the bullets.”
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
Scaloni 'not here to criticise' Argentina after shock Paraguay defeat
Lionel Scaloni says he is "not here to criticise his players" after they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Paraguay in World Cup qualifying.
Lautaro Martinez had given Argentina the lead in the 11th minute – his powerful shot past Roberto Fernandez was initially ruled out for offside before a VAR review overturned it.
However, Paraguay were soon back on level terms. Gustavo Gomez rattled the crossbar with a diving header from a corner, but they regathered possession and pulled level with a sublime overhead kick from Antonio Sanabria 19 minutes in.
Two minutes into the second half, the hosts completed the turnaround through Omar Alderete, who met Diego Gomez's precise free-kick to nod in from close range.
Rodrigo De Paul arguably should have equalised for Argentina with just over 20 minutes to go, but under pressure, sliced over from close range, with the visitors unable to salvage a point.
It was a third defeat in World Cup qualifying for the Albiceleste, who remain top of the standings with 22 points, and Scaloni chose to focus on the positives.
"I'm not here to criticise my players; I'm here to support them," Scaloni said. "We knew it was going to be a tough match. We're here to move forward.
"In the first half, we played a good game, but the first action at the start of the second half made everything more difficult. We have to congratulate the opponent, who defended very well.
"I don't know if they found the antidote [to beating Argentina]. We're hoping to get back on the positive path.
"The team always tries and stands tall. That's what's important: never giving up on the game and always having the desire to compete."
Paraguay are sixth in the table, having extended their unbeaten run to six matches, which also includes a win over Brazil.
They had to dig deep, having only 23.2% possession throughout the game, though they had eight shots to Argentina's nine and scored with both of their efforts on target.
Head coach Gustavo Alfaro is yet to lose a game since taking over Paraguay after the Copa America, and he hailed his team's resilience.
"With the rebelliousness of these players in the face of adversity, I have no doubt that we will get there. When the predisposition is so great, time is secondary," he said.
"They were fantastic points, very difficult. It is difficult to take a point from Argentina."
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
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