Gillingham manager Stephen Clemence believes that his side had victory stolen from them as Tim Dieng’s late goal was ruled out for a handball as they recorded a 1-1 League Two draw at home to Tranmere.
Conor Masterson scored his sixth league goal of the season to rescue a point for Gillingham late on against a resilient Tranmere, who went ahead in the fifth minute through Regan Hendry.
Gillingham thought they won it even later when Dieng rifled the ball home at close range, but the linesman was quick to rule it out for a handball.
Clemence said: “I feel today we were probably robbed of all three points. I looked straightway at the linesman and referee, not for a handball but for offside.
“To then to be told it’s for a handball is a big decision for a linesman to make when he is that far away in my opinion.
“I think with VAR if it touches someone’s hand it is probably disallowed, I am not sure that is the same in League Two from what I have seen this season.”
Despite not gaining three points, Gillingham did manage to return to the play-off spots and will play eighth-place AFC Wimbledon in a crunch clash on Tuesday.
Clemence said: “I was surprised that when we took a point from this game that we actually moved up the table by two spots.
“But that is the division we are in. There are a lot of strange results and I would rather be higher up the table, but if we got three points, we would be in a far stronger position.
“I do believe the group can beat anyone and with nine games to go we are in a good position and there is another big game to go on Tuesday.”
Tranmere led the game for 80 minutes and in the first half went deservedly ahead, but – following a Gillingham siege after the break – Nigel Adkins’ side defended robustly.
The club that sit 17th in in the table hurriedly thwarted any Gillingham opportunity and on top of their quality on the ball in the first half, showed strong character in the second.
Adkins said: “It was a super finish and what a threat we are on the counter attack. We did really well and we nearly won in the end.
“I can’t speak highly enough. We missed our captain today (Tom Davies) and Connor Jennings stepped up to the mark and he was exceptional.
“When we talk about the team, together everyone achieves more. We have a culture; we want to learn and we want to improve.
“We have a team culture because there are players who have maybe not played and come in and put their body on the line for the cause, which is Tranmere Rovers Football Club.”
Bayer Leverkusen 5-0 RB Salzburg: Wirtz brace helps hosts to emphatic victory
Bayer Leverkusen got their Champions League campaign back on track with a 5-0 home win over RB Salzburg on Tuesday, with Florian Wirtz scoring twice and the visitors having goalkeeper Alexander Schlager to thank for avoiding an even bigger defeat.
Leverkusen, beaten 4-0 at Liverpool in their last game, raced into an early lead with Wirtz scoring from the penalty spot in the eighth minute and Alejandro Grimaldo netting from a free kick three minutes later.
Wirtz scored again on the half-hour as Leverkusen threatened to run riot and Patrik Schick added a fourth goal 16 minutes after the break.
Substitute Aleix Garcia rounded off the win 18 minutes from time, just four minutes after entering the pitch.
Leverkusen return to winning ways, having failed to pick up three points in their last two matches in the competition.
It moves them up to 13th on 10 points, while Salzburg remain on three points in 30th after suffering their fourth defeat in five matches.
Data Debrief: Wirtz shows dazzling promise
Leverkusen’s Wirtz scored his 17th goal in major European football tonight (12 in UEFA Europa League, 5 in UEFA Champions League) – at the age of 21, only Erling Haaland (23), Kylian Mbappe (21) and Ronaldo (20) have scored more before their 22nd birthday, with Wirtz drawing level with Lionel Messi tonight.
He has scored five Champions League goals in his five appearances so far for Bayer Leverkusen, the most ever goals scored by a German player in their first five games in the competition.
He was integral to what was Leverkusen’s joint biggest win in their major European football history, also registering 5-0 victories in November 1994 against Budapest Honved and in December 2007 against Zurich, both in the UEFA Cup.
Bayern Munich 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain: Dembele sees red as Kim seals victory
Paris Saint-Germain have work to do if they are to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League after a 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich.
Kim Min-jae's first-half header proved decisive at Allianz Arena on Tuesday, with Ousmane Dembele's red card after the break making the task even tougher for PSG.
Having won just once in the competition so far – back in their opening game against Girona – Luis Enrique's team were second-best for much of the contest.
Bayern dominated the first half, with Kingsley Coman particularly dangerous, and the Bundesliga leaders got the goal their performance merited when Kim headed home from a corner in the 38th minute, with PSG's stand-in goalkeeper Matvey Safonov in no man's land.
Dembele, who had seen a decent attempt saved by Manuel Neuer in the first half, received his marching orders for a lunge on his France team-mate Coman just before the hour, with the referee deeming it worthy of a second booking. It marked the first time Dembele has been sent off since 2019, when he saw red for Barcelona in a LaLiga clash with Sevilla.
Safonov made amends for his earlier mistake by tipping a Jamal Musiala shot onto the post but despite applying some late pressure, PSG could not prevent Bayern from claiming a seventh consecutive victory and seventh straight clean sheet in all competitions.
While Vincent Kompany's team are up to 11th in the standings, PSG are in 26th on just four points from their five matches, two places outside of the play-off spots with three games remaining.
Data Debrief: Kim off the mark for buoyant Bayern
Kim scored his first goal in the Champions League, in what was his 23rd appearance in the competition.
The scoreline ultimately flattered PSG, who finished with 0.88 expected goals (xG), while Bayern created 2.21 xG.
Bayern are now unbeaten in each of their last 33 home games in the Champions League group stage (W31 D2), the joint-longest such run in the competition's history, level with Barcelona between November 2009 and November 2020. They have gone on a run of seven wins without conceding for the first time since September 2011, too.
This is the eighth time in the Champions League that Bayern have defeated PSG, with only Real Madrid (11 vs Bayern) and Bayern themselves (10 vs Barcelona) winning more games against a single opponent in the competition's history.
Sporting 1-5 Arsenal: Visitors record biggest Champions League away win for 21 years
Arsenal put on one of the best performances of the Champions League so far to thrash Portuguese side Sporting 5-1 away from home.
Gabriel Martinelli put Mikel Arteta's side ahead after just seven minutes and they hardly looked back from that point.
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes added a second and third respectively before half-time as the visitors did their best to kill the game as a contest.
Things got a little more competitive when Goncalo Inacio pulled one back for the hosts within two minutes of the restart, but a Bukayo Saka penalty in the 65th minute soon quelled any chance of a comeback.
Leandro Trossard got the fifth eight minutes from time after coming off the bench to help Arsenal move above Sporting into seventh place in the 36-team league. Sporting, meanwhile, are one place back on goal difference.
Data debrief: Arsenal wow in Lisbon
Arsenal's 5-1 victory away to Sporting was their biggest away win in the Champions League for 21 years.
The result matched that of the scoreline they managed against Inter Milan in 2003.
It is a result that is made more impressive given that it is Sporting's first defeat at their own ground in 14 matches in all competitions, and the only home game they have failed to win this season.
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