Delighted Sutton boss Steve Morison hailed his battling side after a fine 3-1 win over Accrington lifted them off the bottom of the League Two table.
Goals from Harry Smith, Omar Sowunmi and Nino Adom-Malaki did the damage as United claimed back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
Jake Bickerstaff bagged an 85th-minute consolation for Stanley but the hosts deserved their first home win since November.
“It was a really good afternoon for us,” beamed Morison.
“Arnie [goalkeeper Steve Arnold] made a couple of big saves for us early doors that kept us in the game, but after that it was really good.
“We scored a really good goal but we didn’t back it up again and score soon after, which is frustrating because we had some really good chances in the first half.
“But then in the second half it was just a case of keep plugging away and hopefully we get another one. And thankfully we did.
“For the football club all round I think it was excellent. It was a big day and with it being international break (in the Premier League and Championship) there were a few more people here watching us.
“I was really pleased with today, it was relief when that second goal went in.
“It’s the first time we’ve scored that many goals at home [this season] and the first time we’ve won at home since I’ve been here. I’m really pleased with the afternoon’s performance.
“It was a fantastic third goal for us, he’s [Adom-Malaki] a really good player and I’m really pleased for him. He struck it lovely but he’s done that plenty of times before, just not for us.
“I’m really pleased for everyone, the players and the staff have worked really hard to give the fans the best we can give them.”
Stanley manager John Doolan was understandably frustrated after a fifth league defeat in seven games.
“I just want to say thanks to the fans because they’ve been absolutely amazing,” stressed Doolan.
“The support they’ve shown the team, I want to applaud them. They’ve been brilliant.
“But in terms of the game, I’ve asked the lads to come out and be on the front foot.
“Personally I thought we were on the front foot and asking all the questions, we could have been 3-0 up before they scored but we’ve missed a couple of chances and they [Sutton] have scored.
“I think we were in control of the game but ultimately, it’s down to chances and they took their chances in the box and we haven’t.
“We tried to get it wide, which was the best areas of the pitch, but we didn’t have that bit of quality to get it wide. We just let ourselves down with an over-hit pass or just a lack of quality in the first half.
“But in the second half I think we missed chances as well, we need to learn from it.”
International record goalscorer Sinclair to retire after NWSL season
Christine Sinclair, the all-time record goalscorer in international football, will retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League in November.
Sinclair, 41, has 190 goals in 331 appearances for Canada, making her the top scorer across both men's and women's football.
She has played for the NWSL's Portland Thorns since 2013, helping them to win the inaugural title that year. She added further league crowns to her collection in 2017 and 2022.
The Canadian great has had similar success with her national team, winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is also one of three players to score at five World Cups, alongside Brazil's Marta and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sinclair retired from international football in December 2023, and will now call time on her club career.
"Portland, thank you will never be enough. Soccer has been my passion since I was four years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined," Sinclair wrote on Instagram.
"As I finish out this last ride, I want to say what a privilege it has been to represent this unique, beautiful, and passionate city that I will always call home."
St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth
John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.
The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.
St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.
They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
"We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.
"We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.
"This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."
Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.
Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.
"It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.
Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).
Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia
Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.
Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.
Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).
However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 43.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%
Rooney lauds 'excellent' Plymouth defence in Luton victory
Wayne Rooney credited Plymouth Argyle's defensive showing as crucial in their 3-1 triumph over Luton Town at Home Park on Friday.
Plymouth took the lead in the eighth minute courtesy of Rami Al Hajj, with the Swede notching his first Pilgrims goal with a curled finish beyond Thomas Kaminski.
The hosts found themselves two goals in front 20 minutes from time after substitute Ibrahim Cissoko shifted the ball onto his left foot before firing a stunning effort into the far corner.
Plymouth's joy was short-lived, though, as Victor Moses chested down Alfie Doughty's cross to the back post before striking the ball beyond Daniel Grimshaw less than two minutes later.
The Hatters continued to pile on the pressure in search of an equaliser but were undone by a moment of individual brilliance from Cissoko, who danced his way into the area and saw his first effort blocked, but finished the rebound to move Plymouth up to 13th in the Championship.
Rooney has now guided his side to back-to-back home victories for the first time this season, and said his side had to adapt to Luton's relentless attacking to emerge victorious.
"I thought it was a good performance for different reasons," Rooney said.
"I thought first half we were good at times, controlled the tempo of the game and Luton tried to press us, and I think when we showed composure and played through the press we caused them problems.
"Second half we were a little bit sloppy with the ball and gave it away in dangerous areas at times, but I thought defensively our back four, and in particular the two centre-backs, were excellent.
"Luton are very good at set-pieces and I thought we were brilliant defending them and showed great character and desire to go and head the ball, and then the attacking players get all the praise when they score the goals."
For Rob Edwards, a run of back-to-back victories ended on the South Coast, with his side lacking a clinical edge in front of goal.
The Hatters registered 16 shots during the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.07, but only two of his side's efforts were on target.
"Credit to the opposition, at both ends of the pitch they were better - they were more ruthless at one end and defended better at the other," Edwards said.
"I think we got into their final third 40-odd times, twice as often as they did, but we didn't make their goalkeeper work enough.
"We weren't clinical enough at one and end then didn't defend well enough at the other -it's not a good recipe to win a football match.
"It's really frustrating to come away losing a game talking about both ends of the pitch."
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