Port Vale boss Darren Moore rued his side’s wasteful finishing after they were beaten 2-0 by Northampton.
The Valiants had their chances in an even contest at Sixfields but were plunged deeper into relegation trouble by Mitch Pinnock’s sweet first-half strike and a stoppage-time second from Shaun McWilliams.
Vale remain in the relegation zone in League One, a point from safety, with six games to play.
“It’s bitterly disappointing,” said Moore. “We had as much of the play as they did but the game was decided on chances – they converted theirs, we didn’t convert ours.
“I thought we looked a bit on the back foot. I’m not sure if the game on Friday took it out of us so I’ll look into that, but the chances were there for us.
“We weren’t at our sharpest and we couldn’t capitalise in those key moments. I spoke to the boys at half-time about showing that ruthless mentality when you get chances.
“If you put those chances away it’s a different game and they were gilt-edged chances as well, but there was no real conviction when we did get in there and that’s really disappointing.
“The fact that their goalkeeper got man of the match tells you how the game went, but we have to move on quickly.
“Other results have gone our way but that’s only a very small consolation because we want to do it our way and not rely on other teams.”
The win took Northampton up to 56 points – the club’s highest tally in League One for 16 years – as they all-but secured safety.
“I’m pleased with the result and it took a lot of hard work from the boys against a team who are fighting for their lives and have won their last two,” said manager Jon Brady.
“To score two goals against them was really pleasing and now we’ve hit the target that we set for ourselves at the start of the season, which is really pleasing.
“The target was 54 points and there were various reasons behind that, so to eclipse that with four games to spare is a fantastic effort and it’s testament to the staff and the players.
“We’ve worked so hard all season and I was delighted with how the boys performed today. We changed shape to 3-4-3 to match their physicality and I thought the way we sat in our shape was really strong.
“We landed on second balls and broke on them well and that was really important, so overall I thought it worked and we deserved to win the game.”
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Pirlo sacked as Sampdoria head coach after dismal Serie B start
Andrea Pirlo has been sacked as Sampdoria's head coach after just over a season at the helm.
Pirlo, who managed Juventus for the 2020-21 campaign, has been relieved of his duties after an underwhelming start to their Serie B season.
After finishing seventh in Italy's second tier last term, the 45-year-old was given the green light to try and return to Serie A at the second time of asking.
However, an opening day draw with Frosinone was followed up with back-to-back defeats to Reggiana and Salernitana, leaving them second-bottom in the division.
During his time in charge, Pirlo won 18 of his 45 matches in charge (D10 L17), averaging 1.42 points per game, a total only bettered by his time with Juventus (2.15).
Sampdoria return to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this weekend in search of their first three points of the season, welcoming Bari to Genoa on Saturday.
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