Pompey are getting better and Brett-er
PORTSMOUTH are the new League One leaders after their 3-1 win at Rochdale yesterday.
Aaron Wilbraham put the hosts ahead early on with a spectacular strike.
But Pompey kept their cool and replied with goals from Jamal Lowe, Brett Pitman – his fourth in his last four games – and Matt Clarke to maintain their unbeaten league record this season.
Kenny Jackett’s side replaced Peterborough at the summit after Blackpool twice pegged them back to draw 2-2.
Rhys Bennett and Mark O’Hara struck for Posh but Armand Gnanduillet and Nathan Delfouneso scored equalisers.
A John Marquis double and a goal from Matty Blair (right) ensured Doncaster climbed to third in the table after a
3-2 win at rock-bottom Plymouth.
Jonson Clarke-Harris cancelled out Lee Cattermole’s strike as Coventry came back from a goal down to draw
1-1 with Sunderland in the early kick-off.
Barnsley climbed to fifth place after goals from Jacob Brown, Kieffer Moore and Mamadou Thiam saw them win 3-1 at Fleetwood, who had led through Harrison Biggins’ 19th-minute free-kick.
Oxford’s struggles continued with a 2-1 defeat at AFC Wimbledon. Scott Wagstaff and Joe Pigott put the Dons in control before Cameron Brannagan grabbed a consolation.
Gillingham remain in the bottom four despite Tom Eaves’ last-minute goal earning them a point at Shrewsbury in a 2-2 draw. Charlton hold the last play-off spot but they needed an injury-time equaliser from Chris Solly to earn a 2-2 draw at Luton.
Billy Kee’s early penalty gave Accrington a 1-0 triumph at Walsall as Stanley made it nine league games unbeaten.
Southend looked to be coasting at Wycombe through goals from Theo Robinson, Tom Hopper and Simon Cox but late efforts from Craig Mackail-Smith and Adebayo Akinfenwa made it a tight 3-2 win.
It ended goalless between strugglers Bradford and Bristol Rovers as well as Burton and Scunthorpe.
WOLVES continued to make confident strides on their top-flight thuirsnpictoure crack open Southampton with a late blitz.
Two goals, the first created and finished by substitutes Adama Traore and Ivan Cavaleiro in the 79th minute and a second when Jonny (below) doubled the lead with three minutes to go, did the job.
Three points carried Nuno Espirito Santo’s attractive side into ninth place and extended an unbeaten top-flight run to five matches for the first time since November 1981.
Chants of “Nuno’s the special one” echoed around a delighted Molineux at the end – a pointed and gleeful reference to a victory which took them ahead of Manchester United in the table.
Yet, special or not, Wolves’ boss will not be getting carried away.
“We are happy knowing that it is only the start,” he said. “There is a long, long way to go and we have to improve. Southampton put us against the ropes but we hung on. It is not easy but let’s do it again against Crystal Palace.”
The Premier League new boys and their modest manager have certainly bridged the gulf between the Championship and their new surroundings as impressively as any past recently promoted sides in these early stages.
And if the barometer of such success was being able to name an unchanged side for the seventh Premier League game, Nuno will have taken satisfaction from seeing his side win it from the bench.
For much of this contest, Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy looked set to be the standout performer.
His two saves to deny the luckless but always willing
Raul Jimenez in the first half and then a stunning near-post save from his header in the 83rd minute might, on another occasion, have bagged the three points.
Yet by the time he turned that header around his post, Traore, who replaced Helder Costa when the midfielder got a knock early in the second half, had made an impact on the match.
Wolves’s record £18million summer signing electrifies and terrifies with his pace even if his end product can be inconsistent.
But here he combined the two, whipping around Wesley Hoedt on the right flank, cutting back the ball to Jimenez, who spun Jannik Vestergaard and laid the ball back for Cavaleiro to smash it home.
Nuno claimed that was the moment which gave them control but a second strike was still needed to secure the win and it was almost a mirror image of the first.
Picking up the ball in the same slot, Matt Doherty shook off the flimsy attentions of Stuart Armstrong and squared for Jonny to hit underneath the luckless McCarthy from eight yards out.
Southampton boss Mark Hughes was frustrated the two goals came from situations which should have been contained.
“Frustration is the emotion we are feeling,” he said. “We are disappointed with the goals because we should have been able to deal with that.”
Hughes’s annoyance with his defence may lead to changes for their trip to Everton on Tuesday.
“You might have to make a change to stimulate the group,” he said.