Accrington Stanley: From Rags to Riches - September update

Manchester City, H, L, 1-0
After a good game and result against Arsenal, I decided to leave the team unchanged. But we all knew this would be another very difficult match. We needed to get something from this game. And I was hopeful the lads would be up to the task after the international break.
17 min: Raheem Sterling makes a great run into the box, cuts back to beat Iorfa and strikes it. The ball hits the inside of the post, across to the other post and bounces back before it’s cleared. 0-0
54 min: A City player has the ball on the edge of the area with his back to goal. Magnanelli tries to tackle him, but takes him down, conceding a penalty. Giovanni Simeone steps up and slots it down the centre. 1-0 Man
After the match: I think we’re extremely unlucky to lose that. Personally, I though the contact was outside the area and it should have been a free instead of a penalty. And that’s changed the entire game. Defensively, both teams were solid but we looked threatening going forward and really should have scored. Manchester City finished the game with the LW D. Jota in goal. They didn’t have an actual keeper at all. And even though he isn’t a keeper, he pulled off saves that should have been certain goals. MOTM: D. Alaba (Man). We fall to 19th after that loss.

 

Manchester United, A, L, 3-0
Another extremely difficult match here. I made 5 changes to the team going into this match. Denayer, Riemann, Costa, Docherty and Mosquito all came into the team for Onguéné, Matic, Duelund, Di María and Marszalik. We really needed to get something from this game and, after being so unlucky in the previous game, I was confident we could do it.
5 min: Demarai Gray receives the ball on the edge of the area and runs into the box, getting past Iorfa. Iorfa recovers and gets back to block a shot but Gray cuts back, letting Iorfa go past him, and fires home at the near post. 1-0 Man
29 min: The ball is played into Isaac Success in the box. It’s slightly behind him but he somehow manages to get a good bit of power behind it and strike it first time. 2-0
51 min: A short corner is taken and then the ball is floated into the box where Harrison Reed, in space, can head it home. 3-0
After the match: We certainly didn’t play well but that score line was a bit harsh. We didn’t look too bad going forward and I have no idea why we have so much trouble scoring. I don’t know what more to say about the match. It was incredibly frustrating but we certainly didn’t deserve to lose 3-0. MOTM: D. Gray (Man).

 

During the week: I received bad news. Parlak has decided that he needs to leave the club and wishes to be transfer listed. We’ll be sad to see him go but I understand why he wants to leave when the team isn’t performing well at all.

 

Capital One Cup, Sunderland, H, W, 1-0
I decided to make five changes going into this cup game. Nigro, Parlak, Alvarez, Duelund and Hino all came into the team for Telles, Iorfa, Riemann, Costa and Mosquito. Hino had requested to start this game and I was looking for a big performance from him to show me I’d made the right decision.
7 min: Lemar receives the ball on the right. He runs down the line, beating his man, before cutting into the box and beating the keeper on the near post. 1-0 Acc
After the match: Absolutely delighted with the result. Our first clean sheet of the season. We had a few dodgy moments but generally, we looked solid defensively. Going forward, we created chances. Kenedy missed a few headers that he really should have scored. But I’m happy with the performance. MOTM: Marí Villar (Acc).

 

Swansea, H, W, 3-0
After a fantastic performance, I made two changes. Hino was dropped for Mosquito and Di María came in to replace the out of form Docherty. I was hopeful we could get our first league win of the season here but we’d need a big performance from the lads.
26 min: Lemar has the ball on the right. He plays it back to Parlak, who floats it into the box. Kenedy gets a head to it and steers it past the keeper. 1-0 Acc
38 min: Di María receives the ball on the left hand-side of the box. He cuts inside to a more central position and let’s fly. 2-0
45 min: Lemar went down injured after a crunching challenge. He tried to play on but unfortunately was forced to come off. Costa came on to replace him. 2-0
50 min: Nigro makes a great run down the left and puts in an early cross. Di María meets it with his head and powers it past the keeper. 3-0
After the match: Absolutely delighted with that result and performance. We were the lowest scoring team in the league going into this match and to get three was fantastic. Our first league win of the season. Delighted and thoroughly deserved. We were by far the better team. MOTM: Marí Villar (Acc). That win leaves us in 18th.

 

During the week: Lemar suffered a sprained knee and will be out for the next 4 weeks. It could be a lot worse but he’ll certainly be a loss. Hopefully Keskin or Costa can step up to the plate and put in some good performances.
Mark Greer returns to training this week after his broken collarbone. This is great news, as after selling Quiroga we hadn’t had a back-up keeper. It’ll be great to have Greer back and he’s a great personality at training, always lifting the spirits. We certainly missed that while he was out.

 

Southampton, A, W, 1-0
After such a good win, I was unwilling to make any changes to the team. I decided to bring Keskin in for the injured Lemar and left the rest of the team the same. I was hoping we could get another win here and continue this run of good form and make some progress up the table.
42 min: Keskin receives the ball on the right. He makes a good run and cuts into the box. He lets fly and the ball takes a massive deflection off a defender and that takes it over the keeper. 1-0 Acc
After the match: Absolutely delighted with the result. Southampton will feel very hard done by. We really had luck on our side today. And Marí Villar pulled off some absolutely world class saves. We had no right to win that game. But I’m delighted we did. MOTM: Marí Villar (Acc). Yet another win sees us rise to 17th.

 

Growth Report
Marí Villar +1 (92), Iorfa +1 (81), Onguéné +1 (80), Miranda +1 (65), Mosquito +1 (81)

 

While it didn’t start well, we finished the month on a high. We’ve finally started to perform in the league and we move on to the next round of the cup. With 8 games down, we sit in 17th on 7 points. That leaves us only 5 points off 4th, however we have played an extra game. But it’s certainly not an insurmountable task. And of those 8 games, 4 have been against the traditional top 6. So I’m not too disappointed about how things are currently going.
Next month shouldn’t be too difficult. We kick the month off with a visit from newly promoted Leeds after the international break. We also drew Coventry in the Round of 16 in the cup and that game takes place in the middle of next month and we have Sunderland, who we’ve already beaten in the cup. So from next month, I’d be hoping for a good cup win and 9 points from 3 league games.

 

Unfortunately, I’m away from my Xbox for the next 5 or 6 days. So I won’t be able to do any more until I get back. Sorry for leaving you all in such suspense. Lol