LONDON: Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney insisted he felt “angry” despite his side coming from three goals down in a remarkable second-half display as they drew 3-3 with Preston in English football’s second-tier Championship on Saturday.
Goals by Plymouth debutants Freddie Issaka and Andre Gray and a stoppage-time equalizer for the hosts from Morgan Whittaker canceled out Preston goals by Sam Greenwood, Mads Frokjaer-Jensen and Brad Potts.
The draw left Plymouth a point above the relegation zone, with Argyle boss Rooney saying: “I am angry because that performance is nowhere near good enough. We were easy to play against.
“Obviously I am pleased we drew the game but I can’t accept that performance.”
The former Manchester United and England striker added: “I am frustrated but even at 3-0 you can turn a game and I tried to get more attackers into the box, but we didn’t do that at first.
“The last three games we have hit a bit of a blip but we need to get out of it.
“The one thing I never question with the players is their character. We need to learn the little nuances of the game...I think the fans had every right to boo at half-time but then when they saw us pushing and making changes and getting more balls in the box you could feel the atmosphere growing.
“I was delighted for them we got a point. It was important to stop losing after the last two games.”
Sunderland were left five points clear at the top of the table after a 2-0 win at home to Oxford, secured by goals from Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor.
The Black Cats were left clear of the chasing pack after Leeds and Burnley were both held to goalless draw by Bristol City and QPR respectively.
Sheffield United saw off Stoke 2-0, with Kieffer Moore and Tyrese Campbell scoring either side of half-time.
Coventry came from 2-0 down to defeat Luton 3-2, with the Hatters’ scoring twice before half-time through Carlton Morris’s penalty and a goal from Elijah Adebayo.
But Ellis Simms (59) and Victor Torp (76) revived the Sky Blues after the break and Luton then had Tom Holmes sent off before Coventry’s Hajji Wright scored a winner two minutes into added time.
Edo Kayembe’s 71st-minute penalty secured a 1-0 win for Watford over Blackburn, while Derby and Hull drew 1-1.
Cardiff drew 0-0 at West Brom, while a 90th-minute winner from Casper de Norre took Millwall to a 1-0 victory at Swansea.
Rooney ‘angry’ despite stunning Plymouth fightback in Preston draw
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Rooney ‘angry’ despite stunning Plymouth fightback in Preston draw
- The draw left Plymouth a point above the relegation zone, with Argyle boss Rooney saying: “I am angry because that performance is nowhere near good enough”
- “The last three games we have hit a bit of a blip but we need to get out of it”
Egypt switches off Liverpool after Salah fallout
- Liverpool games once drew wall-to-wall crowds in Cairo whenever Salah was playing
- Manager Arne Slot left Egyptian star on the bench for three consecutive games
CAIRO: At a cafe in a bustling Cairo neighborhood, Liverpool games once drew wall-to-wall crowds, but with Mohamed Salah off the pitch, his Egyptian fans would now rather play cards or quietly doomscroll than watch the Reds play.
Salah, one of the world’s greatest football stars, delivered an unusually sharp rebuke of manager Arne Slot after he was left on the bench for three consecutive games.
Adored by fans as the “Egyptian king,” Salah told reporters he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club he has called home for seven-and-a-half years.
The outburst divided Liverpool fans worldwide — but in the Cairo cafe, people knew what side they were on, and Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan went unnoticed.
“We’re upset, of course,” said Adel Samy, 40, a longtime Salah fan, who remembers the cafe overflowing with fans whenever he was playing.
On Tuesday evening, only a handful of customers sat at rickety tables — some hunched over their phones, others shuffling cards, barely glancing at the screen.
“He doesn’t deserve what’s happening,” Samy said.
Islam Hosny, 36, who helps run the family cafe, said the street outside used to be packed with “people standing on their feet more than those who sat on chairs” whenever Salah played.
“The cafe would be as full as an Ahly-Zamalek derby,” he said, referring to Egypt’s fiercest football rivalry.
“Now because they know he’s not playing, no one comes.”
At a corner table, a customer quietly asks staff to switch to another match.
‘Time to leave’
Since joining the Merseyside team in 2017, Salah has powered the club’s return to the top of European football, inspiring two Premiere League titles, a Champions League triumph and victories at FA Cup, League Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
With 250 goals in 420 appearances, he is Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of all time, and for Egyptians, the country’s greatest sporting export.
But this season, Salah has struggled for form, scoring five goals in 19 appearances as Liverpool have won just five of their last 16 matches in all competitions, slipping to eighth in the Champions League with 12 points.
At the cafe in the Shoubra neighborhood of Cairo, the sense of disillusionment gripped fans.
“Cristiano Ronald, Messi and all players go through dips,” said Mohamed Abdelaziz, 40, but they still play.
Shady Hany, 18, shook his head. “How can a player like Mohamed Salah sit on the bench for so long?” he said.
“It is time for Salah to leave.”
Slot said on Monday he had “no clue” whether Salah would play for Liverpool again.
Salah, due to join Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations after next weekend’s home match against Brighton, has around 18 months remaining on the £400,000-a-week contract he signed in April.
Egyptian sports pundit Hassan Khalafallah believes Salah’s motivations lie elsewhere.
“If he cared that much about money, he would have accepted earlier offers from Gulf clubs,” he said.
“What matters to Salah is his career and his legacy.”
Salah’s journey from the Nile Delta village of Nagrig to global stardom at Anfield has inspired millions.
His rise is a classic underdog story — starting at Egypt’s El Mokawloon, moving to Switzerland’s Basel, enduring a tough spell at Chelsea, finding form at AS Roma and ultimately becoming one of the Premier League’s greatest players.
“Salah is an Egyptian star we are all proud of,” said Hany.
