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It was sloppy in places (ok very sloppy, that first goal was just shocking to concede) and brilliant in others but our third game in Europe has awarded us a point and kept us undefeated.
There were some strong players out there, Grant Holt was doing a good job making his presences known and a kink in the opponents defence. Ben Watson worked the midfield well along side Chris McCann who, although looked out of his depths at time, came through with a solid performance in the end. Watson's lay off for Nick Powell was also spot on, only Watson is capable of this in our side at the moment and I am so glad he isn't injured. The shot itself was picture perfect, any more in either direction and it wouldn't have earned us the point. Powell is really starting to show his abilities.
The first half ended strongly, we were certainly the better side going into the second, however the game seemed to slow down and that pressure the Latics held seemed to have waned. It wasn't really until Marc-Antoine Fortune arrived on the scene that things started to pick up. Fortune had a few good chances to give us the lead but poor shots kept those vital 3 points away. The last ten minutes were brilliant, we were on top of everything and the pressure was really showing on the Rubin defence. Fortune's final attempt has a heartbreaking miss but it was a terrifically worked effort. Waton played an absolutely beautiful ball to Callum McManaman who worked extremely hard to get in another brilliant ball that was flicked well by Powell but the the finish couldn't find the net. It was a terrific save though.
For this game, my Man of the Match award goes to, yes it's him again, Nick Powell. His performances lately have been top notch and his attitude to these games has been phenomenal. It was a close call to be honest, Holt, McCann, Gomez and Watson all did well this game and Fortune brought about a great change in tempo, but I feel Powell's game stepped up another notch after the goal.
But who was your Man of the Match? Vote below!