Harry Kewell hails Oldham performance in Cambridge victory

Posted Sunday, December 06, 2020 by PA

Harry Kewell spoke of his delight at Oldham’s performance in Saturday’s narrow 2-1 win at Cambridge.

The Latics have won six away games in a row in all competitions as they climbed to 16 in League Two.

Paul Mullin netted a brilliant stoppage-time strike but his missed penalty just before the break – while the game was goalless – proved crucial as Oldham struck twice just before the hour through Conor McAleny and Alfie McCalmont.

“I think it was a very, very good performance,” reflected Kewell afterwards.

“Obviously Cambridge are a fantastic team, they’ve had a fantastic start to the season. Yes, they lost midweek but they’ll have wanted to correct it.

“We changed certain things in the way we structured the game and that’s what I like to see. I want a team that can adapt.

“Today I saw a team compete, win, play, create chances, score goals, even though they disallowed one of them. I can’t be more pleased.

“We stuck to the game plan, not for 20, 70 minutes – for 95 minutes we stuck to the game plan and that’s the reason why we won the game. I’m trying to pick out negatives but I can’t.”

Reflecting the performance of his penalty-saving goalkeeper Ian Lawlor, Kewell said: “I thought he was superb today.

“We knew exactly what they were capable of doing. They concentrate on their set-pieces and that’s what they’re looking for. He commanded his area very well.

“For him to pull out, that was just what we needed.”

Meanwhile, Cambridge – who had been unbeaten at home in the league before the match – have fallen to defeat twice in a row since fans were able to return to the Abbey Stadium on Wednesday.

Cambridge head coach Mark Bonner rued the spell in which his side conceded Oldham’s two goals.

“It’s a frustrating afternoon because we feel like we’ve gifted them the goals,” said Bonner.

“We knew we were in for a real threat. They changed a little bit, they played a little bit deeper, a little bit more direct than they have been and made it hard for us to try and break them down.

“We feel like they’ve created one or two chances against us a little bit too easily and we didn’t turn the screw on the things that were a threat for us in the wide areas.

“We didn’t do that often enough and therefore it became a frustrating afternoon. Once we went 2-0 down, we didn’t really look too much of a threat until we scored.

“It always felt like a game that was fairly edgy, fairly close and competitive. On a tough afternoon in terms of the surface you felt the first goals was always going to be important. It became a difficult afternoon for us.”