Sol Campbell: We will learn from conceding late penalty

Posted Wednesday, August 14, 2019 by PA

Macclesfield boss Sol Campbell was on tenterhooks as he watched his side knock League One opponents Blackpool out of the Carabao Cup 4-2 on penalties following a dramatic 2-2 draw.

The former England defender had to look on as a late Armand Gnanduillet’s spot-kick denied his players a win in 90 minutes, but goalkeeper Owen Evans saved the day by hitting the winning penalty, having kept out Sullay Kaikai and Jordan Thompson’s attempts.

Ollie Turton’s header earlier handed the Tangerines the advantage before Rocky Bushiri’s own-goal and a Virgil Gomis strike gave the Silkmen the lead but it was all smiles for Campbell in the end at Bloomfield Road.

“Your heart’s in your mouth at the end and you think you’re going to see it out, but you give a soft penalty away, so we’ll learn from that,” he said.

“The lads were warriors out there and then they played football at the right times.

“They all stuck together and it’s nice to see that. We’ve got a little bit lucky with our first goal, but then after that, it changed around and we went toe-to-toe.

“We should have really seen it out and it was a soft penalty, but we showed great character to get through the penalties.”

Meanwhile, Blackpool boss Simon Grayson was pleased with what he saw from his players highlighting the positive mentality the team showed in defeat.

“I said to the players before the game, if we’re going to go out of the competition, make sure that we go out with a good spirit, a good attitude and a decent performance, and I think we got all of those things,” said Grayson.

“They scored two goals from probably the only two mistakes we made in the whole game.

“We showed a lot of character and desire to get back into the game in the latter stages and once it goes to a penalty shootout, it’s obviously a lottery and congratulations to them but I was pleased with how the players played.

“We were asking questions but weren’t quite as clinical in front of goal as we have been already this season.”