Preston boss Frankie McAvoy delights in Emil Riis’ double

Posted Sunday, October 31, 2021 by PA

Preston boss Frankie McAvoy revelled in striker Emil Riis’ wonder goal as his Danish forward’s double gave his side a 2-0 win over Luton at Deepdale.

Riis signed a new deal until 2025 earlier in the week and celebrated with an excellent long-range effort before netting a penalty in first-half stoppage time as Preston got the better of Nathan Jones’ high-flying Hatters.

Jones made two changes at the break, with captain Sonny Bradley replaced after giving away the spot-kick, and his side looked re-energised in the second half but could not overturn the deficit.

McAvoy, who saw his team lose 2-0 to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup in midweek, said: “I thought once we started to pass it and move it you could see the confidence becoming a bit better.

“We knew it would be a tough game, Luton make it really hard for anyone they play against, and goals change games.

“I thought Emil’s strike was magnificent and once you get the goal then you can settle the nerves a bit. It was great to get the penalty before half-time.”

McAvoy encouraged his frontman to let fly from distance more often and recognised how his desperation to bag a third impacted him late on.

He added: “He’s got a rocket, and he does it quite often. You would just like to see him do it a bit more.

“I think at times he was desperate to try and get his hat-trick. There were a few times on the edge of the box where he could slip others in, but you could see him trying to manoeuvre a bit of space for himself to get a shot off.”

McAvoy insisted things could have been even better for his side as he questioned a few of referee Dean Whitestone’s calls.

He added: “I felt there were a few decisions that didn’t go our way. One particularly in the first half when Emil is breaking down the channel. The fellow loses his footing and then they get a free-kick and it was a great situation for us.”

Luton boss Jones slammed his side’s performance as their worst of an excellent season, the defeat ending a run of five games unbeaten, and made no excuses for the result.

He said: “We were poor today. That is the poorest we’ve been this season when we’ve been excellent.

“Let’s give Preston credit, they were better than us today in all the basics. In terms of work-rate, winning battles and in everything they were better than us.

“Rather fortuitously they scored because it was more of a cross than anything and we could have cleared it but, overall, they were better than us.”