Wayne Rooney inspires comeback of season as Plymouth climb out of Championship relegation zone
Plymouth pulled off the comeback of dreams against Preston as they somehow rescued a point to climb out of the Championship bottom-three. Wayne Rooney‘s men miraculously fought back from 3-0 down to salvage a point in a thrilling six-goal thriller at Home Park on Saturday. Preston emerged with a point at Home Park following their comeback against PrestonRex The Devonshire outfit have now moved ahead of Luton into 21st spot having ended their run of two consecutive defeats. Plymouth looked to be heading for another horror show following the 5-0 thumping by Cardiff and subsequent 1-0 defeat on the road at Millwall. The hosts fell behind in the 16th minute following Sam Greenwood’s opener, with Mads Frokjaer-Jensen doubling Preston’s lead in first-half stoppage-time. And when Brad Potts put the visitors three to the good three minutes after the break, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Plymouth. But Frederick Issaka clawed one before just before the hour-mark, with substitute Andre Gray halving the deficit in the 82nd minute to set up a grandstand finish. It was the ex-Burnley striker’s first goal for the club having joined on a free transfer at the start of October following a stint in Saudi Arabia. And star winger Morgan Whittaker then levelled up the scoring in the second minute of injury time to send the home fans into delirium. Despite this, Rooney was furious with his Argyle team, revealing his anger with the overall performance after the game. “I’m angry, to be honest. That performance is nowhere near good enough,” Rooney told the Plymouth Herald. “I was really disappointed for an hour of that game. “It didn’t look like us at all. We were easy to play against. We weren’t putting tackles in, we weren’t getting to the ball. I’m obviously pleased we get a point out of the game but I can’t accept that performance. Rooney was angry despite his side’s stunning second-half comebackRex “I’m frustrated. At 3-0, you are looking at it and you are concerned. I tried to get attacking players on and get more balls in the box. “We didn’t do that enough, which is something we have worked on and looked at over the last couple of days, and we didn’t do that at all for an hour. Really pleased to get a point at the end but the performance was nowhere near good enough. “We have to keep working. There has been games this season where we have been really good. “The last three we have hit a little bit of a blip so we need to snap out of it because today could have been a lot worse.” Plymouth are now unbeaten in their last four home matches, having triumphed in the matches over Sunderland, Luton and Blackburn. It’s on the road where Rooney’s side have struggled, losing five of their six outings – scoring just once. Rooney was at least able to manage a smile at full-timeRex With 12 points so far this season, their incredible draw has seen the Hatters slip into the relegation zone. Rob Edwards’ men have lost three out of their last four second-tier matches. Luton lost 3-2 away at Coventry in Saturday’s early kick-off despite leading 2-0 heading into half-time. Like Plymouth, Coventry enjoyed a stunning second half, resulting in Haji Wright scoring a dramatic injury-time winner.
Plymouth pulled off the comeback of dreams against Preston as they somehow rescued a point to climb out of the Championship bottom-three.
Wayne Rooney‘s men miraculously fought back from 3-0 down to salvage a point in a thrilling six-goal thriller at Home Park on Saturday.
The Devonshire outfit have now moved ahead of Luton into 21st spot having ended their run of two consecutive defeats.
Plymouth looked to be heading for another horror show following the 5-0 thumping by Cardiff and subsequent 1-0 defeat on the road at Millwall.
The hosts fell behind in the 16th minute following Sam Greenwood’s opener, with Mads Frokjaer-Jensen doubling Preston’s lead in first-half stoppage-time.
And when Brad Potts put the visitors three to the good three minutes after the break, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Plymouth.
But Frederick Issaka clawed one before just before the hour-mark, with substitute Andre Gray halving the deficit in the 82nd minute to set up a grandstand finish.
It was the ex-Burnley striker’s first goal for the club having joined on a free transfer at the start of October following a stint in Saudi Arabia.
And star winger Morgan Whittaker then levelled up the scoring in the second minute of injury time to send the home fans into delirium.
Despite this, Rooney was furious with his Argyle team, revealing his anger with the overall performance after the game.
“I’m angry, to be honest. That performance is nowhere near good enough,” Rooney told the Plymouth Herald. “I was really disappointed for an hour of that game.
“It didn’t look like us at all. We were easy to play against. We weren’t putting tackles in, we weren’t getting to the ball. I’m obviously pleased we get a point out of the game but I can’t accept that performance.
“I’m frustrated. At 3-0, you are looking at it and you are concerned. I tried to get attacking players on and get more balls in the box.
“We didn’t do that enough, which is something we have worked on and looked at over the last couple of days, and we didn’t do that at all for an hour. Really pleased to get a point at the end but the performance was nowhere near good enough.
“We have to keep working. There has been games this season where we have been really good.
“The last three we have hit a little bit of a blip so we need to snap out of it because today could have been a lot worse.”
Plymouth are now unbeaten in their last four home matches, having triumphed in the matches over Sunderland, Luton and Blackburn.
It’s on the road where Rooney’s side have struggled, losing five of their six outings – scoring just once.
With 12 points so far this season, their incredible draw has seen the Hatters slip into the relegation zone.
Rob Edwards’ men have lost three out of their last four second-tier matches.
Luton lost 3-2 away at Coventry in Saturday’s early kick-off despite leading 2-0 heading into half-time.
Like Plymouth, Coventry enjoyed a stunning second half, resulting in Haji Wright scoring a dramatic injury-time winner.
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