In a 3-1 loss that knocked Phil Parkinson’s team out of the automatic promotion spots in League Two, the goalie committed two crucial mistakes.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Arthur Okonkwo rushed out to claim a corner and made a mistake that placed Wrexham behind within the first ten minutes. After that, Theo Vassell was left with an open header, which he dutifully nodded in. Elliott Watt scored directly from a corner, floating in a strong strike that Okonkwo simply went nowhere near, despite being on his line, and Salford added a second goal in an incredible set of circumstances.
Before the half, Sam Dalby scored his first goal of the season for Wrexham, finishing from close range following a knockdown by Ben Tozer. Just before the hour, though, Salford responded through a curling 10-yard finish from Matt Smith.
Having signed Luke Bolton on deadline day, Phil Parkinson made his debut late on, but it was in vain as Wrexham was soundly defeated. They could have fallen 4-1, for sure, but Junior Luamba’s fierce attempt struck the crossbar. They have so fallen into the play-off positions and suffered a serious setback to their hopes of being promoted to League One automatically.
THE STAR
Watt scored straight off a corner, and it appeared to be intentional. With Okonkwo straying slightly from his line, he took aim and embarrassed the Wrexham goalie by sending the ball into the upper right corner. With a 1-0 lead, Salford’s incredible goal gave them the boost they needed to finish the game comfortably.
THE MAJOR SLagger
Wrexham probably doesn’t need Okonkwo as their goalkeeper at the moment. It is just not good enough for him to make three high-profile errors in two games (he also had a terrible mistake against Blackburn in the FA Cup). You cannot expect to win games on a regular basis when your goalie is not winning corners. It is reasonable to assume that Wrexham would feel more at ease if Ben Foster were still in goal.
NEXT WHAT HAPPENS?
The next game for Wrexham is on February 10 against Bradford City. They are now fourth in the table after losing their last three games in a row across all competitions.
