It is 0-1 at the end of League Two's second round, and Salford City have found themselves on the wrong side of a result they did not expect. Chesterfield took the lead in the second minute through L. Bonis, and despite everything they faced afterwards, they kept that advantage. The visitors moved up to 16th place with 4 points, while the hosts drop to 20th on 3 points. By then, the early goal had set the tone for what followed.
Salford controlled the ball, 64 per cent of it, but that possession never quite translated into pressure. They registered 109 attacks against 79 for Chesterfield, yet the visitors' goalkeeper made only 2 saves. Three shots on target for each side, though Salford attempted 7 inside the penalty area compared to 6 away attempts. And here's the thing — possession without penetration is just movement.
The yellow cards started arriving after the half-hour mark. L. Mandeville saw the first card in the 44th minute, followed by J. Simpson in the 53rd and L. Garbutt in the 57th. Salford made their changes early, bringing on L. Garbutt for J. Powell in the 61st minute, then added G. McEachran, B. Woodburn and K. N'Mai in quick succession. Chesterfield responded with three substitutes in the 77th minute — J. Koroma, D. Markanday and R. Hutton — before adding J. Grant and L. Mandeville in the 84th.
Shots accuracy tells you something about the finishing. Salford managed 0.30, Chesterfield 0.21 — neither side was particularly clinical. The hosts completed 480 of 566 passes, the visitors 235 of 317. Salford won 5 corners to 1, but corners are only useful if someone knows what to do with them. The game never really opened up, and that is fair enough given the early scoreline.
This was a match that did not live up to the expectation of a tight contest. Salford had drawn with Shrewsbury and lost to Barnet in their previous two league games, while Chesterfield had lost both away fixtures. The hosts never really got going, despite the numbers. Three points now separate the two sides in the table, but this result says more about a moment than a season.