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N’mai shines as Salford City beat Sutton United

By Lewis Gray on 4th October 2023 in Football, Salford City, Sport

Salford City made it back-to-back League Two wins as they comfortably beat Sutton United 2-0.

Goals from Matt Smith and Kelly N’Mai gave the Ammies the three points and relieved some pressure on boss Neil Wood.

Following on from a first victory in a month against Newport County, Salford travelled to South London to face a Sutton side sat at the foot of the League Two table.

Naming an unchanged side, Neil Wood’s side got on the front foot immediately, with Stevie Mallan trying an early shot which was easily claimed by Dean Bouzanis.

The chances continued to bombard the home side’s net, Luke Bolton coming closest with his outside foot shot rattling the post and away.

The U’s gave some concern for the Ammies backline, his header failing to test Alex Cairns minutes from half-time.

Both teams came back out from the break still scoreless, but Salford quickly changed that.

Still coming out with the attacking prowess seen in much of the first half, Matt Smith finally got the goal Salford deserved, putting home a corner ball, which was flicked on by birthday boy Adrian Mariappa.

Kelly N’Mai, who impressed last time out against Newport, continued his superb form by doubling the lead for the Ammies.

The youngster controlled the ball at the back post before neatly dispatching his shot into the roof of the net, and earning his first goal for the club.

Wholesome content alert ❤️@kellnmai10 reacts to his first Ammies goal 🥰 pic.twitter.com/dk5x49nhN5

— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) October 3, 2023

Sutton began to put the pressure on as the minutes ticked away, but couldn’t break Salford’s defence.

Two late stops from Alex Cairns ensured a first clean sheet for the captain since the opening day victory against Forest Green and secured all three points would be travelling back with the Ammies.

The win puts Salford into 17th place in the League Two table and will give optimism to fans ahead of Crewe’s visit to the Peninsula Stadium this weekend.