Salford return to playoff positions as Hakeeb Adelakun hits brace against Tranmere

Salford City ended their five-game winless run in League Two by beating Tranmere Rovers 2-0 at home.

The first chance arose just minutes into the match when Cole Stockton found Kylian Kouassi in behind the visitor’s backline.

The forward charged through on goal but was unable to get a clean shot off under heavy pressure from covering defender Lee O’Connor.

Both sides traded chances in the early stages. The visitors came close to opening the scoring but were denied by a Hakeeb Adelakun block.

After Tranmere were awarded a freekick just outside the 16-yard box after Lewis Warrington’s foul brought down his man Sam Finley’s left-footed strike beat the wall but failed to catch out Jamie Jones who dealt with the attempt.

Salford were playing a very direct game, relying on knock-ons to spark their attacks.

Salford came out in the second half playing with much more fight, putting pressure on Tranmere straight from the restart.

Stockton was brought down for a free kick well within shooting distance, both Taylor and Luke Garbutt stood over the ball. Garbutt produced a powerful strike on his left which was tipped over by McGee at the last second.

After clearing the resulting corner, Tranmere countered quickly and Sam Saunders’ was slipped in behind the Salford backline, but the forward was foiled by the sweeping Jamie Jones – who had sensed the danger and pushed up towards the halfway line to make a crucial block.

However, Salford were eventually rewarded for the second-half onslaught as a ball was sent into the box.

The visitors did well to block Salford off twice but didn’t cover all areas. Adelakun found himself with acres of space at the back post. With the keeper out of position, he struck into his near bottom corner, finally breaking the deadlock after 51 minutes.

Matty Lund in full flight vs Tranmere Rovers

It wasn’t long before Salford had another. Tranmere didn’t seem to learn from the first goal and left Adelakun free in almost an identical position to his opener.

Just as before, his strike was well out of the keeper’s reach as it crashed into the net, doubling the Ammies lead.

Tranmere eventually got back a hold of the game and peppered Salford with a few chances of their own.

In the span of five minutes, Jones produces multiple huge saves for the hosts, denying Tranmere a way back into the match.

After soaking in the drastic momentum switch, Salford countered. The Ammies played on the break for the remainder of the match, coming close on multiple occasions.

Tranmere did come close themselves with Connor Jennings and Cameron Norman drawing Jones into smart saves in quick succession.

After four minutes of additional time referee, Matt Corlett blew an end to the contest as Salford returned into the playoffs, also ending their winless run.