Plymouth Argyle 0-3 Northampton Town: FLW reports as Cobblers run riot after Lorent Tolaj sees red | OneFootball

After over a month away from Home Park, Plymouth Argyle returned to action on their own turf as they hosted Northampton Town on Saturday afternoon.

Northampton Town thumped Plymouth Argyle 3-0 on their return to Home Park, following a second-half rout and a straight red card for star striker Lorent Tolaj.

Northampton thought they were awarded a penalty inside ten minutes when Bali Mumba was judged to have fouled Terry Taylor in the box, but after consulting his assistant, referee Stephen Parkinson overturned the decision, awarding Plymouth a free-kick.

After this, the Pilgrims went closest to breaking the deadlock through Lorent Tolaj and Mumba, whilst their opponents soaked up the pressure, and managed to preserve a 0-0 scoreline going into the break.

The hosts had reason to believe they could build in the second-half and secure the points, but those hopes were soon dashed when Tom Eaves headed home a superb effort, before Tolaj then saw red for an elbow on his man off the ball.

Substitutes Elliott List and Jordan Willis then added another two goals for the Cobblers, earning them all three points and further piling more misery onto Tom Cleverley and Plymouth.

Plymouth Argyle 0-3 Northampton Town

The first opportunity of the match fell for the hosts inside five minutes. A deep corner was swung back across goal by Matty Sorinola, meeting the head of Tolaj at the far post, who fired into the side-netting, deceiving half of the stadium who thought it was in.

Not even two minutes later, Northampton had a penalty, or so they thought. Taylor was deemed to have been hauled to the ground by Mumba in the box, which saw referee Stephen Parkinson point to the spot.

However, after some consultation with his linesman, the decision was overturned as the Town midfielder had a hold of Mumba's shirt, which led to the number 11 hauling down Taylor. A free-kick was given Plymouth's way instead.

That man Mumba was involved again minutes later, and really should've given his side the lead. The winger picked up the ball from a loose pass at the back, darted through on goal, but dragged his effort agonizingly wide of the far post.

Tolaj then almost found the opener just after the half-hour mark, moments after Owen Dale had a penalty claim waved away. He guided Sorinola's deep cross into the grateful arms of Ross Fitzsimons.

Jordan Thorniley was then replaced by Max Dyche after just 35 minutes. The defender had already picked up a yellow card in the fourth minute for preventing a Plymouth counter, and was walking on thin ice after a cynical foul on Tolaj.

The teams went in at the break with the score goalless. Argyle had the lion's share of the chances, but were struggling to break down a rather stout Cobblers defence, with Fitzsimons still to be truly tested.

The visitors started the stronger of the two teams in the second-half and were almost rewarded within ten minutes. On loan Manchester United forward Ethan Wheatley picked up the ball and drove into Argyle's half.

He managed to crack a low-driven effort at goal, which cannoned off the post and away to safety, an early warning sign that the Cobblers weren't going to settle for just a point.

Minutes later, the pressure paid off, and they went ahead. Perkins whipped in a delightful cross towards Eaves, who rose like a salmon and looped his header over Conor Hazard and into the back of the net.

That familiar sinking feeling fell around Home Park after the goal, and it got even worse when star man Tolaj was shown a straight red card for elbowing his man in the face in an off the ball incident.

With 15 minutes to play, Northampton doubled their lead. It was another assist for Perkins, who found space at the byline and cut it back perfectly for substitute List, netting with his first touch since being introduced.

It only took Kevin Nolan's side another five minutes to make it three. Another substitute in Willis headed home from Taylor's free-kick, putting any unlikely Pilgrims comeback very much beyond doubt.

After six minutes of stoppage time, Parkinson drew the contest to a close. The chorus of boos from the Devonport End was telling, as Argyle had been comprehensively beaten by a relegation rival on home turf.

Take nothing away from Northampton and Nolan though. It was an exceptional away performance from the visitors, and the brilliant travelling fans in the corner went home with three goals and three points to celebrate.

Plymouth Argyle player ratings

C. Hazard - 5

M. Sorinola - 6 (A. Benarous 70'(5))

K. Szucs - 5

A. Mitchell - 5

M. Ross - 5

B. Galloway - 4 (O. Oseni 70'(5))

M. Boateng - 4

L. McCabe - 5 (J. Ralls 62'(4))

O. Dale - 6 (J. Paterson 62'(5))

B. Mumba - 5

L. Tolaj - 6 (Sent off 65')

Unused substitutes: L. Ashby-Hammond, B. Wiredu, J. Edwards

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Northampton Town player ratings

R. Fitzsimons - 7

J. Burroughs - 7

C. McCarthy - 8 (J. Willis 75'(7))

M. Forbes - 8

J. Thorniley - 5 (M. Dyche 35'(7))

J. Perkins - 9 (N. Guinness-Walker 84'(6))

T. Taylor - 8

D. Campbell - 7

T. Fornah - 8 (E. List 75'(7))

E. Wheatley - 8 (K. Swyer 84'(6))

T. Eaves - 8

Unused substitutes: L. Burge, K. Edwards

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Match attendance

There were 15,419 fans present for Argyle's homecoming, with an impressive 618 making the trip from Northampton.

Speaking to the press post match, a deflated Plymouth boss Cleverley said: "[It was] a game of two-halves. They captialised on their good half, and we didn't.

"If you'd have told me that game finishes 3-0 to Northampton at half-time when they had no chances on our goal and no shots on target, I'd have said, even with how bad things have been going, I don't believe you.

"We've not managed to be consistent much this season, and you saw the two sides to us this year. We've not managed to deal with setbacks, and at 1-0, as a group we either lose our confidence or lose our heads, and today we did both."

When asked about Tolaj's red card, the Argyle head coach commented: "I'm not going to dress this up, I'm really disappointed with him, and he knows why.

"It was something that was address at half-time, how they were trying to provoke him, so I'm disappointed with him. I think he must learn from that. We'll have a conversation tomorrow to make sure he does."

Kevin Nolan delighted with Northampton Town triumph, but blasts Lorent Tolaj for 'letting down' Tom Cleverley

Speaking to the press post-match, a delighted Northampton boss Nolan said: "We expected Plymouth to come out firing in the first-half, so it was about us trying to calm the playstyle, trying to calm the fans down as well.

"I felt we handled it well, but we could've done it with a little more finesse when we turned the ball over. I think we turned the ball over a bit too quickly and too cheaply, but managing to get in at half-time was really important with the 0-0.

"I spoke to the lads and gave them some visuals about where we could hurt them, and as the game went on, we showed that, and I'm really pleased with the outcome, the execution of some of the goals and the finishes which we've been working really hard on."

The former West Ham United man was also left unhappy with the conduct of Tolaj, commenting: He [Cleverley] was let down badly today by his number nine [Tolaj], really bad, for a real bad challenge.

"I don't mind when a lad gets it wrong or something, but hitting someone in the face whilst they're on the floor or when they're trying to go past someone, I'm not into all that, and I thought he let Tom down today at a real critical time."