Preston 2-2 Wycombe: Late own goal costs Chairboys at Deepdale
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Preston North End and Wycombe at Deepdale as Jason McCarthy's late own goal cost the Chairboys all three points on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 5 December 2020 18:57, UK
Jason McCarthy's late own goal cruelly denied Wycombe their first win at Preston in 27 years as they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Tom Barkhuizen opened the scoring with his fourth goal in five games, but Garath McCleary and Scott Kashket struck to set up an impressive comeback.
However, McCarthy turned Scott Sinclair's cross into his own net as Preston denied the visitors their first win at Deepdale since a 3-2 victory on November 27 1993.
Former Manchester City winger Sinclair came within a whisker of firing the hosts ahead after just 43 seconds, but he dragged his right-foot shot just wide of the left upright.
Wycombe countered and created a good chance of their own as forward Fred Onyedinma rifled over from an acute angle inside the box.
But the opener came at the other end after some poor defending from the hosts.
McCarthy headed dangerously back towards his own goal and defender Josh Knight tried to help the ball to goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, but Barkhuizen intercepted to head home.
Preston forced the pace and Daniel Johnson had a shot charged down in the box having been teed up by Sean Maguire.
The hosts were then briefly reduced to 10 men when midfielder Ben Pearson limped off after a freak injury where he collapsed to the ground clutching his knee with no player nearby.
Adebayo Akinfenwa made his presence felt in the area, but he headed wide of the left-hand post as Wycombe battled their way back into a lively contest.
Akinfenwa had another good chance to level, but again he headed wide of the target and then Declan Rudd produced a superb point-blank save to thwart frontman Kashket.
Republic of Ireland international Maguire looked to double the hosts' lead just before the break, but his deflected left-foot strike flew wide for a corner.
The visitors needed just three second-half minutes to get back on level terms thanks to McCleary's powerful strike from an acute angle.
Daryl Horgan set up his team-mate, who didn't disappoint as he lashed into the roof of the net at the near post.
And then Kashket wasted a glorious chance to fire Wycombe ahead when he blasted wide from close range with the goal at his mercy.
Sinclair tried his luck with a left-foot strike on the edge of the box soon after, but his effort was also just over the woodwork.
Kashket put the visitors ahead, coolly slotting home for his first goal in a month when left-back Joe Jacobson's thunderbolt free-kick struck the left upright.
But there was a late twist to the tale when McCarthy somehow deflected Sinclair's cross into his own net as Wycombe's winless run was extended to six games.
What the managers said...
Preston's Alex Neil: "I thought we were good and looked dangerous, but when Ben (Pearson) went off (with injury) it affected us. I thought losing him was a big blow for us, certainly in terms of how we wanted to play. We just missed him on the pitch.
"Once he went off we probably lacked a bit of courage on the ball. But we just didn't move the ball well enough. When you do move the ball well then you can pick them off. We switched off for their second goal and then you know it's going to be tough. We went direct at the end and got the goal. After that we got two really good chances to get the win. Did we deserve to win the game? No. If you're going to win these types of games you've got to take those opportunities."
Wycombe's Gareth Ainsworth: "We feel like we've lost the game, which for me is a big positive. It's another really competitive point away in the Championship. To say Wycombe has come away to Preston and felt like we've lost, when in fact we've got a draw, is a real positive.
"We've been more than competitive and probably done more than enough to win the game. Their equaliser is just unfortunate, it's a deflection, but going forward I thought in the second half we were very good. We had a lot of chances and probably had the two best chances of the game. We didn't put them in, but on another day we probably see the game out. I'm really pleased with the boys.
"We were in the driving seat, but the character we've shown is what we need to stay in this division. We've got the belief and I think we've got the ability to stay in the division."
