Manager Darren Ferguson stated Peterborough’s 1-0 win over Cambridge in the Cambridgeshire derby was more important than reaching Wembley on Tuesday night.
The Posh claimed their first league success at the Abbey Stadium since 1988, having beaten Blackpool four days previously to reach the EFL Trophy final.
Ephron Mason-Clark netted the winner 10 minutes into the second half when his cross from the left missed everybody and went straight in.
Peterborough got their promotion push back on track following four straight League One losses while the result compounds a difficult week for Cambridge after head coach Neil Harris left the club on Wednesday to take charge of Millwall.
Ferguson said: “I’m delighted with the win; it was the most important game of the week.
“We’ve managed to come away, get the clean sheet, get the win which we thoroughly deserved.
“It’s the first time Peterborough have won here for 30 years, which tells you how hard it is. I was really pleased for the fans we got that win.
“We were a bit fortunate with the goal. It’s a good ball into the box but obviously it’s meant for someone. We just can’t kill a team off. We get so many opportunities.
“I felt today was a really pivotal day for us. There was no way we could drop any more points. When you lose four games on the bounce it’s a terrible month but there’s still time I think to catch up.
“Last season (here) it was a painful defeat. We didn’t turn up. The fans knew that. Today was a must-win for me after last season.”
Barry Corr took interim charge of Cambridge for the second time this season following the departure of Harris.
He said: “I’ve said it to the players after the game about the things we could control. One of those things was our application, how much sweat was on the shirt at the end of the day.
“I thought they were spot on in that respect. We were totally committed to the game.
“It’s frustrating the goal they scored is a cross that snuck in at the back post. The reality is we had to work so hard without the ball that we probably didn’t have the energy when it was turned over.
“I can’t really complain too much because they had good chances in the game but we had a few little chances and for me a nailed on penalty on James Brophy.
“There’s loads of disappointment in the changing room, particularly conceding a goal like we did.
“It’s one of those random things that happens in football, sometimes they go beyond the post. Luck wasn’t with us in that respect.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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