Gabriel Jesus believes he can finally win the Champions League and has told his Arsenal team-mates to share the faith.

The Brazil forward has a love affair with Europe’s premiere club competition and was the difference-maker as Arsenal won 2-1 at Sevilla on Tuesday night.

Jesus provided a moment of magic to lay on the opening goal for compatriot Gabriel Martinelli before curling home a fine individual effort – although his celebrations were curtailed as he limped off with 10 minutes to go.

The former Manchester City striker, who came off the bench when Pep Guardiola’s side lost the 2021 Champions League final to Chelsea, has a phenomenal strike-rate in the competition – his goal at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium was his 23rd in 41 appearances for City and Arsenal.

He still harbours ambitions of winning the trophy and feels it is something he and his colleagues can achieve this season.

“It’s a competition that I love,” he said after his man-of-the-match display.

“All the competitions I love, because I just love to play football. But I don’t know, since day one in the Champions League, my debut, I scored goals.

“I haven’t won it yet, so I am looking for this, for this beautiful trophy. Obviously it is not easy, but I think we have to believe. If we don’t believe, we cannot be here.”

While his goal was a moment to savour, Jesus’ role in Martinelli’s opening effort will live long in the memory as a deft touch took two Sevilla midfielders out of the game.

A perfectly-weighted slide-rule pass played in Martinelli who, having missed a golden chance to break the deadlock earlier in the game, obliged with a cool finish as the two Brazil internationals combined to great effect.

“I think for me as the type of player I am, I drop a lot more on the left side than the right side,” Jesus replied when asked about his relationship and understanding playing alongside Martinelli.

“Obviously I drop on the right as well to help B (Bukayo Saka) and to play with B, but I drop more on the left. It works.

“The wingers we have, not just Martinelli and B, but Reiss (Nelson), Leo (Trossard) and even Eddie (Nketiah) or Fabio (Vieira) when they play there, they are quality players.

“I just go out wide and I try to play short passes and give them the ball, and they try to find me as well. It worked with Martinelli and I am very happy.”

Mikel Arteta’s side return to domestic action when they welcome Premier League bottom club Sheffield United to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Gunners are unbeaten in their opening nine league games of the campaign and Jesus could yet be involved despite limping off late on in Spain.

“I felt something. Let’s see,” he said. “I did some tests with the physio, it looks not that big, but let’s see. I have a scan, maybe tomorrow. I’m pretty sure it will be nothing.”

Everton boss Sean Dyche and captain Seamus Coleman have paid tribute to chairman Bill Kenwright.

The pair laid flowers at the Dixie Dean statue outside Goodison Park on Tuesday morning.

Kenwright died at the age of 78 following a battle with cancer, the club announced on Monday.

Kenwright, who succeeded Sir Phillip Carter as chairman in 2004 after first joining the board at Goodison Park in 1989, had a cancerous tumour removed from his liver in August.

Liverpool-born Kenwright was a successful theatre and film producer when asked to join the Everton board in 1989.

He bought a majority 68 per cent stake in the club in 1999 and became deputy chairman before replacing Carter in his current role.

What the papers say

Newcastle could be set to revisit their interest in Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips. According to the i, the 27-year-old could be brought in as short-term cover for Sandro Tonali, who is facing a ban following investigations into alleged betting offences.

The Liverpool Echo reports the Reds are among several Premier League clubs interested in Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams. Citing website 90min, the paper says Liverpool, along with Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa, are all keeping tabs on the 21-year-old.

And the Birmingham Mail says Aston Villa and West Ham have been told by Real Madrid that the price tag for in-demand midfielder Brahim Diaz is about £17.8million.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Jamal Musiala: The Bayern Munich winger is weighing a move to Manchester City or Real Madrid, according to Sky Sports Deutchland.

Jack Clarke: The Sunderland Echo says Sunderland are keen to ward off interest from Burnley by tying down the 22-year-old winger to a new contract.

Michael Flynn said Swindon need to stop giving points away if they are to sustain a promotion challenge.

Connor Mahoney’s first-half goal earned Gillingham a 1-0 victory as the Kent side leapfrogged their rivals into the League Two play-off places.

Flynn said: “We have to stop throwing points away.

“We have absolutely dominated the game, but we gave away a poor goal. We know that Mahoney is left-footed and we have let him cut in on his left, nobody put any real pressure on him.

“The chances we missed were poor, they should have been in the back of the net.

“We have missed a header from three yards and you don’t see the Wrexhams and the Stockports missing those kind of chances.

“Wrexham have gone and scored an 89th-minute winner again today – that can’t be just by luck, that is about belief, it is about being clinical, and it is about a winning mentality.”

Gillingham ended a barren run on the road with a first away win in five.

The visitors took the lead midway through the first period as Mahoney came inside from the right and drilled the ball low and a deflection wrong-footed keeper and namesake Murphy Mahoney.

Swindon were almost level moments later when Dan Kemp clipped the ball into Jake Young, whose powerful volley was spectacularly saved down low by Jake Turner.

Swindon’s Charlie Austin turned a corner just wide and Murphy Mahoney denied Macaulay Bonne one on one at the other end. Gillingham could have put it beyond doubt when they won a 74th-minute penalty after a foul from Harrison Minturn but Cheye Alexander stepped up and side-footed it well wide.

Rudi Garcia hailed Napoli for taking their lone clear chance in a largely uninspiring Champions League win over Union Berlin.

Giacomo Raspadori poached the only goal of the game after excellent work by player of the match Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, with the Bundesliga side having had the better of the game for long periods in front of a raucous crowd at the Olympiastadion.

Napoli coach Garcia told the club’s website: “We won with anger, patience, the desire to prevail and also intelligence.

“Right before we started we knew that we would be facing a complicated match. But we were calm, we never really suffered any danger, but it’s also true that in the first half we created little, also because on this heavy pitch it was difficult.

“Then in the second half with patience and intelligence we found the way to the goal. Kvara’s action and Raspa’s turn were beautiful from a technical point of view. A beautiful goal that I liked both for the assist and for the conclusion.

“We are a team that knows how to play the ball but also knows how to run and fight. These are the main characteristics with which we must continue our journey.”

Napoli lie second in Group C and Kvaratskhelia told uefa.com: “The group looks good but we must still focus on the other games and try to win those.

“Thanks for choosing me as player of the match today, but other players were very important too – and next time it could be someone else who wins it.”

The goal came when Mario Rui won the ball well and fed the Georgian on the left. His first cross was cleared back to him but he took on Christopher Trimmel and teed up Raspadori six yards out to finish decisively.

Union had a goal disallowed in the first half, with the impressive David Datro Fofana flagged offside after setting up Janik Haberer, and largely kept their Serie A opponents at arm’s length but remain bottom of the group after a third straight loss.

Coach Urs Fischer told uefa.com: “I’m disappointed. We put in so much to restrict them to just one shot on goal, and we still lost 1-0.

“Despite that, we did a lot well. We weren’t missing too much today.

“The group table doesn’t look good, of course. It’s almost impossible to qualify but that’s the situation we find ourselves in.

“We hoped to get a result but it didn’t come off. Still, I’m really proud of our performance today.”

David Wagner admits he needs to try and “find the ideas and solutions to get the confidence back” into his Norwich players after another defeat.

The Canaries have now lost seven out of their last 10 matches in all competitions after Middlesbrough claimed a 2-1 win at Carrow Road.

Sam Greenwood and Samuel Silvera gave the visitors a 2-0 lead before Jonathan Rowe pulled one back for Norwich in the last minute.

Wagner said: “Of course it’s frustrating.

“We were below par today, we had some spells in the first half, first 15 minutes we were OK. In the second half, we had maybe half an hour where we were OK as well but, in general, it was not a good performance.

“In terms of the effort and attitude, I have no complaints. I will not blame the players, they really tried and fought.

“We looked affected confidence-wise unfortunately and that’s why we weren’t able to perform to our level and conceded this defeat.

“We conceded goals again which were hard to take, from the moment we conceded them and how we conceded them. It’s difficult to take. Football life is not always easy.

“At the minute, it’s hard, that’s the truth.

“It’s me that has to find the ideas and solutions to get the confidence back into the players, to show them a way out of this difficult period that we have.

“The only way you can do it is you stick together, take it on the chin and prepare yourself to be better in the next game.”

By contrast, Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick was “encouraged” by his resurgent side’s display.

Carrick, who is celebrating a year in charge of Boro, said: “It was a hell of a game and a really tough one.

“It took a lot of effort to get over the line. You saw our teamwork and our team spirit. They played smartly to understand the plan, apply it and stick to it. I thought the boys were fantastic.

“I thought we limited them really well.

“I know they had a lot of shots, but they weren’t really dangerous or in areas where we wouldn’t be comfortable with. It was disappointing to concede one in the end – that was the one where we maybe did just let them get into a good area.

“But maybe that also shows how well the lads have done that we feel aggrieved by that so late on. I can’t fault the lads though. I’m really encouraged by it.”

Erik ten Hag praised goalkeeper Andre Onana for putting a difficult start to life at Manchester United behind him and saving the day in a narrow Champions League escape against Copenhagen.

Having kicked off Group A with defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, the Red Devils could ill-afford any slip-up against the Danish champions in Tuesday’s Old Trafford encounter.

Onana was guilty of poor performances in both of those Champions League losses but helped make amends in a brilliant conclusion to an emotional first home game since the death of Sir Bobby Charlton.

The United keeper saved Jordan Larsson’s stoppage-time penalty with what proved to be the last touch of the match, ensuring Harry Maguire’s second-half header sealed a crucial 1-0 win.

“He showed personality and he knows that before was not the levels what his skills are,” manager Ten Hag said of the summer signing from Inter Milan. “He didn’t match his skills and he could do better.

“I think Saturday (against Sheffield United) was a very good performance and today as well.

“Also, don’t forget that brilliant save just after half-time in the counter-attack.

“But, of course, that is one of his skills, he is a very good penalty saver.”

Onana’s save sparked wild celebrations at a rocking Old Trafford, where he was mobbed by team-mates before United’s substitutes poured onto the pitch.

“You see there is a very good spirit in the dressing room,” said Ten Hag, who claimed not to have seen Alejandro Garnacho scuffing the penalty spot.

“They are together, they fight together and they celebrate together.

“If we have setbacks, they support each other. I think that spirit is always needed to be a successful team.”

United have won three straight matches in all competitions despite some unconvincing performances and improvements are needed against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

“First half no good, difficult,” Ten Hag said. “They were well organised, Copenhagen.

“It was difficult to create chances. We didn’t get the right build-up, so we didn’t get the tempo in the game.

“The second half I think was better. In the first half, we got some press on but not in many occasions or in a long period.

“In the second half, both things were better and the build-up was better

“The construction was better, more switches and also we created more chances. I think finally the win was justified but it was a narrow escape.”

This was certainly a let-off for a United side who had the frequently-criticised Maguire to thank as well as Onana.

The defender’s future appeared elsewhere having been stripped of the captaincy during a summer of speculation, but he has now made three straight starts and scored the key goal on Tuesday.

“He is playing much more proactive in possession, stepping in, passing vertical,” the Dutchman said. “Defending also on the front foot, also stepping in, defending forward.

“Very confident in the duels. I think he is dominating, in the right moment putting in the aggression and dominating his opponents.

“Then you see you also get rewarded, of course it’s a very good skill from him his heading, but I have to say great pass from Christian (Eriksen) as well but a very good finish.”

These sides now return to domestic matters before resuming battle in Denmark in the reverse fixture on November 8.

Copenhagen head coach Jacob Neestrup said: “We all know that we played a match where we allowed ourselves to get at least one point.

“We had a big chance to score in the closing seconds, so that hurts. It really hurts.

“I don’t believe in bad luck in football. Football is decided by important saves or goals, and in terms of that, we have been unable to tip it in our favour in the first three matches, which have led to one point. Those are the hard facts.”

Scott Lindsey lauded the character of his Crawley side after they dramatically salvaged a point to avoid a fourth successive defeat at Walsall.

Danny Johnson opened the scoring for the hosts on 88 minutes before Danilo Orsi headed in a 94th-minute equaliser.

Lindsey said: “Great character. The lads are disappointed with the second-half performance, had we have continued on the same vein of how we did in the first half I think we could have gone on and won the game but we didn’t.

“A game of two halves really, I felt that we were really good first half, I thought we were outstanding, really good possession, some very good football being played.

“We had a couple of chances, [Klaidi] Lolos had a good chance at the near post, keeper makes a good save and we had a few bits and pieces flying around their box and across their box.

“Second half changed, we weren’t as good. We struggled with the way they pressed us, we couldn’t make the right decision whether to play round, through or over their press.

“We came under a lot of pressure, they put a lot of balls in our box and Corey [Addai] was outstanding with some unbelievable saves and the goal, the shot hits the post and lands straight to their man who can’t really miss.

“We did succumb to a lot of pressure but we stuck to it and we showed character, a great goal from us at the end. There was another chance just before with Travis [Johnson], great header and the keeper makes an unbelievable save.”

A disappointed Mat Sadler claimed it felt like two points dropped after Walsall’s second-half onslaught left them with just a point.

Sadler explained: “It feels like two points dropped, mostly because we felt we had earned the win and it hurts.

“I thought we were brilliant second half. We ran them into the ground and there was a spell when I looked around at their players and they were gone.

“We sucked the life out of them and a fantastic performance, especially second half. The frustration is we didn’t see out that last little bit which is a gut-wrencher.

“I thought we should have had a free-kick on the halfway line immediately before the goal – and it definitely was having seen it back – which is frustrating.

“We just have to keep positive, keep moving forward and get some of the players back we’ve got missing through injury.

“The law of averages says if we keep doing the right things we will end up with the right results, and we’ve put in some good performances in recent weeks.

“We are emotional on the back of not seeing the game out but over the next 24 hours I will look back at the game and be extremely pleased with most of it.”

QPR head coach Gareth Ainsworth admitted defender Jimmy Dunne was naive for his quickfire double booking which turned the game in the 2-0 defeat to West Brom at the Hawthorns.

Dunne was booked for coming back onto the pitch too early then sent off two minutes later for allegedly marking the penalty spot after West Brom were awarded a spot-kick.

Brandon Thomas-Asante crashed home from the spot in the 59th minute before Grady Diangana tapped home the second eight minutes later.

“There was a crazy moment to give the penalty away and then a crazier, more naive moment with the red card,” said Ainsworth.

“I spoke to the referee and he said there was an incident on the penalty spot with the West Brom player.

“I asked him if he was absolutely certain that it was the player he recognised and he said ‘yes, 100 per cent’, so a second yellow was warranted. If it’s true, it’s very naive.

“The first yellow was coming back onto the pitch too early.

“You can accept getting done by football but when you lose a player to that – if it is that – then it’s very naive.”

Rangers have now suffered five straight defeats to remain third from bottom of the Sky Bet Championship.

The pressure is mounting on Ainsworth and they face leaders Leicester at home on Saturday, but he vowed things will improve.

“We’ve got some really good players but I’m sure there’s enough to turn it around,” he insisted.

“We’re going to get out of this and one way or another, I’ll get these boys fighting.

“I know the frustrations of the fans and supporters all over the world make managers targets and sometimes they have to take flak.

“There’s pressure from day one because you get judged on results, but I don’t fear anything.”

West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan admitted patience was the key to breaking down QPR as he prepares to celebrate his first anniversary in charge of the club on Wednesday with a return to the top six.

“It was a question of patience and being mature enough because sometimes when you play against 5-4-1, it’s not easy to attack,” he said. “The key in these type of games is not to concede counter-attacks, and at the same time to create chances.

“But at the same time it’s important to dominate so you can create something.

“Things like passing the ball in front of the player instead of the back because if you play at his back, that can lead to you being off balance and you can give them the advantage.

“One thing which helped us was how we were attacking down the sides – having Diangana and Matt Phillips one against one.

“The key was to stretch their last nine with players such as Nathaniel Chalobah and Jed Wallace making runs in behind, which allowed us to start to stretch them and allowed us to get them one-v-one.”

Mikel Arteta has praised Gabriel Jesus for bringing “belief” and “energy” to Arsenal as the forward shone in victory at Sevilla.

Jesus continued his love affair with the Champions League with a fine goal and assist double as the Gunners won 2-1 at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

A piece of magic set up compatriot Gabriel Martinelli to open the scoring on the stroke of half-time before Jesus doubled the lead with a fine, curling finish of his own – although he later limped off having moments earlier held his hamstring.

The Brazil forward may not boast the most prolific strike record but he has now scored an impressive 23 goals in 41 appearances in Europe’s elite club competition.

Asked if Jesus had been signed from Manchester City because of his prowess in the competition, Arteta replied: “For sure. He has been through a lot in the last few years and he’s still really young.

“He has enormous experiences – some of them not the nicest but very necessary to be the player that he is today. I’m really happy to have him in the team.

“He came here for a reason. I think he changed our world. He brought so much belief and energy to that team, he needs to step in in those moments. He’s done that. That’s when a player becomes accountable for the team.

“Big games are for big players. He needed to produce those moments to win in a stadium like this. He’s done it for us in a really big way. Then, really sad because he felt something in his hamstring and I’m worried about that.

“We need those players to win games. If you want to play Manchester City, then go to Stamford Bridge, then come here – that’s the level we’re at right now. To come here and win, big credit to the boys.”

Jesus’ night ended as he hobbled off to be replaced by Eddie Nketiah in the latter stages – with Arteta admitting he is concerned for the striker.

“(I am) really sad because he felt something in his hamstring and I’m worried about that,” he added.

“He straight away asked to be subbed which is not good news because Gabriel is not a player who does that at all. We will have to wait and see in the next few days.”

The victory saw Arsenal recover from defeat in Lens last time out and was enough to take them to the top of Group B at the halfway stage.

Arteta’s side will be in a good position to reach the knockout stages if they beat Sevilla in the return game at the Emirates Stadium in a fortnight and the Spaniard was pleased with the reaction to defeat in France.

“That result against Lens put us in a difficult position and the team had to react,” he said.

“We are coming from the back of very difficult games where the team has to step in and go against adversity as well with some of the injuries that we picked up to big players.

“The team is so willing to at least try their best even if we don’t manage to be our best all the time.”

Enzo Maresca insists Leicester are not the league’s only title candidates despite James Justin’s goal sending them eight points clear at the top of the Sky Bet Championship following a 1-0 win against Sunderland.

Justin was the unlikely hero for the Foxes, heading home Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner from the left after 12 minutes to seal the points and an eighth successive league win.

The home side spurned numerous chances to extend their lead as both Stephy Mavididi and Kelechi Iheanacho saw shots come back off a post while Black Cats substitute Abdoullah Ba spurned a glorious chance to equalise late on.

Maresca said: “We are happy but we are not thinking we are the only club in the Championship trying to get promoted.

“In football, the normal thing is to lose more than you win. In this moment we’ve won 12 out of 13, it’s not something normal, the players and the fans deserve to enjoy it after the relegation.

“We know that these records are important if we reach our target, these records show what the players have done and that it is not something normal, but we’re still in October.

“We would like to have the same situation in March and April, it’s fantastic, we are not the only team building to reach the title and in our case we changed 14 or 15 players from last season.

“It was a very difficult game, it’s probably the game I’m most happy with in terms of handling a different kind of game, we were very aggressive and were quite good on the ball.”

Sunderland slipped to a third straight league defeat, although Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray was impressed by his side’s performance and believes opponents Leicester are likely to win the title after their record-breaking start to the campaign.

Mowbray said: “We believed we could come here and win the game, we missed some really good chances. I asked the players to challenge themselves and see if they want to play in the Premier League one day.

“We competed really well, we just lacked the composure required at the top end of the pitch. If that’s the level we play at every week, we’re going to win enough games.

“We just need to improve the end product. We can score goals, we missed some golden chances to put the ball in the net.

“We’re not finishing above Leicester City, I think Leicester will win the league. Burnley had the same amount of points as we do at this stage last season, the results will take care of themselves.

“We put a lot of work into defending set-plays because we’re not a huge team, a free header has cost us two games on the bounce.”

Northampton boss Jon Brady admitted he was gutted to concede so late in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Leyton Orient.

The Cobblers turned the contest around after Rob Hunt’s early goal as Sam Hoskins scored twice in four second-half minutes, but Kieron Bowie then saw red for an apparent headbutt.

Orient utterly dominated the final half-hour but they were made to wait until the 96th minute to snatch a point through Shaq Forde.

“It’s hard to really comprehend,” admitted Brady. “I felt we got ourselves in a good position with 11 players out there.

“We stepped on the gas in the second half and turned it around and find ourselves 2-1 and from there I thought we would go on and win the game and maybe score more goals.

“Even in the first half, I felt we were the team having all of the entries into the final third. Yes, they had a few moments and there was a 10-minute period where they had a spell.

“It’s a disappointing goal to concede but then after that we were in the ascendancy and we pointed out a few technical things that we needed to improve at half-time and we did that.

“It made a big difference and Sam gets his goals, but the sending-off changes the dynamic of the game.

“I didn’t see the incident because I was trying to organise our back line but all I heard was the linesman say there was a coming together and they were sending Kieron off. I’ll have to watch it back.”

Orient dominated the shot count but manager Richie Wellens admitted they ultimately paid the price for a ‘wacky’ five-minute spell.

“We started really poorly and for six or seven minutes we couldn’t get out,” said Wellens. “We gave too many set-pieces away but I thought we dominated the next 25 minutes.

“We scored a great team goal and we were on top and I’d be surprised if their goalkeeper wasn’t man of the match, but we have a mad five minutes.

“Players make mistakes and you have to ride with it but Northampton’s first goal comes from our corner and then it’s a horrible deflection past our goalkeeper.

“We then give away a stupid penalty and within four minutes the game has turned around, but when they went down to 10 men, we totally dominated the game.

“Our decision-making needs to be better in terms of our final pass and our movement. I’m really disappointed because I felt we deserved to win the game but a wacky five minutes has cost us.

“We need to score more goals if we want to get to where we want to be.”

Valerien Ismael lauded his Watford players for their “brilliant” team performance as the Hornets ended a 16-game winless away run by beating Swansea 1-0 in south Wales.

Substitute Ken Sema struck a spectacular winner in the 82nd minute to earn the visitors all three points with what was his first goal of the campaign.

It was Watford’s first win on the road since beating Norwich 1-0 at Carrow Road in January, and boss Ismael was full of praise for his squad.

“It’s a very long time [since Watford won away], nine months now,” said the Frenchman.

“Congratulations to the players. I said after the game ‘thank you’ for another team performance.

“It was important to be strong and win our duels. We knew that we’ve got the quality to make the difference at any time.

“It was a brilliant performance in a difficult away game. We managed the challenge well.

“It’s a great feeling for everyone, especially for our fans, who came all the way to Swansea in midweek. They will drive back home tonight with a smile on their face.”

Harry Darling and Matt Grimes had decent chances to open the scoring for the Swans while Vakoun Bayo headed straight at Carl Rushworth with what was Watford’s clearest opening in a fairly tame first half.

Kristian Pedersen’s effort in the 72nd minute was ruled out as the contest appeared destined to end goalless.

The defender headed Grimes’ corner beyond Daniel Bachmann, only for referee Andrew Kitchen to disallow the effort after spotting a foul in the box.

It left Sema with the opportunity to steal the headlines late on, with the Sweden international’s thumping strike flying past Rushworth and into the net.

Darling twice went close in the final stages as Swansea pushed for an equaliser, but Bachmann produced a pair of fine saves as the Hornets tasted success on the road at last.

Defeat – Swansea’s second in succession following a four-game winning streak – saw Michael Duff’s side drop to 18th in the Championship table while Watford moved up to 15th.

And Duff was less than impressed with referee Kitchen’s decision to disallow Pedersen’s header.

“I thought we had a good goal disallowed,” he said.

“I think it’s that type of night where, if that goes in, we win the game.

“They (officials) said there was a foul in the build-up to it, but I’ve watched it back several times. I don’t know where the foul is.

“For us not to see where the foul is supposed to have taken place is frustrating because it was one of those nights, it was fine margins.

“They go down the other end and they find a moment of quality where the lad sticks it in the top corner from 20 yards. That’s the one bit we couldn’t find tonight.”

Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson believes his side need to be more ruthless despite extending their unbeaten run in League One to eight matches with a 1-0 victory at Port Vale.

The only goal of the game came in the 14th minute when Connor Ripley failed to keep out Ephron Mason-Clark’s back-post header from Kwame Poku’s cross.

Posh had plenty of chances to put the game to bed thereafter, but ultimately had to battle hard to see the win out.

“It was a very good result,” Ferguson said.

“These are the sort of results that you need to get away from home on a Tuesday night, and sometimes you have to just dig it out and we did that tonight.

“We should not have had to with the amount of opportunities we had, but we did.

“Some decision-making let us down in the top end of the pitch attacking wise, but defensively we were very solid – the goalkeeper was very solid, and the two centre-halves were outstanding.”

Ripley produced a superb double save in first half added time – firstly denying Joel Randall and then Ricky-Jade Jones – to keep the deficit to one going into the break.

The Vale goalkeeper had to be alert again to thwart Poku when one-on-one just before the hour mark.

“We should not be having to hang on, if you want to call it that, because the two chances – Joel’s and Ricky’s – one’s got to go in, it’s from six yards,” Ferguson added.

“And then in the second half, I mean some of the decision-making, we’ve got to be better in our decision-making.

“The players know that, but credit to the defenders in particular.”

The hosts threatened to equalise in the 67th minute as substitute James Plant’s goal-bound effort was blocked superbly by Ronnie Edwards on the line, but that was as close as they came.

Boss Andy Crosby feels his team, who are now without a win in seven league games, are lacking a cutting edge.

“We showed the effort, the application, the commitment – we went right to the end,” he said.

“We’ve played one of the top teams in the division with a real attacking threat, a real attacking presence.

“We go behind early in the game and they dominate the early periods, but we change the shape, we then press with a bit more intensity and turn a few balls over.

“And we seem to be saying the same thing when we get into the final third – we’re not executing the finish, the cross.

“But the effort and the commitment to keep going, to not feel sorry for yourself (was there), and that’s what you’ve got to do.

“I’ve said just now we’ve got two choices – we either start feeling sorry for ourselves and we splinter as a group.

“But I’m 100 per cent sure that’s not going to happen. I look at the lads and they’re giving absolutely everything for the cause.”

West Brom climbed back into the Sky Bet Championship’s top six with a 2-0 win against 10-man latecomers QPR at the Hawthorns in a game Jimmy Dunne will want to forget.

Brandon Thomas-Asante netted a 59th-minute penalty before man-of-the-match Grady Diangana scored the second nine minutes later, after he had been tripped by Kenneth Paal for the spot-kick.

The penalty award led to the dismissal of QPR defender Dunne for a second bookable offence for dissent, just two minutes after he was shown a yellow card after being injured.

The result meant West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan could celebrate his one-year anniversary – in stark contrast to opposite number Gareth Ainsworth, who lost for the fifth time in a row.

Until the penalty it looked like West Brom were going to be left doubly frustrated by QPR – first by the Londoners’ late arrival, then by their defence.

The game, which was due to start at 8pm, kicked off 10 minutes late following the delayed arrival of the QPR squad due to traffic following an incident in Birmingham city centre.

Corberan, 40, who will have been in the Baggies hotseat for 12 months on Wednesday, saw his injury-hit side find chances hard to come by until the decisive penalty.

West Brom started the brighter but Thomas-Asante failed to control a beautifully-flighted ball over the top from Diangana which left him through on goal.

Darnell Furlong headed powerfully over the crossbar from eight yards from Erik Pieters’ up-and-under cross.

West Brom looked to find some much-needed inspiration after the break and Okay Yokuslu looped a header over from Matt Phillips’ free-kick.

But they had to be alert at the other end as only a vital block from Cedric Kipre denied Ilias Chair from Reggie Cannon’s cutback.

The breakthrough came when Paal clumsily tripped Diangana as the winger cut in from the right.

Thomas-Asante thumped home the resulting spot-kick into the top corner to end his seven-match drought in style with his fourth goal of the season.

Diangana hit a post with a superb curling effort before tapping home the second goal after Nathaniel Chalobah had beaten Osman Kakay and squared.

The goal – his first since February – came on his 100th league appearance for West Brom since his £20million permanent move from West Ham.

Substitute Jayson Molumby drove just wide in time added on.