Peterborough United’s back four delivered a dominant display in the victory at Blackpool
Marcus Maddison will again grab the headlines after his match-winning goal at Blackpool today (April 13), but the Peterborough United back four deserve enormous credit for a dominant performance at Bloomfield Road.
Centre-back Ryan Tafazolli battled his way through 90 minutes despite receiving treatement for an injury on two occasions.
He claimed the Peterborough Telegraph man-of-the-match award, but Rhys Bennett, Jason Naismith and Daniel Lafferty were not far behind.
RATINGS KEY: 10-Perfect, 9-Outstanding, 8-Very good, 7-Good, 6-Average, 5-Poor, 4-Stinker
Aaron Chapman: Three clean sheets in a row since his return to the starting line-up. Not tested today, but he looked alert and patrolled his area well 6.5
Jason Naismith: Excellent display up and down the right side. Defended well against the gifted Bola when he used his superior power and strength well 7.5
Daniel Lafferty: Very composed performance. Read the game well and made many good interceptions as a result 7
Rhys Bennett: Another powerful performance from the centre-back. One key block in the second-half and handled the threat of big striker Gnanduillet well 7.5
Ryan Tafazolli: Played his part in keeping the home attack quiet with a dominant display. Also passed the ball well from the back. One terrific long ball was volleyed against the bar by Toney 8
Alex Woodyard: Fantastic workrate and attitude as usual. He helped nullify Blackpool playmaker Jay Spearing with an aggressive effort 7
Louis Reed: Very controlled performance in the centre of midfield. Picked lots of loose balls up and passed the ball pretty well considering the state of the pitch 6.5
Siriki Dembele: A tough surface for a player with his skills, but he kept running and he did a couple of important pieces of defensive work 6.5
Marcus Maddison: Quiet until he supplied a cracking finish. A constant threat on the break in the second-half 6.5
Lee Tomlin: Lovely pass for the only goal and he used the ball well whenever he was in possession. Tired and taken off towards the end 6.5
Ivan Toney: Battled well for 90 minutes and kept two strong centre-backs occupied as a result. Hit the bar with a well-struck volley and his hard work almost led to a goal from a backpass late on 7
Substitutes
Joe Ward: (for Tomlin, 70 mins).
George Cooper: (for Dembele, 78 mins).
Josh Knight: (for Reed, 88 mins).
Matt Godden: (not used).
Conor O’Malley: (not used).
Callum Cooke: (not used).
Matty Stevens: (not used).