Argyle picked up a pleasing, comfortable victory over Burton Albion, kicking off 2026 at Home Park in ideal fashion.
The Greens won 3-0, with Brendan Galloway scoring in the first half, and then goals being added after the break from substitute Mathias Ross, and then a penalty from Lorent Tolaj.
Argyle made three changes for the game, with Julio Pleguezuelo, Xavier Amaechi and Galloway the men to come into the side. Mathias Ross, Brendan Wiredu and Matty Sorinola all moved to the bench, alongside Jamie Paterson, who had not played since the away game at Wycombe Wanderers in early December.
The Greens were on the front foot from literally the first minute of the half. Alex Mitchell hit a channel to find Lorent Tolaj running onto it. Goalkeeper Brad Collins had thought about coming for it, but changed his mind, and began to backpedal. Tolaj, spotting this, lobbed Collins, but saw his effort strike the crossbar.
Tolaj was enjoying angling runs and harassing a side he scored twice against in September. Another foray, this time in an inside right position, saw him cut onto his favoured left foot and catch a shot well, but it faded wide.
Just before 20 minutes, Argyle had a corner which looked like it was perfect for Mitchell, but his header was blocked – only for another corner, though, to give Argyle took the lead.
Joe Ralls’ whipped delivery was low, and Galloway had got in front of his marker at the near post. The Zimbabwean, playing his first game since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, hooked the ball home. It was his first goal since a strike against Leeds United in the Emirates FA Cup in February 2024. That was 698 days ago – a mere trifle compared to his last league goal, against Bolton Wanderers, 1,538 days prior.
Argyle deserved their lead, and spent the rest of the half seeking a second. Their best effort come probably from Amaechi; a Mitchell header travelled a long way forward to find Tolaj, who helped on. Amaechi saw the ball take a long time to settle for him, and then he watched as his right-footed half-volley was well pushed round by Collins.
There was a big scare near the end of the half, which was extended by six minutes after a head injury to Burton’s Alex Hartridge saw the Albion centre-back need to be substituted. Conor Hazard received a pass back, but his attempted pass to Mitchell was short. Fabio Tavares nipped in, but Hazard recovered to save.
Burton’s approach in the second half continued as in the first period, even after going a goal down. That is, extremely defensive, seemingly content to try to keep the deficit to 1-0, and see if they could find a goal from somewhere.
This served mainly to slow the game down to a point where it became a bit of a hard watch, save for the fact that Argyle were winning. The things the Greens had done well in the first half, from an attacking perspective, and there were plenty, came from keeping the tempo up.
By the hour mark, this had dwindled, and Tom Cleverley acted by bringing on Caleb Watts for Bim Pepple, Watts having had a notable impact as a sub at Stevenage three days prior. There was another, more enforced, substitution, as Ross came on for the seemingly struggling Pleguezuelo.
And it was Ross that made the almost instant impact.
Argyle got a corner on the right, and worked it short via Amaechi and Bali Mumba to Ralls, who clipped in a cross. Tolaj fought hard to get something on it at the far post, and in doing so he got the ball to land in the six-yard area, where Ross was on-hand to steer in.
For Galloway’s goal we gave you the stat of the number of days since he last scored. For this one, we’ll throw in a wilder one. This is the first time Argyle have scored two goals from goalscorers whose surnames are both regions of Scotland. Probably. We’re not checking it. (And it’s January, so feel free to start your own ‘Argo are after Denzel Dumfries’ rumours.)
Two more Argyle subs were made, and both played their part in Argyle’s third goal. Brendan Wiredu, on for Ralls, won a free-kick. Matty Sorinola, on for Amaechi, took it, and Galloway was fouled at the far post.
Tolaj, who missed his last penalty, made no mistake this time, driving to the goalkeeper’s right, and sealing the points.
Argyle: 1 Conor Hazard, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo (2 Mathias Ross, 60), 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Lorent Tolaj, 10 Xavier Amaechi (29 Matty Sorinola, 72), 11 Bali Mumba, 15 Alex Mitchell (39 Tegan Finn, 82), 19 Malachi Boateng, 22 Brendan Galloway, 27 Bim Pepple (17 Caleb Watts, 60), 32 Joe Ralls (4 Brendan Wiredu, 72). Substitutes: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond (gk), 7 Jamie Paterson.
Goals: Galloway 21, Ross 63, Tolaj pen 77
Booked: Tolaj 66, Mumba 67
Burton: 24 Bradley Collins, 3 Jack Armer, 4 Kegs Chauke (capt), 5 Terence Vancooten, 6 Toby Sibbick, 11 Fabio Tavares (56 Zac Scutt, 90), 12 George Evans (38 Jack Newall, 90), 15 Kyran Lofthouse, 16 Alex Hartridge (14 Nick Akoto, 28), 19 Dylan Williams (41 Sulyman Krubally, 90), 22 Julian Larsson (39 Josh Taroni, 90). Substitutes: 27 Kamil Dudek (gk), 50 Jamal Williamson.
Booked: Akoto 75, Lofthouse 79
Attendance: 14,662 (257 away)
Referee: Ollie Yates
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