Preston finally picked up their first win of the Championship season by beating Peterborough United 1-0 at Deepdale thanks to Patrick Bauer’s goal.
North End had lost three games in a row to start the season, but finally grabbed three points to hopefully kickstart the season.
Bauer’s first-half header proved to be the winning goal, with the German powering an effort into the net from a Ryan Ledson free kick.
Preston had so, so many chances to add to their lead.
Daniel Johnson had a number of opportunities, as did Scott Sinclair. Ben Whiteman was unlucky with a couple of long-range efforts, Andrew Hughes had a header tipped over, Emil Riis forced a save from Christy Pym and Brad Potts fired straight at him late on.
This could have been four or five, but Preston had to settle for one. A victory and a clean sheet is just what Frankie McAvoy needed.
The key man in both of those things was Bauer.
The German centre back is back in action after a lengthy absence with a torn Achilles, with Saturday his first league start since December 2020.
Bauer got himself on the scoresheet and helped solidify Preston’s back line, showing he can still be a key man even after such a long time on the sidelines.
North End fans took to Twitter to rave about Bauer, branding his performance ‘outstanding’ and ‘brilliant’.
Others feel that Bauer makes a huge difference to Preston’s back line, and should even be in contention for the captaincy having led the defence perfectly against Peterborough.