With both Bristol City and Birmingham City sitting on four points from their respective opening two fixtures, Saturday’s clash at Ashton Gate would prove to be a fascinating one.
BCI: O’Leary; Pring, Dickie, Vyner, Tanner; Knight, Williams, James; Bell, Cornick, Mehmeti
BIR: Ruddy; Buchanan, Long, Sanderson, Laird; Sunjic, Bielik; Dembélé, Anderson, Bacuna; Hogan
Chances were few and far between throughout the opening stages at Ashton Gate, with the first arriving after around twenty minutes. A cross whipped into the box for Cornick was squandered by the hosts, with the forward unable to position himself in time – allowing Birmingham City to clear the danger.
It was the visitors that found the opening goal deep in first-half stoppage time at Ashton Gate through Miyoshi – who had only just been introduced as a substitute. Having already had a chance cleared off the goal-line, the Japanese star thumped a volley past O’Leary from close range on the stroke of half-time.
Bacuna looked to add a second for the visitors after dancing past Dickie – who was later dismissed for a sloppy challenge on James, but blazed his effort against the base of the post while trying to pick out the bottom corner.
Bell looked to tee up Wells as the hosts looked for a way to restore parity at Ashton Gate, though the latter saw his strike fly wide of the target from close range. Ultimately though, Birmingham City found their long-awaited second goal through Jutkiewicz in the 84th minute – sealing the three points for the visitors.
Bristol City will look to return to winning ways on Friday as they travel to Hull City, while Birmingham City are preparing to welcome Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
