English Football League - Championship
Saturday, November 10th 2018
Ashton Gate

	Bristol City	0
	Preston North End	1

Match Report

James Crawley reports from Ashton Gate

Posted Saturday, November 10th 2018 @CrawleyJames92

Report: Bristol City 0-1 Preston North End

Saturday, November 10th 2018

Callum Robinson’s first-half strike means City’s wait for a win over Preston North End continues.

Robinson tapped home in front of the Ashton Gate South Stand, shortly after the half-hour mark with City unable to force a reply.

Josh Brownhill went close with a free kick which Declan Rudd tipped over, in one of a handful of chances for the home side.

After a bad day at the office, the result sees Johnson’s side move to 13^th in the Sky Bet Championship.

Mäenpää returns

Niki Mäenpää returned to the City goal in one of three changes to Lee Johnson’s starting XI from a week earlier. Max O’Leary was named as City’s substitute goalkeeper, with Niclas Eliasson and Matty Taylor also having to make way for Nathan Baker and Andreas Weimann, respectively.

BS3 may have been soaked overnight but action on the pitch dried up a little, particularly in the early stages, in an even start to the game.

Famara Diédhiou headed narrowly over for the hosts, while Mäenpää positioned himself well to pluck a ball from the air from a Sean Maguire header.

City, adopting a wing-back formation this afternoon, looked for inspiration out wide and Jack Hunt looked creative down the right-hand side. The right-back almost scored from a mis-hit cross when Rudd had to tip the ball over the crossbar.

The Robins almost found themselves in trouble when Adam Webster’s backpass header sold Mäenpää short but the former Finland international did well to put off the advancing Maguire.

Robinson deals Robins blow

However, there was little the City keeper could do when Robinson pounced the open the scores. A low ball into the penalty area from Tom Barkhuizen was only cleared as far as Daniel Johnson who managed to pick out the unmarked Robinson, who tapped the ball into the City net.

With the half-time score at 1-0, City knew there was still time to breathe some life into the fixture, however they would survive a scare shortly after the restart. Barkhuizen was first to go close, before Maguire saw an effort blocked.

Attacking changes

Diédhiou did have Rudd scrambling but placed a header wide, before Johnson looked for attacking options from the bench; Eliasson and Jamie Paterson were introduced, with Baker and Liam Walsh making way.

Next would be Diédhiou to depart with Taylor getting a 25-minute run-out, but immediately the Lilywhites raced down on the City goal. It came when Robinson skipped past Webster before advancing into City area, where he Cruyff-turned to create himself space but Webster recovered and blocked the shot.

Taylor’s first involvement was threatening when he received Paterson’s pass before firing a low cross which Rudd smothered ahead of the waiting-to-pounce Weimann.

City looked more alert as the autumn evening set in and only the fingertips of Rudd denied Brownhill’s free kick, after Taylor was fouled around 25 yards out from the Preston goal.

However, City couldn’t muster a late equaliser, despite the roaring crowd late on, with the final whistle confirming now a seven-year wait for a win against the Lilywhites.

City return to action in two week's time, after the next round of international fixtures, when Johnson's side face a trip to Leeds United.