Bristol City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. Sky Bet Championship. Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Ashton Gate on Wednesday night; Sean Neave scores late double to earn comeback win for Wolves Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Substitute Sean Neave scored a late brace as Wolves came from behind to secure a 2-1 Sky Bet Championship win over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. The hosts took a 34th-minute lead when Scott Twine was fouled 25 yards out and got up to fire in an unstoppable right-footed free-kick, sending the ball curling away from Jose Sa’s dive and into the top corner.
But Wolves piled on the second-half pressure and were rewarded after 82 minutes when Kieran Trippier volleyed in a cross from the right, Adam Armstrong’s first-time shot was saved and Neave pounced to net the rebound. Six minutes later Neave was on target again, nodding home from close range after Ladislav Krejci had headed a Trippier free-kick across goal. Wolves were deserved winners and move up to second in the table, but the result was cruel on the Robins, who defended with great tenacity. City boss Michael Skubala made two changes from the team that won 3-2 at Bolton, promoting striker Sam Bell and midfielder Twine from the bench, while Wolves brought in Jean-Ricner Bellegarde for the injured Jordan James.
Until Twine’s spectacular strike, the only fireworks had come from a display before kick-off. Wolves looked the more dangerous side in the opening half-hour but had only an Armstrong shot, comfortably saved by Brad Collins, to show for their efforts. Lorent Tolaj headed wide for City from a 29th-minute cross by Rio Cardines, but his side were equally goal-shy at the end of some promising attacks. Skubala’s men were clearly boosted by the goal and were quicker into the challenge for the remainder of the half without creating clear openings.
Wolves began the second period attacking the end where their travelling fans were massed and looked certain to equalise in the 57th minute. Rodrigo Gomes, only just introduced as a substitute for Marshall Munetsi, who had needed treatment for a head injury just before the break, broke clear down the middle only to delay his shot and be denied by a brilliant recovery tackle from Cam Pring. Collins spilled a low shot from Rafiki Said after 61 minutes, recovering to smother the rebound effort from Armstrong. Wanderers fashioned another good chance four minutes later when Bellegarde rose to meet a Trippier corner and saw his downward header parried by the diving Collins.
City were dangerous on the break and Wolves boss Cesar Peixoto made a triple change in the 73rd minute, sending on Mateus Mane, Neave and Tommy Doyle for Said, Fer Lopez and Bellegarde. It made the difference. City had late efforts from Dom Ballard and Tolaj, but Neave’s opportunistic double settled the outcome. “We fell to a sucker punch.
When you get to 80 minutes ahead against a very good side you have to take something from the game. “As a group, we have to defend better. The goals were soft from our perspective and we could have been stronger to prevent the second in particular. “But there were also occasions when we made poor decisions in the opposition half and were loose in our possession of the ball.
“Cam Pring made a great recovery tackle to help defend our lead, but the chance came from us giving the ball away and we have to be better in that respect. “There were positives, but in the end we didn’t get the job done and we need to take the learnings from why it didn’t happen. “Now have another home game against Norwich on Saturday. It would be lying to say our home form is not a concern and we need to bounce back.” “The team showed character and soul to win that game.
They kept on believing right to the end and so did our supporters, who stayed behind us at a goal down, which was very important. “We got what we deserved in the end. We created a lot of chances from wide areas in the first half without getting on the end of them often enough. “They scored from their only shot after we had dominated possession, but we did not move the ball quickly enough and we talked about that at half-time.
“In the second half the players reacted to what we asked of them and everything was done quicker. The fans played their part and the result is for them too. “Sean Neave is a young guy making his first steps in professional football and those goals will do him a lot of good. He has a lot of ability, but is humble and plays for the team.
“It was a tough game because we had to push right to the very end. Now we will have to look after the players and help them recover for the next game, which comes very quickly.” Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m! Enter for free.
