Bristol City 1-0 Sheffield United: Hodgson’s dream start continues at Ashton Gate | OneFootball

Bristol City picked up a 1-0 home win over Sheffield United this afternoon, thanks to a first-half goal from Mark Sykes.

The Blades pushed for an equaliser throughout the rest of the match, but were denied by an imperious Radek Vítek performance between the Bristol City posts.

The result means that the Robins’ interim boss, Roy Hodgson, has now won both of his opening games since replacing Gerhard Struber little over a week ago.

As It Happened

Roy Hodgson made one change to his starting side from Friday’s win over Charlton, with Sam Morsy replacing the injured Ross McCrorie. Meanwhile, Sheffield United made five changes following their 3-3 draw with Swansea.

Sheffield United got the game underway, with the first flashpoint coming three minutes in when Cameron Pring picked up a yellow card after taking out Patrick Bamford in the middle of the park. Bristol City came close to an opener early on, but Emil Riis’ cross for Scott Twine was intercepted.

Pring was fortunate not to see red in the 11th minute, when he gave away yet another free-kick, this time in a dangerous position; however, the Blades couldn’t take advantage. Riis was at the heart of another Robins attack moments later, when his shot flashed wide of the Sheffield United net.

It was Sheffield United forward Thomas Cannon who received the second booking of the day for a heavy challenge on Morsy in midfield. The hosts opened the scoring in the 23rd minute through Sykes, when the Irishman capitalised on a loose ball after the Sheffield United goalkeeper flew off his line to deny Riis.

The visitors looked for an instant reply, but Vítek was on hand to deny Djibril Soumaré’s header. Bristol City continued to apply the pressure, with Riis seeing his shot blocked from the edge of the area.

Somehow, Twine didn’t double City’s lead on the half-hour mark when the ball flashed across the face of the goal. Harrison Burrows came close at the other end, sweetly striking a volley past Vítek’s far post.

Ashton Gate shouted for a penalty on the stroke of half-time, but today’s referee, Lewis Smith, waved away claims of handball. Blades boss, Chris Wilder, made two changes at the break, with Leo Hjelde and Soumaré replaced by Andre Brooks and Gustavo Hamer.

United almost equalised straight away in the second half, but Bamford couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet before Adam Randell swept in to clear Bristol City’s lines. Cannon also came close moments later, firing narrowly over from a distance. Vítek was then called into action to deny Brooks and Hamer.

Bamford came close again in the 56th minute, somehow heading over the bar from inside the six-yard box. Brooks forced a superb reflex save from Vítek minutes later, winning his side a corner as they continued to push for an equaliser.

Vítek once again denied the visitors, this time from close range as he came out and met Bamford, who was bearing down on goal. Brooks was shown a yellow card in the 65th minute for a foul on Max Bird. Bamford was also booked shortly after, having brought down Noah Eile in the centre circle.

Hamer saw his shot deflected behind for another Sheffield United corner, which saw Mark McGuinness force a simply sensational save out of Vítek, who by this point was having his name continuously sung by the Bristol City fans.

Hodgson turned to his bench in the 73rd minute, replacing Bird and Riis with George Earthy and Delano Burgzorg. The visitors also made a change of their own, with Oliver Arblaster being introduced in favour of Joe Rothwell.

Bristol City’s first real chance of the half came shortly after, but Burgzorg’s shot was blocked inside the penalty box. The Blades then made another substitution with Ki-Jana Hoever replacing Femi Seriki. Sykes was withdrawn for the hosts in the 81st minute, in favour of home-grown talent Sam Bell.

Final changes for both sides saw Cannon withdrawn for Callum O’Hare for the visitors and Tomi Horvat replace Twine for the Robins. As the game entered eight minutes of additional time, Bell went down with a head injury inside his own box, prompting a delay in play whilst he received treatment.

Bamford took on an ambitious volley in the 94th minute, but he couldn’t control his shot and instead saw it fly into the away end behind the goal. Moments later, O’Hare nearly found the net from the edge of the box, but his strike drifted wide. The visitors created one final chance in the dying moments, but they could not find the target, confirming back-to-back wins for Bristol City for the first time since December.