Bristol City vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Sky Bet Championship.
Ashton GateAttendance19,096.
Sunday 6 November 2016 16:27, UK
Steve Sidwell scored a stunning 50-yard goal as Brighton beat Bristol City 2-0 at Ashton Gate in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday evening.
Jamie Murphy doubled the lead with a deflected effort as Chris Hughton's men won their fourth game in a row and made it four matches without conceding in a clash which will be remembered for the audacious strike by Sidwell.
The result keeps the Seagulls in second place, four points behind Newcastle - who beat Cardiff 2-1 earlier in the day to maintain their lead at the top - and also means they are unbeaten in their last 10 league games.
It was a frantic opening five minutes to the game, with Tammy Abraham posing the most danger with his pace and movement and the on-loan Chelsea star played a wonderful reverse pass into the path of Lee Tomlin, but he was unable to make the most of it and blasted wide.
Brighton eventually settled into the game, but it was still the Robins controlling possession, former Middlesbrough star Gary O'Neil dictating proceedings in the middle of the park.
But, when Korey Smith lost the ball just near the halfway line, Sidwell produced a moment of magic to put Brighton into a 13th-minute lead after winning back possession, he looked up and hit a left-footed strike past a stranded Richard O'Donnell, who was well of his line for his first goal since April.
The 33-year-old, formerly of Reading, Chelsea and Aston Villa, then ran to the sidelines with his team-mates to celebrate by holding up the shirt of the absent Anthony Knockaert, who was grieving following the death of his father.
Despite their bright start, Bristol City were rocked by that goal and failed to recover sufficiently and several minutes later found themselves two-down courtesy of a Murphy strike.
The Scotland winger - who was causing all sorts of problems on the wing - cut in from the left and after feigning to shoot, eventually did and found the bottom corner via a deflection to give Brighton complete control.
Knowing they needed to improve, Bristol City came out, determined to reduce the deficit and get back into the game, but Hordur Magnusson wasted an opportunity when he headed right into the arms of David Stockdale.
Down the other end, Brighton were still hoping to increase their own advantage and Glenn Murray - who was leading the line well - turned superbly before finding Jiri Skalak, who could only hit a stinging drive to warm the palms of O'Donnell.
Veteran forward Aaron Wilbraham came on to offer some much needed support to Abraham and there was a moment of worry for Bristol City, when O'Neil went down momentarily after taking a high boot to the jaw.
The introduction of Wilbraham was giving the Brighton defence something different to think about and he should have been awarded a penalty after he was clearly fouled by defender Shane Duffy, but the referee was not interested, despite the striker's protests.
Substitute Tomer Hemed ignored the calls of his colleagues and blasted one final effort high into the stands, but it did not matter as Brighton left with the victory and Bristol City slipped out of the play-off places.
Following the match, Brighton boss Hughton told Sky Sports that Sidwell's strike had settled his sides' nerves.
"It was one of those strikes, where as soon as he hit it, I knew it was in. It was a difficult one for the goalkeeper because it was unexpected and it was with his left foot.
"A wonderful opener for us and as I said, any nerves we might have had, it calmed us down."
