Bristol City 2-0 Luton Town: Robins earn routine win

Bristol City had Mark Sykes sent off but still claimed their first Sky Bet Championship win of the season with a deserved 2-0 success against Luton at Ashton Gate.

The home side took a fifth-minute lead when Alex Scott's precise through ball allowed Nahki Wells to move into the box on the left and place a low right-footed shot just inside the far post.

Tommy Conway doubled the advantage on 27 minutes, shooting into an unguarded net from six yards after Andreas Weimann had broken down the left flank and supplied an inch-perfect low cross.

City were reduced to 10 men on 67 minutes when Sykes received a straight red card for diving into a tackle on Luke Freeman, who was cautioned for his reaction.

But Luton rarely threatened a comeback and remain winless after four Championship fixtures.

City made a fast start, earning Wells' opening goal by snapping into challenges and spreading the ball to both flanks.

Luton were second best for most of the first half, although Elijah Adebayo did go close with a low 25-yard drive that flashed narrowly wide on 16 minutes.

Nigel Pearson's men were worth their two-goal lead for a dominant opening half hour and might have extended it on 36 minutes when Han-Noah Massengo's deflected shot from the edge of the box went wide.

Adebayo headed over from a James Bree right-wing corner, but it was one of few attempts on goal by Luton, whose manager Nathan Jones was often seen gesticulating angrily at his players.

The Hatters boss made three changes at the break, sending on Jordan Clark, former City player Freeman and Admiral Muskwe for Dan Potts, Cauley Woodrow and Reece Burke.

Still City were quicker to the ball and had three chances to extend their advantage in the first 10 minutes of the second period.

Sykes and Rob Atkinson shot over from good positions, while Conway's low drive was too close to goalkeeper Ethan Horvath.

A Jay Dasilva shot was deflected for a corner and a Wells header blocked as Luton came under heavy pressure.

Atkinson went down in the box but saw his penalty claim rejected before the game's most controversial moment.

Sykes thought he had been fouled and lunged into a challenge on Freeman, who reacted by pushing him to the ground, causing a fracas. Having summoned both linesmen, referee Lee Doughty dismissed the City player and issued a yellow card to Freeman, along with Weimann and Luton captain Sonny Bradley.

Pearson reacted to the red card by taking off both his strikers, sending on Chris Martin to replace Wells and play as a lone target-man, with midfielder Joe Williams taking Conway's place.

The changes worked well and it wasn't until injury time that City goalkeeper Dan Bentley made a testing save to keep out Gabe Osho's deflected shot.

What the managers said...

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After Mark Sykes was sent off in their 2-0 win over Luton Town, Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson has admitted he's thought about walking away from football due to the poor standard of officiating.

Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "In the modern game, I can't complain about Mark's red card, although in my time as a player I would probably have been applauding him for the tackle. But how their player stayed on the pitch I don't know. Officials have influenced all our games so far and tonight we should have had a penalty when Rob Atkinson was fouled. I have empty pockets because of expressing my views on refereeing decisions over the years, so I gave it up long ago.

"I would rather talk about a really positive performance from a team including a lot of young players offering real encouragement for the future. Our fans have gone home having seen a display of real commitment and I am happy for them because we have caused them quite a bit of frustration. Tonight we didn't make the mistakes that hurt us in our first home game against Sunderland and even after the sending-off we coped well defensively."

Luton's Nathan Jones: "We were outfought, outrun and outdone at all the things we are normally good at. On reflection, I may have picked the wrong team, but there was no excuse for the way we started the game, which set the tone for what followed. They had more energy than us and were quicker to the ball. That doesn't often happen to us and it is a concern.

"We tried to play offside for the opening goal, which we don't do. We are struggling to score goals at the moment, but you have to set a platform by defending properly. I made changes at half-time, but to be honest we could only be better in the second period after that first-half performance. It was only after the sending off that we got any sort of grip. It was a bad tackle, but I was disappointed with Luke Freeman's reaction."