Bristol City vs Millwall. Sky Bet Championship.
Ashton GateAttendance18,033.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Bristol City and Millwall at Ashton Gate as Andreas Weimann scored a hat-trick to complete a gutsy comeback for Nigel Pearson's men on Sunday
Monday 3 January 2022 12:48, UK
Andreas Weimann netted a hat-trick as Bristol City edged out Millwall 3-2 in a Sky Bet Championship thriller at Ashton Gate.
The home side went in front after seven minutes when Weimann latched on to a dreadful clearance from Bartosz Bialkowski and scooped the ball over the Millwall goalkeeper's head from 25 yards out.
However, Tom Bradshaw escaped the attention of Ryley Towler to head home a Murray Wallace cross from close range in the 23rd minute, bringing the Lions level.
Towler was at fault again five minutes later, bringing down Benik Afobe from behind to concede a clear penalty that the striker coolly tucked away with a low finish.
Weimann equalised in the 73rd minute as he got in front of his marker to connect sweetly with Han-Noah Massengo's chip into the box from the left.
And the experienced attacker celebrated his treble five minutes from time, firing home from eight yards out after an Alex Scott shot had been blocked on the line.
The goal was enough to both give Nigel Pearson only his fourth win in 21 home games as City boss and settle an entertaining contest.
Pearson named seven graduates from the club's academy in his starting line-up, including 19-year-old centre-back Towler, who had been on loan at Grimsby.
Gary Rowett made one change from Millwall's 1-0 victory at Coventry, with former Bristol loanee Afobe replacing the ill Mason Bennett up front.
Weimann's 10th goal of the season gave City the perfect start, but they had scored early in their previous two home games - against Huddersfield and QPR - only to lose both fixtures.
Pearson's men should have gone two up in the 21st minute when Antoine Semenyo broke onto a perfect through ball and saw his tame shot saved by Bialkowski.
It proved an expensive miss as Towler's inexperience was exposed and Millwall took charge. Bradshaw's goal meant he had scored for a fifth successive game.
Ayman Benarous volleyed over for City from just outside the box, but Millwall missed a good chance to double their lead before the break when Shaun Hutchinson headed straight at keeper Max O'Leary.
Pearson reacted to boos from home supporters by sending on Chris Martin and Massengo for the second half, in place of Benarous and Towler.
His side made a bright start, with Weimann's 49th-minute shot bringing out a good save from Bialkowski. Matty James then appealed unsuccessfully for a handball inside the box by Jake Cooper.
Massengo had a low drive saved by the diving Bialkowski before Weimann's opportunism turned the game around and left Millwall with nothing to show for their spirited performance.
City have a habit of conceding late goals this season, but they protected their lead without O'Leary having to make a save.
Weimann was hugged by Pearson as he left the pitch clutching the match ball.
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "We made a lot of mistakes today, but we could also have scored more goals. By half-time we had let a winning position turn into a losing one and I stressed the importance of the second half in terms of turning our season around. Last year was a disappointing one for us and it was vital to start 2022 on a positive note.
"The response was excellent and I hope our fans have gone home knowing that their team gave everything to turn this match around. It is great for the club that so many young lads were involved. But when that is the case you are going to get setbacks. They are all talented enough to be playing, but it would be unrealistic not to expect errors here and there. Andi Weimann is having his best season for us in terms of goalscoring and we are only halfway through."
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "I'm disappointed. We conceded three poor goals and you can't do that and hope to win. We did well in the first half to overcome a rare error by Bartosz and looked in control at half-time. That was the turning point. They made substitutions and changed their shape, but we should have dealt with it better. The two second-half goals were bad from our point of view because we had three centre-backs, who should have dealt with the situations.
"Our squad has been severely tested over recent games and every time we take a step forward in terms of getting players fit we seem to take another one back. Mason Bennett went down ill last night and George Evans has come back into the squad, despite not being fully fit. We could possibly have had today's game called off, but we didn't want that to happen because we felt we could build on our win at Coventry."
