Bristol City vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
Ashton GateAttendance23,757.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City and Norwich City at Ashton Gate as Mark Sykes scored a first-half winner for the Robins on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 11 February 2023 18:57, UK
Mark Sykes was the match-winner as Bristol City extended their unbeaten run to nine games with a 1-0 victory over Norwich at Ashton Gate in the Championship.
The hosts took a 24th-minute lead when Cameron Pring's precise through ball found Sykes, whose low left-footed shot squirmed under the body of diving goalkeeper Angus Gunn.
From then on, the hosts defended their lead with a hugely committed performance in a closely fought encounter.
Norwich were equally spirited, but could not conjure sufficient clear openings to force an equaliser as they slipped to a second successive defeat.
Robins boss Nigel Pearson was forced into a team change, with Joe Williams replacing the injured Kal Naismith in central midfield, while opposite number David Wagner gave a start to Marcelino Nunez and selected Gunn between the posts, with Tim Krul on the bench.
Norwich looked the more threatening side up to Sykes' goal. An early right-wing cross from Teemu Pukki drifted just wide of Max O'Leary's far post.
Josh Sargent headed wide from a Marcelino Nunez cross and Gabriel Sara sent a low shot wide as the visitors pressed.
The hosts had attacked with promise, while lacking a final pass until Pring sent up Sykes to break the deadlock.
That gave them a lift and George Tanner sent a glancing header wide from an Alex Scott cross four minutes later.
Andrew Omobamidele headed over for Norwich from a corner and Pukki had a low drive pushed around a post by O'Leary.
But Bristol City had the final chance of a competitive first half when Nahki Wells was off target with a header from a Sykes cross.
Wagner made a change at the break, sending on Onel Hernandez for Nunez, and saw his side start the second period brightly.
Grant Hanley headed wide from a corner after 52 minutes and soon afterwards Sara's low shot was blocked by Rob Atkinson.
Pearson responded with a double substitution, replacing Sam Bell and Wells with two of his January recruits, Anis Mehmeti and Harry Cornick, both making their Ashton Gate debuts.
The hosts then enjoyed a period of pressure without fashioning a clear chance.
It was Norwich who threatened again with 12 minutes left when Pukki had a shot blocked from a Dimitris Giannoulis cross.
But the home side should have wrapped up the points two minutes later when Cornick broke clear on to a Williams pass only to see his shot smothered by Gunn.
Norwich had the ball in the net five minutes from time, but the whistle had already blown for offside against Giannoulis before he crossed from the left.
Despite an added-time free-kick from a dangerous position and a late corner, the visitors had to leave empty-handed.
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson:
"What impresses me most about our current form is the collective determination to keep the ball out of our net. It was a good performance against tough opponents. We now have a team our fans can take pride in because of the effort they put in and the future is looking brighter for the club. I don't think about the play-offs. All I am concerned with is winning the next match and how we can get the best out of the players at any given time. We have created some momentum after a run of games, which had brought some criticism. Now we have to keep heads down and continue working hard.
"There will be setbacks in a league as competitive as the Championship, but as long as we keep aspiring to the standards that we have set I will be happy. I think supporters are recognising the spirit among the players and their willingness to work hard. It's not so long since we had a bench packed with young untried players. Now the team is full of academy products and there is a lot of experience among the substitutes."
Norwich's David Wagner:
"It was a disappointing result, but we deserved it because of a poor first-half display. We started slowly, took too many touches, moved the ball too slowly and played too many square passes. The second half was better, with greater intensity to our play, but even then we didn't create enough chances from the amount of possession we had. It has to be part of our development to make more forward passes and use the ball quicker to make openings. That's a message I am trying to get across.
"I felt there was a foul in the build-up to their goal and we had one ruled out near the end for what was a very close offside decision. But there are no excuses. There is a lot of work to do to ensure we play consistently with the necessary intensity. Our substitutes helped achieve it today, but I was not happy with the way we played in the first half. The overall performance was not good enough to deserve anything from the game. Now we have a home game on Tuesday night (against Hull) and must ensure that Carrow Road is an unpleasant place for opponents to visit."
