Bristol City vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
Ashton Gate.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Ashton Gate
Wednesday 22 July 2020 23:23, UK
Bristol City's top scorer Famara Diedhiou notched his 14th goal of the season to rescue a point from a 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw with Preston at Ashton Gate.
The visitors took a 16th-minute lead when Daniel Johnson's clever back-heel put Sean Maguire through and the striker coolly lifted the ball over Dan Bentley's despairing dive.
But City were level two minutes after the break, Diedhiou presented with a simple tap-in after Zak Vyner's precise through-ball had allowed Andreas Weimann to cross from the bye-line.
Both teams had chances to win it after that, but had to settle for a point each at the end of a campaign that had promised much, yet ultimately ended in disappointment.
Despite it being the only match in the final round of Championship games with nothing at stake, neither manager was tempted into experimenting with his line-up.
Preston boss Alex Neil made just one change, selecting Maguire in place of Jayden Stockley, while City caretaker-manager Dean Holden brought in three experienced players in Pedro Pereira, Adam Nagy and Diedhiou.
The home side made a bright start and Preston goalkeeper Declan Rudd had to make fine fingertip save to tip over Jamie Paterson's third minute free kick.
But North End were soon on the attack themselves, Brad Potts having a long-range effort saved and Jordan Storey heading wide when he might have done better.
There was a let-off for City five minutes after Maguire's goal when Paul Gallagher unleashed a fierce drive from 25 yards and saw the ball thump against Bentley's crossbar.
Preston were the better side for most of the first half and it took a magnificent Bentley save, one-handed diving low to his left, to stop Maguire grabbing his second just before the break.
But City were galvanised by their early second half goal and Nahki Wells wasted two good chances to put them in front, firing tamely at Rudd and then high and wide from good positions.
Bentley was brought into action again, palming over a Gallagher shot from 20 yards. Then Maguire delayed his shot too long after a mazy run and saw his effort blocked.
City's goalkeeper did well once more to keep out a low drive from substitute Tom Barkhuizen on 71 minutes.
At the other end, substitute Benik Afobe saw a close range effort blocked at the near post before North End threatened again through Potts' shot from distance which was a fraction too high. Barkhuizen fired badly over in stoppage time and Rudd made a fine save from Afobe to ensure the spoils were shared.
Bristol City's Dean Holden: "There will be private discussions over the next few days and all I can say at the moment is that there are fantastic things going on at our club, not least because of the owners. I don't know what the future is for me, but that is not important compared to fulfilling the ambition of getting Bristol City into the Premier League.
"We have put in five strong performances during my time in charge and it was important to finish on a high this evening. In the first half we were way off where I want us to be and there were some strong words in the dressing room at the interval.
"The lads responded with an early goal in the second half and from then on we had chances to win. I have been at this club for four years and enjoyed them all. It is not about me at the moment, it's about building on what we have and taking things forward next season."
Preston's Alex Neil: "We had the better chances and didn't take enough of them, which has been partly the story of our campaign. We have also given away too many cheap goals like the one in this game. That's something else we have to work on in such a competitive league.
"The squad needs bolstering and freshening up with a few signings to strengthen us. But overall I have been proud of what the players have done this season. It's about taking that extra chance or being sharper at the back to make that bit of difference if we want to improve further."
