Bristol City vs Sunderland. Sky Bet Championship.
Ashton GateAttendance24,543.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Bristol City and Sunderland at Ashton Gate as the Black Cats secured victory in a five-goal thriller on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 6 August 2022 18:40, UK
Everton loanee Ellis Simms marked his debut with two goals as Sunderland gained their first three-point haul since returning to the Sky Bet Championship with a 3-2 win at Bristol City.
The striker netted inside four minutes, firing low past Dan Bentley from 20 yards after Ross Stewart had won a tackle on the edge of the box.
City were level in the 10th minute, Andreas Weimann collecting a Zak Vyner pass inside the area and making space to turn and shoot home from a central position.
The hosts went in front six minutes after the break when Chris Martin bundled in a Weimann cross from the right.
However, Simms was on target again two minutes later, shooting low through Bentley's legs from 10 yards, before Stewart headed the winner from Alex Pritchard's 72nd minute cross to leave the home side with no points to show for their first two matches.
City lost midfielder Matty James to an injury in the warm-up. Han-Noah Massengo took his place, with Cameron Pring coming in on the bench, while Sunderland boss Alex Neil brought in Simms for Elliot Embleton, who was named among the substitutes.
A crowd of 24,543 witnessed a fast, open first half, with both teams looking dangerous going forward.
Having quickly equalised, City had a good chance to go in front in the 12th minute when Jay Dasilva shot wide from an Alex Scott pass.
Sunderland had another narrow escape in the 32nd minute, with Jack Clarke clearing a Martin shot off the line after more good work from teenager Scott, playing just behind the strikers.
However, the visitors also threatened and Simms might have done better when volleying over just before the break, after finding space behind Vyner on the right of City's back-three.
Sunderland finished the half strongly, Bentley reacting smartly to keep out Corry Evans' well-struck volley from 25 yards after a corner had been headed clear.
The second period began like the first, with both sides finding the back of the net, with Simms second goal scored in front of the massed ranks of travelling fans.
Sunderland got on top and Bentley had to save and deny Simms a hat-trick when Clarke's ghosted past Vyner to cross low from the left.
City boss Nigel Pearson reacted by sending on Timm Klose for the struggling Vyner and Kane Wilson for right wing-back Mark Sykes.
It made no difference as Stewart deservedly put the Black Cats in front. But it took a brilliant block by defender Dan Ballard to stop Scott levelling with 14 minutes remaining.
Klose shot over from distance and Martin fired wide from a Joe Williams cross as the visitors sought a leveller - but it was too little too late to make up for a fragile City defensive effort.
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "It is not a day for excuses. If we continue to defend like that, it will be a long season. Last week at Hull I could argue that we were unlucky, but I certainly can't say that today. The goals we let in were really poor. That's five we have now conceded in two games, so we are giving ourselves far too much to do. The first was an individual mistake and the second came from our throw-in. The third was just too easy for them. We had the chance to show a big crowd what we are about and didn't take it.
"To score twice at home and not take anything from the game is disappointing. We got ourselves into a winning position, but couldn't capitalise. Although we had enough chances to take something, we can have no complaints. Credit them for putting us under pressure. Their front two were lively, but we made basic errors, which we have been punished for. It's a big frustration. We have dominated possession, but not been able to do enough with it. The big thing, though, is our defensive frailty and that is a problem we have to solve."
Sunderland's Alex Neil: "I thought Ellis and Ross were absolutely outstanding, never giving Bristol's back-three a moment's peace. Ellis is powerful, but he's a rarity because he is also quick and the two of them complement each other really well. We signed him to push Ross, but also to play alongside him and give us a different dynamic, which was there for all to see. We now have two lads up top, who we can play the ball up to and both have goals in them.
"If there was disappointment, it was in the goals we conceded. For some reason we tried to play offside and conceded as a result. Their second goal was as soft as you will see at this level. We got done by a one-two and then didn't cover the space in the middle quickly enough. That was so weak. But we didn't feel sorry for ourselves and it was after that goal that we played our best football.
"Their keeper (Dan Bentley) has made an unbelievable save to deny Ellis a hat-trick and I felt we could have scored more than three goals. Bristol had some good spells in the first half, but we were really dangerous even then and deserved to win. Between their second goal and the last eight minutes we were totally dominant."
