Bristol City 0-1 Barnsley: Tykes heap misery on managerless Robins
- Published
Carlton Morris has scored in each of his past three games for Barnsley
Carlton Morris grabbed the only goal to secure Barnsley's third straight win and heap more misery on managerless Bristol City.
Morris tucked away the loose ball in a goalmouth scramble midway through the second half for his third goal in as many games.
The Robins, who sacked boss Dean Holden earlier this week, rarely looked like avoiding their sixth straight league defeat.
They struggled to create chances in a drab game and have now failed to find the net in the last four of those losses.
Barnsley remain 10th following their victory, four points off the top six, while City slip to 15th.
The home side looked visibly short of confidence and it took them until just before the interval to muster a shot on goal, although Famara Diedhiou's attempt was comfortably gathered by Tykes goalkeeper Brad Collins.
Barnsley's Michal Helik - on target when the teams drew 2-2 at Oakwell in October - should have given the visitors an early lead, firing over after Conor Chaplin's ball deflected to him at close range.
However, the Tykes continued to dominate after the break and Callum Brittain almost put them in front, forcing a save from Dan Bentley.
But the breakthrough arrived in the 68th minute as City failed to clear Alex Mowatt's corner and Michael Sollbauer hooked the ball back in for Morris to score.
Bristol City joint interim head coach Paul Simpson told BBC Radio Bristol: "I don't think we can fault the effort and commitment from the players, but please don't take that as a pat on the back for them, because that's the base we should expect.
"Our commitment's there, but our quality's just been really poor. We let ourselves down on the ball and we're talking about a group of footballers who are better than they're showing at the moment.
"There isn't a magic formula or a drug you can give them. The players have got to dig deep. They have definitely lost confidence and belief.
"When you've got things going against you, you sometimes try too hard to be too precise with your passes. You've got to be a bit smarter and calmer about it. We haven't tested them enough."
Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Sheffield: "When they've just sacked the manager and they don't have confidence, you know it will be a game all about the basics - long ball, control the channels, win the second balls and try to keep the pressure on the opponent.
"The first half was excellent. We dominated and controlled a lot of situations. The second half was more stable; we didn't concede a lot of chances and we scored on the set-piece.
"The last four games have been really excellent on set-pieces. That's why we told the guys today it could be a big difference and we had to be clinical.
"We did that and it's a good feeling. The team spirit is excellent, we kept a clean sheet, got the three points and keep moving."