Bristol City 3-2 Millwall: Andreas Weimann scores hat-trick in comeback Championship win
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Andreas Weimann took his season tally to 12 Championship goals with his hat-trick
An Andreas Weimann hat-trick saw Bristol City come from behind to claim a dramatic victory over Millwall.
The hosts had taken an early lead when the Austrian pounced on a mis-hit clearance from Millwall goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski, before Tom Bradshaw and a Benik Afobe penalty gave the Lions a 2-1 half-time lead.
But Weimann netted twice more inside the last 20 minutes, first from Han-Noah Massengo's cross and then after Alex Scott had seen his initial effort blocked on the line.
It proved enough for Nigel Pearson's side to bounce back from consecutive home defeats either side of Christmas for a first win in four games.
A third straight away defeat for Millwall saw them miss the chance to gain ground on the top six and build on Wednesday's win at Coventry.
Lions boss Gary Rowett was once again only able to name six substitutes, including 15-year-old Zak Lovelace, after his side were forced to postpone two of their festive season fixtures because of Covid-19 and injury problems.
They were behind after just seven minutes when Bialkowski's attempted clearance kick went straight to Weimann, who took the unexpected chance to loft the ball into the empty net from outside the penalty area for the opener.
Antoine Semenyo had a chance to put Bristol City further ahead but Bialkowski made amends for his error by getting down to save his low effort from Tomas Kalas' through ball.
Millwall were level soon after when Bradshaw got on the end of Murray Wallace's diagonal ball to prod past Max O'Leary for his seventh goal of the season and fifth in as many games.
Five minutes later, the visitors were ahead when former Bristol City loanee Afobe stepped up to convert from the spot after being brought down by Ryley Towler when Sheyi Ojo's through ball had played him in on goal.
The hosts, whose home form has been poor this season, were booed off the pitch at half-time after surrendering their lead, but Weimann almost drew them level soon after the restart following a good move with Semenyo only for Bialkowski to parry his effort away.
Substitute Massengo also forced the Poland international into a low save with his drive from outside the box.
Massengo would soon turn provider as Weimann again found the back of the net to draw the Robins level inside the last 20 minutes.
That buoyed the crowd and the home side, who proved to have enough left to produce a winner. Teenage midfielder Scott looked set to score it only for two Millwall defenders to desperately keep it out.
But Weimann was there to thrash home the rebound and send the majority of Ashton Gate into jubilant celebration.
Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol:
"I thought we started the game really well, scored the first goal again, struggled with a bit of self-doubt at times, but then dominated the second half.
"It's one of those games where the most important thing really was going to be the result, and we were able to win again from a losing position, which is important.
"There are errors of judgement once again, which are costing us, but I'm pleased for the supporters that we're able to rectify that from a losing position.
"Andreas [Weimann] has constantly been getting into the right places at the right time and it's testament to his hard work this season that he's already surpassed his best goal tally for us in a season."
Millwall manager Gary Rowett:
"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."