Barnsley 2-0 Bristol City: Struggling Tykes move to within two points of safety

Michal HelikImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Michal Helik's goal was his first in 39 appearances for Barnsley this season

Battling Barnsley boosted their Championship survival hopes with a comprehensive win over Bristol City.

Carlton Morris converted from close range after the visitors failed to clear Amine Bassi's left-wing corner and Michal Helik headed in from another Bassi corner from the left.

Morris forced a decent reaction save from Daniel Bentley as the home side looked to make the points safe after the break, before home defender Liam Kitching headed a Chris Martin header off the line in the closing minutes.

Victory moved the Tykes to within two points of fourth-bottom Reading.

Poya Asbaghi's men have now won four and drawn two of their past eight matches, having lost their previous six league games.

They had been pegged back through late goals to draw 1-1 in both their previous home games - against Stoke and Fulham - but that never looked like happening for a third successive match.

City boss Nigel Pearson will have been unhappy with his side's defending for both Barnsley goals, that came in the opening 21 minutes, with both scorers unmarked.

The Tykes visit South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United on Saturday, while the 18th-placed Robins host West Brom.

Barnsley boss Poya Asbaghi:

"This challenge would be my highest achievement, having come to a different country and a new league with just nine or 10 players available in January.

"But the only thing we have done with these good performances is given ourselves a chance. We haven't accomplished anything but at least we have some sort of control over our destiny now going into the last games of the season.

"It was the start to the game that we wanted by pushing Bristol City back and getting corners, which were decisive in us winning the game and you need to have that threat from set-pieces.

"We have to keep using set-pieces now because that's what got us three points from this game."

Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson:

"It's the same group of players who played at the weekend and did very well, but our inconsistencies came back to haunt us and that remains a problem for us this season.

"There was no reason why we couldn't perform in the same sort of way that we did against Blackburn, but the way we started was sloppy.

"We were also wasteful on the ball and were turning the ball over so many times when there was not a lot of pressure on us. It all comes down to concentration.

"We've got eight games to go now and the players have the opportunity to show me what they are made of before we look to make decisions concerning next season's squad."

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