Bristol City 2-0 Blackpool: Andreas Weimann and Alex Scott pile more pressure on Seasiders
- Published
Andreas Weimann (centre) opened the scoring for Bristol City in their victory over Blackpool at Ashton Gate Stadium
Andreas Weimann's stunner and Alex Scott's first Championship goal of the season earned Bristol City their first win over Blackpool in over 13 years.
Weimann curled a lovely shot into the top corner in the second half to break the deadlock, and Scott's smart finish put an end to what had been a stiff rearguard action from the Lancashire club.
Blackpool's game plan had to be rewritten after only 30 seconds when target-man Gary Madine limped off with a knee injury, to be replaced by Manchester City loanee Morgan Rogers.
Blackpool's defence, well marshalled by Jordan Thorniley and Curtis Nelson, had restricted the home side, and had come closest to a breakthrough through Jerry Yates.
However, in the 58th minute Austrian midfielder Weimann produced a telling moment of class, playing a one-two with Andy King to give himself room before curling his shot into the far corner to open the scoring.
With nine minutes left Scott made sure of the points when Harry Cornick's cross was miskicked to him inside the box, and he calmly picked his spot with a firm, low finish to leave the visitors six points from safety in 22nd place, having played a game more than Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic below them.
For nearly an hour Mick McCarthy's side had weathered relentless pressure, with Nelson brilliantly defending one breakaway when he was left single-handed against four attackers.
Yates, low on confidence after a run of 17 league games without a goal, missed the best opportunity of the first half after running on to a clearance by goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, which evaded the Bristol defence, only to push the ball wide of the left-hand post as he tried to round Max O'Leary in the Robins goal.
Madine was later seen on crutches and wearing a protective boot in what looks like a further blow to Blackpool's survival hopes.
Victory extends City's good run of form to only one league defeat in 12 and sees them move into the top half of the Championship table for the first time since October.
Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson:
On Alex Scott's future: "So far the speculation has been cooked up by journalists and agents.
"We have not received one firm offer. If we do, it will need be more than £25 million in today's market.
"I believe Alex will play for England one day. I thought that when I first saw him in a training session and nothing since has changed my mind."
On the victory: "We thoroughly deserved to win. It was an afternoon when patience was the key.
"The team showed it after a frustrating first half. And Andi Weimann has demonstrated it in awaiting a first-team chance.
"We had a lot of possession, which meant we didn't have too many chances to counter-attack, but when we did we looked dangerous.
"It was another good home performance. No one could argue with our right to the points."
Blackpool boss Mick McCarthy:
"It didn't help losing Gary Madine to injury so early. He has a brace on his knee and we can only hope it isn't serious.
"It was a poor performance and I told the lads we had let our fans down. We were well beaten and it wasn't good enough.
"We had a great chance to take the lead in the first half and I think missing it affected Jerry Yates' performance.
"But as a team we have to be better. It was extremely frustrating to watch because we never got into the game.
"Games are ticking away and what we can't afford to do is play like we did last week when everyone was pleased with the performance and then produce this sort of display."