Stoke City 1-2 Bristol City: Bristol City come from behind to end Stoke's unbeaten run

Anis Mehmeti celebrates his goal for Bristol CityImage source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Anis Mehmeti signed for Bristol City on transfer deadline day in January

Anis Mehmeti scored his first goal for Bristol City as they beat Stoke 2-1 to end the Potters' five-game unbeaten run.

Nick Powell gave Stoke the lead nine minutes before half-time, striking into the net from close range, after Nahki Wells and Andi Weimann both missed opportunities to put the visitors ahead.

Weimann had a goal ruled out for Bristol City for being offside early in the second half by the fourth official before Zak Vyner's header levelled the score.

Substitute Mehmeti then wrapped up the win five minutes from full-time for Bristol City's fifth consecutive win at the Bet365 Stadium.

The win means Bristol City move above Stoke, who have been one of the Championship's in-form teams through March, up to 13th in the table and ended a run of four away games without scoring a goal.

It was the hosts who entirely dominated the opening 20 minutes, putting pressure on Bristol City despite creating few clear-cut opportunities, as the Robins had the best chances to take the lead.

Wells put the ball wide after being fed in on goal in a one-on-one with Jack Bonham, while Weimann also sent a header directly at the Stoke keeper.

They were made to pay minutes later through a straightforward Stoke goal, as Tyrese Campbell was found by a long cross-field ball before he picked out Powell in the box who struck it straight into the net.

Campbell had the chance to double Stoke's lead just before the break but his header was well saved by a diving Max O'Leary.

Bristol City came out after half-time revitalised and, having looked more threatening in attack, Vyner confidently headed Sam Bell's cross beyond Bonham.

Weimann then set Wells loose down the right shortly before full-time and he squared the ball across the box for Mehmeti - who signed for Bristol City on transfer deadline day in January - to simply tap in and secure all three points.

Stoke City manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Stoke:

"I thought it was basically a game of two halves. First half, I thought we were excellent, particularly the first 20 minutes. I thought they had a little spell in the middle of the first half where they were quite dangerous and got their chances - certainly one of them was a poor decision from us.

"And then I thought we finished the first half well. We get the goal, we look as if the momentum is in our way and I thought we were good value.

"Second half it was basically roles reversed. When we put the ball forward we didn't keep the ball alive at the top end of the pitch well enough. We didn't land on second balls in the middle of the pitch well enough, the game became too stretched.

"We struggled with high pressure and then when we did have the ball, we gave the ball away too cheaply. When you don't do the fundamentals in football well enough, you're going to find it difficult and we've got to give credit to Bristol City in the second half who were better."

Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol:

"We were pretty awful in the first 10 or 15 minutes, we just couldn't settle in the game and our choice of passing out from the back was really poor.

"But you can't play well every time you go out there and I thought we stuck at it in the first half where we were not great. We still had the two best chances and I thought Sam Bell was excellent particularly in the first half.

"The pitch suited our strengths in terms of having pace and as the game developed we looked more likely to score again just because of the types of players we've got. All the subs who went on had a really positive impact on the game too.

"It's just a good result for us, it means we go above them, we get over the 50 points mark. We've found scoring goals difficult of late from open play so it's nice to come back in a game where, although they've dominated possession in the first half, they didn't open us up too many times."

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