Bristol City forward Sinclair Armstrong (right) competes for the ball with Birmingham City's Phil Neumann.Shutterstock

Sinclair Armstrong (right) scored his first goal for 11 months to give Bristol City victory over Birmingham City

Sinclair Armstrong's first goal for 11 months kept Bristol City in the play-off places with victory over Birmingham City.

The 22-year-old raced clear and produced a cool finish in the first half to give the Robins three consecutive wins for the first time since December 2023, following victories over Southampton in midweek and at Norwich last weekend.

Birmingham also won in midweek, at Preston North End, but that is now their only league win in their last six.

Chris Davies' side pressed hard for an equaliser in the second half but the home side were rarely troubled as they defended with discipline and organisation.

Birmingham had headed to the West Country with high hopes after notching up their first away win since 16 August 16 at Preston, but Ashton Gate is becoming a fortress for Gerhard Struber's side.

Only Coventry City have won more home Championship games in 2025 than the Robins' 11, and defensive work like Robert Atkinson's superb early block-tackle on Jay Stansfield, after sharp approach play by Patrick Roberts and Keshi Anderson, has helped produce that record.

Rob Dickie had gone close at the other end but the Robins came up with the only goal three minutes before half-time, and it had the hallmark of Struber's work on the training ground about it.

The Austrian talked ahead of the game about the work he and his coaching staff have done in improving Armstrong's timing, and that work paid off perfectly as Atkinson played a simple but effective pass down the left flank.

Armstrong's run from his own half was perfect and his pace not only took him away from Phil Neumann but gave him time to open up his body and side-foot the ball home past James Beadle with his stronger right foot.

Scott Twine, who scored twice in the midweek win over Southampton, missed a chance to double the lead in the second half but it was Birmingham who ramped up the pressure, with Davies sending on Lewis Koumas, Demarai Gray and Kyogo Furahashi in a triple attacking switch.

The Robins kept most of their efforts at arm's length as Marc Leonard curled a shot over the bar, Gray's flick from a Koumas cross went the same way and then Mark Sykes whipped a cross off the foot of Koumas as he was poised to score at the far post.

Sinclair 'super-sharp' - Struber reaction

Struber: "I'm really happy with the boys"

Bristol City manager Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:

"Results-wise it's been really, really good but in possession, on this level today, was not what we want. We defended really, really well together and in the end it was very, very difficult for Birmingham to use their typical possession game in a direction where they could realise many good chances.

"We were super-sharp in transition from Sinclair Armstrong, in exactly the way we want to go. I was happy with the boys but you could see with all the effort they have invested in the last few games, they are empty!

"I'm very pleased [for Armstrong}. He trained with high investment for the past few months without much game time, and he is growing, stepping in the right direction."

Davies: 'We couldn't make our possession count'

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies told BBC Radio WM:

"It was always going to be like that with the way they play, on the counter-attack. I thought we'd have more of the ball but we had even more than I thought we would.

"We were like the home team and them the away team but we couldn't make all that possession count and create clear chances with it.

"We had a few moments where, if we're there, we score, as it flashed across goal again but we don't make the most of them and pay the price before half-time with their only shot on goal - one ball up the pitch, one run and a one v one and a goal.

"It's a really poor goal, loss of possession, but it can happen. We need to sense the danger a little bit quicker because it's a really simple goal considering how hard we've had to work for any openings we've got."

Player of the match

S. Armstrong
8.80
30 S. Armstrong
8.80
16 R. Dickie
8.26
23 R. Vítek
8.15
5 R. Atkinson
8.08
14 Z. Vyner
7.85
19 G. Tanner
7.68
21 Neto Borges
7.68
10 S. Twine
7.67
4 A. Randell
7.54
11 A. Mehmeti
7.53
17 M. Sykes
7.30
7 Y. Hirakawa
7.06
2 R. McCrorie
7.01
36 O. Thomas
6.78
24 H. Roberts
6.49
9 F. Mayulu
5.92
Back to team tabs

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

Related topics