Bristol City have got their season up and running and the sense of optimism around Nigel Pearson’s side is understandably growing after a third win in eight days with victory over Wycombe.
The Reds secured their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup thanks to goals from academy graduate Dylan Kadji, Kane Wilson and Antoine Semenyo, with the former marking his first team debut after only seven minutes when he tapped in from close range.
Wycombe equalised early in the second half as Ali Al-Hamadi headed past Dan Bentley in the City net, but first goals of the season for Wilson and Semenyo, making his return from injury, ensured City’s progression.
Wednesday night’s performance didn’t quite have the polish of the Robins’ last two Championship victories, perhaps the result both of Gareth Ainsworth’s direct style and Pearson’s decision to make seven changes to the side that beat Cardiff City on Sunday.
However, Pearson has been keen for his side “to find ways of winning any sort of game,” and that was certainly evident at Adams Park where a level of grit and determination was crucial to the performance as any attacking flair on show.
As is the nature of the scheduling of the Carabao Cup, City’s attention doesn’t return back to this competition until early November, when they welcome Lincoln City to Ashton Gate. Up next is a trip to Bloomfield Road to face a Blackpool side who match the Reds’ points total so far this campaign.
Before that, however, here are the moments missed from Wednesday’s trip to Adams Park.
Men of the people
The travelling contingent at Adams Park made up pretty much a third of the crowd on Wednesday evening but those numbers were boosted by a few familiar faces scattered across the ground.
Prior to kick-off Andi Weimann and Joe Williams were stationed in the away end taking plenty of selfies with away fans, before making their way back behind the goal for the duration of 90 minutes. This was much to the amusement of Zak Vyner who enjoyed a laugh after spotting his teammates as he went to warm up in the first half.
It wasn’t just Weimann and Williams who travelled with the squad, however, Mark Sykes (or Rocky as he was dubbed by Pearson) sat behind the City dugout alongside third-choice keeper Harvey Wiles-Richards.
The Irish winger now only has one game left on his suspension which will be served on Saturday’s trip to Blackpool and it’s obvious the Robins are keen to get him back involved with the squad as quickly as possible. He was completing the shuttle runs after the final whistle alongside the unused substitutes and with his excellent start to the season he’ll be involved in some capacity against Huddersfield next week.
Pearson in conversation with old opponents
So far this season Bristol City have rightfully felt hard done by the officials, summed up by the PGMOL apology following the opening day defeat against Hull.
It wouldn’t have given City fans much confidence that the referee for Wednesday’s trip to Wycombe was Andy Davies who Pearson previously described as park standard as City fell victim to “dodgy refereeing” in a 2-1 defeat to QPR last season. It ultimately cost the manager £5,000 for his comments made in the aftermath of the contest.
But it wasn’t Davies that Pearson spent much time in conversation with, instead the City manager spent around five minutes speaking to fourth official Leigh Doughty who took charge of the Robins’ 2-0 win over Luton last week.
Doughty sent off Sykes but failed to show a red card to Luton’s Luke Freeman causing the Reds’ boss to threaten to quit football over the consistently poor refereeing. It would be interesting to know the exact topic of conversation between the pair, but the extended discussion suggests they both had plenty to talk about.
Kane Wilson’s first goal, was it a shot or cross?
It’s been a difficult start to life in red and white for Kane Wilson, the wing-back was quite easily City’s most exciting signing of the summer but has been limited to substitute appearances in the Championship and starts in the cup.
Wilson wasn’t at his best at Adams Park yet still provided plenty of bright sparks to Pearson’s attack and ultimately it was his moment of quality to latch onto a trademark Kal Naismith cross that decided the tie.
While to us it was a perfectly weighted volley into the far corner to retake the lead, his manager was fairly convinced that it might have found its way into the net with more luck than judgment.
“Kane’s cross,” was how Pearson dubbed it, but Wilson himself was keen to tell the press that he meant to shoot. Ultimately as his manager said, “I don’t care if it’s a cross or a finish, it doesn’t matter… we’re in the next round and that’s all I’m bothered about.”
Welcome back, Antoine
Few players provide as much excitement to the City fans as Antoine Semenyo and that was very evident long before kick-off at Wycombe Wanderers, with social media already a buzz after the Ghanaian international was visible in training footage posted on the club channels.
That level of interest only grew when Semenyo was seen getting off the team coach at Adams Park having been adjudged fit enough to make the bench after suffering a shin injury while on international duty.
Throughout the first-half the away end repeatedly erupted into chants of “viva Semenyo,” and other than the goals, the loudest cheer of the night was saved for the striker’s introduction around the 70-minute mark.
The 22-year-old capped off his return to action with a late tap-in thanks to some unselfish play from Tommy Conway and celebrated with a bow in front of the away end and a secret handshake with teammate Timm Klose.
With rumours throughout this summer surrounding Semenyo’s future, with Crystal Palace linked, he certainly didn’t cut the figure of a player desperate to depart, spending plenty of time at the final whistle appreciating the travelling fans before giving his shirt away to one of the members of the crowd.
A frustrating evening for Chris Martin
Such has been the quality of Pearson’s striking options so far this campaign, Chris Martin who was a regular starter last season has seen his minutes limited in recent games and he struggled to have a huge impact at Adams Park.
His manager described the match as “scruffy,” such was the direct style of Ainsworth’s side and it felt as though Martin was being made work primarily with long balls against a very tall backline.
There was one moment in the first half where the 33-year-old made an excellent run only for Cam Pring to miscue his pass out of play and despite being on the far side of the pitch he could be heard shouting a frustrated, “come on!”
Later in the half, he flicked a header in behind the Chairboys’ defence only to see strike partner Nahki Well’s on his heels and with a big exhale he looked to the sky in disappointment.
Like Wilson, the striker could well have changed the entire complexion of his performance had his second-half header not been saved excellently by Tyla Dickinson. Despite being not at his best Martin offers that physical presence to occupy defenders that City’s other forwards don’t.
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