Bristol City's inability to defend set-pieces is far from a secret - just ask Barnsley manager Poya Asbaghi.
It didn't exactly need rocket science to exploit the weakness in Nigel Pearson's side and it took just 10 minutes to score their first corner of the contest through Carlton Morris.
Not even halfway through the first half, it was game over when Barnsley's centre-back stooped in the second from another Amine Bassi cross on the same left side.
After the contest, Asbaghi wore a wry smile after admitting his side had specifically worked on their attacking set-pieces knowing full well City were prone to picking the ball out of their net if a simple training ground technique was put to good use.
"Before this game our main focus was the set pieces because we knew that Bristol City is a team we could use spaces in a good way against. I am happy that focus paid off," he said.
We'll dissect the weaknesses and what went wrong below, but the fact of the matter is City have now conceded 13 goals from set-pieces with only Reading shipping in more throughout the Championship season.
Pearson has set up his side to be a mixture of man-marking and zonal and teams are continuing to find ways to take advantage showing no mercy to the defence.
We take a look at the last five set-piece goals conceded below, starting with the opener at Barnsley last night.
Goal One - Carlton Morris, vs Barnsley
In the opening goal of the game, Michal Helik made the all-important flick on that caused disruption in the box. City failed to deal with the ball pinging around the box before Carlton Morris poked in from close range. In what will become a reoccurring theme, there are three City players standing deep in the six-yard box, asked to defend zonally.
In the opening image, where the set-piece is about to be taken, Helik isn't even in the shot. The centre-back sprints across the box in the final moments (marked on the second image), catching Rob Atkinson by surprise as you can see from the above. Atkinson is too far away from his man to make a challenge and the first mistake is made.
City's zonal players are being blocked off by the Barnsley attackers, preventing them from putting any pressure on Helik.
Once the ball comes across the box, there is mass confusion among the City players. Antoine Semenyo, Alex Scott, Atkinson and Han-Noah Massengo are without a man in the area while Timm Klose is not tight enough to goalscorer Morris standing in the six-yard box. There are six black shirts compared to Barnsley's two but the hosts still react quicker to score.
What's most worrying, is how City failed to learn from their mistakes before Barnsley scored their second.
Goal Two - Michal Helik, vs Barnsley
It was that man again Helik, who turned from provider to goalscorer when he headed into the bottom corner. Once again, when the set-piece is taken, you can see Helik (far right) making exactly the same run across the box.
It's difficult to see exactly, but it's Robbie Cundy who can't get close enough to his man after being blocked off and this time Helik gets a decent connection on the ball to turn it into the corner. Once again, City's zonal players are being blocked off.
The simply matter is that it's the same pass, aiming for the same man which has resulted in a similar outcome. The photo above shows Helik has way too much space between him and the nearest City man. It was two very similar set-piece deliveries and City were punished with both of them.
Barnsley players are also doing a good job of blocking City's players from making a challenge on the penalty spot.
Goal Three - Nico Gordon, vs Birmingham
Unfortunately for Antoine Semenyo, the striker would have to take responsibility for failing to deal with his man in the home defeat to Birmingham.
It turned out to be the killer blow in the game, as City fell to a 2-1 defeat following Tahith Chong's early opener. The image above shows Gordon making the move away from Semenyo as soon as the delivery arrives.
Semenyo's caught on his feels, Gordon gets a yard of space and he manages to direct it into the bottom corner.
It's a similar delivery to the pair at Barnsley with the taker aiming for the man closest to the kicker. There's no particularly impressive tactics involved, it just comes down to poor defending and Pearson mentioned it in his post-match press conference after the contest.
He said: “It was Antoine’s problem, his man. If players have a job to do and don’t do it, simple. Man-to-man, don’t let your man score."
Goal Four - Matt Crooks, vs Middlesbrough
It was Matt Crooks who took advantage in the victory over Middlesbrough when he gave the visitors a glimmer of hope after scoring from a corner in the final stages. Before the delivery is taken, it's Tomas Kalas who is marking the midfielder.
As you can see from the image, City have a mixture of man-marking and zonal with the three players guarding the six-yard box, although they are sitting very deep in the same set-up as they had against Barnsley.
As the corner-taker starts his run, Crooks makes his move - darting around the outside of Han-Noah Massengo who is making his man. Kalas has already lost ground on his opponent, about to be blocked off by running into a group of players around the penalty spot. The zonal players are still completely static.
By the time the delivery is taken, Crooks already has the run on the ball while Kalas is lost in the cluster of red shirts waiting for the ball to drop. The City defender is watching the ball instead of the man and Crooks has the leverage to head it into the net. There are five red shirts circling the goalscorer but none are able to deal with his movement.
Goal Five - Gary Madine, vs Blackpool
As you can see when the delivery comes in, no City player has taken responsibility for the two Blackpool players making their move forward. Jay Dasilva is pointing to his team-mates to pick them up - one of which is the goalscorer. You can also see the three players standing in zonal positions.
The duo split off as Madine lurks behind his team-mate who is being picked up by Semenyo. Once again it's City's zonal marking players who are caught out, allowing Madine to make a move unmarked.
Madine can obviously climb above Kalas, who is a casualty of the zonal system. The Blackpool forward covered three or four yards before making his leap while Pring is caught out from a standing jump.
From all of these images, perhaps with the exception of Birmingham's goal which came down to poor man-marking, there are startling similarities. The goals conceded against Barnsley, were created by a technique worked on the training ground prior to the game.
The delivery is played far enough away from the zonal markers who are blocked off allowing Halik to have a free run at the ball.
Against Middlesbrough, the zonal players are unable to beat Crooks to the ball who has had a good four to five yards of running to gain leverage on the zonal players. That's almost identical to the goal at Blackpool when Madine powered in his header.
Whether Pearson will opt to change his current tactics and perhaps drop the zonal marking system remains to be seen, but he must find a solution or else opponents will continue to make them pay.
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