Championship
Bristol CityBristol City0BournemouthAFC Bournemouth2

Bristol City 0-2 Bournemouth: Cherries return to top of the Championship with stylish win at Ashton Gate

Bournemouth players celebrate their opening goal against Bristol City
The Bournemouth players celebrated their opening goal against Bristol City with team-mate David Brooks' shirt following his cancer diagnosis in the build up to the game

Bournemouth restored their three-point lead at the top of the Championship with a comfortable win at Bristol City.

Jamal Lowe celebrated his first league start by steering Jack Stacey's wicked cross in from close range to put the Cherries in front.

Jordan Zemura's stunning finish doubled the lead on half-time as the visitors took firm control.

City, without a home win since January, struggled to create throughout and were fortunate not to lose more heavily as Dominic Solanke and substitute Jefferson Lerma had late goal-bound efforts blocked.

The Cherries' triumph maintained their impressive unbeaten start to the season - with five clean sheets in a row on the road in the league - while City's winless run at home now stretches to 16 matches.

Bournemouth's victory came at the end of an emotional week for the club following midfielder David Brooks' cancer diagnosis.

And the Wales international, who announced he is to have treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma, was never far from the visiting players' and fans' minds.

Having warmed up in in black shirts bearing Brooks' name and number 7, the away end erupted in applause in the seventh minute and were soon joined by the rest of Ashton Gate.

Bournemouth's players held up Brooks' shirt as they celebrated Lowe's opener - a tidy jab home from six yards from Stacey's brilliant centre that evaded City goalkeeper Daniel Bentley and centre-back Nathan Baker on 21 minutes.

City boss Nigel Pearson, who was back in the dugout after missing two matches due to contracting Covid-19 for a second time, was hoping his side would build on their 3-2 win over Peterborough in their last game before the international break despite their poor form at home.

But a Nahki Wells volley over the bar from Callum O'Dowda's cut-back was the best they could carve out in the first half.

Instead it was Scott Parker's Cherries that were the more energised throughout, and Zemura's strike epitomised their confidence.

The left-back was picked out by a delightful cross-field pass from Ryan Christie before his quick feet bamboozled defender George Tanner, and a fierce flash high into the roof of the net gave Bentley no chance at his near post.

The goalkeeper then had to be agile to keep out efforts from Christie and top scorer Solanke after the break.

Solanke was then denied only a second away goal of the season by a hack off the line from a sprawling Jay Dasilva, having beaten Bentley with shot from 10 yards. Lerma's follow-up was then also deflected away.

City, who had to play the final 20 minutes with 10 men after Andy King was forced off with all three substitutes on the field, did have a chance to pull one back late on but Chris Martin headed straight at Mark Travers after being found by Wells' floated cross.

Bournemouth manager Scott Parker told BBC Radio Solent:

"I thought we were superb today. We controlled the game for large parts and were deadly at times.

"We were a lot better than 2-0 really. We had some massive chances but they came back into it in the second half for a spell, but we weathered that and showed our dominance."

On five consecutive away clean sheets:

"It's massive. The work ethic and defensive structure is the nucleus of our team. As a team, every player understands their out-of-possession roles and they know what to do when we turn defence into attack."

Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol:

"Before the game I expected us to cause them more problems, but we made too many unforced errors. They are the best side we've played by a long way so, all in all, I don't really have any complaints.

"We need to find that elusive win. It's difficult to judge our performance because they were so good - it was like playing a Premier League team.

"We need a response now in midweek."

Line-ups

Bristol City

Formation 4-4-2

  • 1Bentley
  • 19Tanner
  • 22Kalas
  • 17Baker
  • 16PringSubstituted forBakinsonat 66'minutes
  • 8WilliamsSubstituted forWellsat 13'minutes
  • 6James
  • 10KingSubstituted forat 74'minutes
  • 11O'DowdaSubstituted forDasilvaat 45'minutes
  • 14Weimann
  • 9Martin

Substitutes

  • 2Simpson
  • 3Dasilva
  • 12O'Leary
  • 15Bakinson
  • 21Wells
  • 36Scott
  • 45Palmer

Bournemouth

Formation 4-1-4-1

  • 42Travers
  • 17Stacey
  • 24CahillBooked at 40mins
  • 5KellyBooked at 68mins
  • 33Zemura
  • 26Kilkenny
  • 18LoweSubstituted forLermaat 64'minutes
  • 10ChristieSubstituted forRogersat 88'minutes
  • 29BillingSubstituted forStanislasat 81'minutes
  • 32Anthony
  • 9Solanke

Substitutes

  • 1Nyland
  • 6Mepham
  • 8Lerma
  • 11Marcondes
  • 19Stanislas
  • 20Davis
  • 27Rogers
Referee:
Gavin Ward
Attendance:
20,828

Match Stats

Home TeamBristol CityAway TeamBournemouth
Possession
Home26%
Away74%
Shots
Home5
Away22
Shots on Target
Home2
Away5
Corners
Home5
Away11
Fouls
Home4
Away7

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Bristol City 0, Bournemouth 2.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Bristol City 0, Bournemouth 2.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Tomas Kalas.

  4. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Gavin Kilkenny (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  5. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Junior Stanislas.

  6. Substitution

    Substitution, Bournemouth. Morgan Rogers replaces Ryan Christie.

  7. Post update

    Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Nathan Baker.

  8. Post update

    Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Mark Travers.

  9. Post update

    Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Junior Stanislas.

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, Bournemouth. Junior Stanislas replaces Philip Billing.

  11. Post update

    Foul by Ryan Christie (Bournemouth).

  12. Post update

    Jay Dasilva (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  13. Post update

    Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Jay Dasilva.

  14. Post update

    Attempt saved. Chris Martin (Bristol City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Nahki Wells with a cross.

  15. Post update

    Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Andreas Weimann.

  16. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Jefferson Lerma (Bournemouth) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

  17. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jaidon Anthony.

  18. Post update

    Andy King went off injured after Bristol City had used all subs.

  19. Booking

    Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  20. Post update

    Foul by Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth).

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As It Stood

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3Fulham1272327141323
4Coventry127231814423
5Stoke126331613321
6Huddersfield126241814420
7Reading126151819-119
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9Blackburn124532116517
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17Preston122641215-312
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19Swansea11254914-511
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