Bristol City vs Luton Town FC (29th Dec 2020)

BRISTOL CITY 3 LUTON TOWN 0

Hatters end the decade with defeat on the road at play-off chasing City

The Hatters suffered a 3-0 defeat at Bristol City this afternoon in the final game of the decade.

Three days after a heroic performance against high-flying Fulham at Kenilworth Road, when the Town were denied a win by a 94th-minute goal, Graeme Jones' side went down to efforts from Marley Watkins, Famara Diedhiou - from the penalty spot - and Andreas Weimann as the hosts moved up to eighth in the table.

Jones made two changes for the Hatters' sixth game of December; the first enforced, with James Shea returning in goal in place of the injured Simon Sluga. The other switch saw Harry Cornick come back into the attack from kick-off, with Callum McManaman starting from the bench where he was joined by Martin Cranie, who replaced Lloyd Jones.

The hosts came into the match on a four-game losing streak, but they made the perfect start by taking a fourth-minute lead as Watkins stooped to head in Niclas Eliasson's cross from the left.

Lee Johnson's side dominated the opening 15 minutes in terms of possession, but they did not trouble Shea's goal further and gradually the Hatters started to come into the game, Cornick quickly closing keeper Daniel Bentley down to force a throw-in before whipping in a dangerous cross that the home defence did well to clear.

Matty Pearson then got his head on a left-wing cross from Kazenga LuaLua, but couldn't direct it on target, before Shea held onto a 15-yard shot from Weimann at the other end.

The Town keeper then had to tip a 25-yarder from City captain Liam Brownhill around the post, before comfortably fielding an acrobatic volley from the edge of the box from Diedhiou.

Soon after the half-hour Luke Berry became the first player into referee Oliver Langford's notepad for dragging Diedhiou down 30 yards from goal. Brownhill hit the free-kick well over the bar.

Shea's reactions were sharp to deny Watkins a second on 35 minutes, as the Robins' right winger met another Eliasson cross with a downward header at the far post, but the Town keeper pushed it away at the foot of the post.

City extended their lead a minute before half-time when Diedhiou converted a penalty after LuaLua was penalised for a trip on Hunt as the right-back burst into the penalty area.

Jones made one change at the break as Cranie came on for Bolton, with Bree switching to right wing-back and the substitute going into the heart of a back three.

The Town's first real chances came ten minutes into the half. First, they worked to ball to Cornick on the right side of the penalty area and the forward's low shot beat Bentley, but Hunt got back to hack clear off the line. Then Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu hit a powerful curler from the edge of the box that just didn't come back enough.

Diedhiou called Shea into action again at the other end with a header after Sonny Bradley had been booked for a foul, then Moncur was introduced for Tunnicliffe on the hour.

By the 66th minute, however, it was 3-0 as Andreas Weimann converted Hunt's cross at the near post with a clever flicked finish.

Alan Sheehan came on as the Town's third substitute with ten minutes left, and within a minute he cushioned a lay-off for Cornick to strike at goal, only for a deflection to send it over the bar. Mpanzu tried his luck from distance as City cleared the resulting corner, but the midfielder's shot was off target.

The result leaves the Town 23rd in the Championship table, level on points with Stoke and Barnsley and one above bottom club Wigan ahead of the New Year's Day trip to Millwall.

TOWN: Shea, Bolton (Cranie 46), Pearson, Bradley (c), Bree, Tunnicliffe (Moncur 60), Mpanzu, Berry, Cornick, LuaLua (Sheehan 80), Collins.

Subs: McManaman, Shinnie, Moncur, Butterfield, Stech.

Yellows: Berry, Collins, Bradley, Pearson

ROBINS: Bentley, Hunt, Dasilva (Rowe 68), Nagy, Brownhill (c), Diedhiou (Rodri 84), Weimann, Watkins (Smith 80), Eliasson, Kalas, Williams.

Subs: Maenpaa (GK), Semenyo, Moore, Massengo.

Goals: Watkins 4, Diedhiou 44, Weimann 66

Yellows: Williams

REFEREE: Oliver Langford

GRAEME JONES ON THE DEFEAT TO BRISTOL CITY

Hatters boss Graeme Jones said his side needed to show more ‘resistance and resilience’ in their 3-0 defeat at Bristol City this afternoon in the Sky Bet Championship.

Town went in at the break 2-0 down, before conceding midway through the second half.

Jones said: “Since Fulham, all we have talked about is their crossing ability, stopping the cross. Defending with an extra number in the box and you need to show resilience and resistance to see out those moments, to stay in the game and to have a chance and we had a mountain to climb from minute one.

“I could see early on we weren’t going to cope – I had plan B and plan C in my head, like I have all season, but ultimately you need to show resilience and resistance. That was disappointing and we got off to a really difficult start.

“You have to feel like you’ll win a game of football and I think the senior boys, the men, with the greatest respect to the ones who are more mature, we all looked fatigued.

“I got the physical stats from Fulham, they were through the roof and we didn’t recover. I think the senior boys dig in and manage to give you a level, competitiveness. I am not saying we had the spark in the final third because we didn’t. But getting off to that sort of start, not making it difficult for the opposition, that was an area where we went wrong today.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtVfWVaSOHE& - Graeme Jones interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYD1EUtW5lU – Match highlights

Bristol City 3 Luton Town 0 - the match report

Luton Town slumped to their eighth successive away-day defeat with this reverse against the Robins which was sign-posted in the fourth minute when Marley Watkins opened the scoring.

The Robins doubled their tally on the stroke of half time from the penalty spot through Famara Diedhiou and the game was wrapped up by the 66th minute through Andreas Weimann's impudent back-heel flick finish.

They were the icing and cherry on the cake, but it's becoming part of the recipe that Town concede first and when Luke Bolton allowed Niclas Eliasson to cross, Watkins stooped to head home.

It was the fifth time this term Town had conceded inside the opening 10 minutes and they could not recover.

Boss Graeme Jones made two changes to the starting line-up that drew 3-3 with Harry Cornick preferred in place of Callum McManaman and James Shea returning in-between the sticks at the expense of an injured Simon Sluga (calf).

The stopper had to be alert to prevent the Robins goalscorer from doubling his and City's tally half an hour after his opener, after a period of comfortably dominance from his side. Bolton was beaten again by Eliasson, who got the byline and stood up a cross to the back stick, but Shea was there to produce an instinctive block.

But, on the stroke of half time, Kazenga LuaLua tripped Jack Hunt in the penalty area and Diedhiou sent the spot-kick down the middle to leave Luton with a mountain to climb.

They made some inroads after the restart with a big penalty shout for a push, not given, before Harry Cornick had the Hatters' first real chance. Daniel Bentley got an outstretched glove to the low drive and Hunt then hacked off the line. It was as close as they would come.

Diedhiou almost made it 3-0 soon after when he connected with a Weimann deep free-kick, yet found Shea well-placed to gather.

But it finally came in the 66th minute when Hunt whipped in a low cross that Weimann cheekily converted inside the near post.

It was then a long 24 minutes to wait for referee Oliver Langford to put Luton out of their misery.

Match facts

Bristol City: Bentley, Hunt, Dasilva (Rowe, 68), Nagy, Brownhill, Diedhiou (Rodri, 84), Weimann, Watkins (Smith, 80), Eliasson, Kalas, Williams

Unused subs: Maenpaa, Semenyo, Moore, Massengo

Luton: Shea, Tunnicliffe (Moncur, 60), Bradley, Pearson, Berry, Cornick, Mpanzu, Collins, Bolton (Cranie, 45), LuaLua (Sheehan, 81), Bree

Unused subs: Stech, McManaman, Shinnie, Butterfield

Referee: Oliver Langford

Boss Jones unhappy as Luton Town fail to learn from their lessons

Graeme Jones says he warned his Hatters about Bristol City’s crossing ability, but that all his preparations went out the window when Marley Watkins scored from a centre in the fourth minute of the Robins' 3-0 win over Luton Town.

It’s becoming an issue for the Hatters , and they were undone from wide balls into the box for Andreas Weimann’s third goal as well, just as they twice had been in the 3-3 Boxing Day draw against Fulham.

A Famara Diedhiou penalty on the stroke of half time, after Kazenga LuaLua tripped Jack Hunt, and Weimann’s improvised finish secured the points, but Town really had no answer to yet another poor start.

Jones said: “Since Fulham, all we have talked about is their crossing ability, stopping the cross.

"Defending with an extra number in the box and you need to show resilience and resistance to see out those moments, to stay in the game and to have a chance and we had a mountain to climb from minute one.

“I could see early on we weren’t going to cope – I had plan B and plan C in my head, like I have all season, but ultimately you need to show resilience and resistance.

"That was disappointing and we got off to a really difficult start.

“You have to feel like you’ll win a game of football and I think the senior boys, the men, with the greatest respect to the ones who are more mature, we all looked fatigued.

“I got the physical stats from Fulham, they were through the roof and we didn’t recover. I think the senior boys dig in and manage to give you a level, competitiveness.

“I am not saying we had the spark in the final third because we didn’t. but getting off to that sort of start, not making it difficult for the opposition, that was an area where we went wrong today.”