REPORT: BRISTOL CITY 4 - 0 TOWN
Bristol City 4-0 Huddersfield TownTown visited the South West of England safe in the knowledge that Sky Bet Championship football had been guaranteed for next season. However, Head Coach David Wagner was keen for a strong finish to the season.
The Terriers made one change to the starting line up which saw Harry Bunn replacing the on loan Jamie Paterson in the starting XI. Jonathan Hogg made a return to the first team squad with a place on the bench at Ashton Gate.
The game started with the home side adopting a 4-4-2 formation, with Town playing their now familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. In the early stages of the first half, the game was contested in the midfield of the pitch for the majority of the time as the two teams found their feet in the match. Town looked to have a killer edge, with Rajiv van La Parra and Harry Bunn linking well with Nahki Wells.
As the first half progressed, Town continued to push with three corners in quick succession around the 20 minute mark; all were cleared by the resilient Bristol City defence. The Terriers’ best opportunity of the half came when Joe Lolley fired just wide of the post in the 27th minute. It was clear to see Bristol City posed an attacking threat with Jonathan Kodjia and Kieran Agard causing problems for both Mark Hudson and Joel Lynch.
Rajiv van La Parra looked to be giving the Bristol defence real problems and the Dutchman made some positive runs to worry the Bristol defenders. The home side seemed to kick into gear after Lolley’s shot from distance, and with the home crowd behind them, started to push further forwards.
Town continued to offer a goal threat though throughout the first half, but somehow the final ball never materialised to give Wells and the other offensive players any real opportunities.
With the match at 0-0, the game looked to be heading to half time all square, but with less than 2 minutes left on the clock, the back line was breached by Bristol’s Kodjia who broke free and fired home well past Jed Steer.
The Terriers made two changes at half time with Rajiv van La Parra and Nahki Wells replaced by Karim Matmour and Jamie Paterson. Harry Bunn moved to the lone striker role as Jamie Paterson adopted the central attacking midfielder position. After a relatively slow start to the half, Karim Matmour showed glimpses of skill and good link play but all attacks were stopped by the confident Bristol City defence.
The game changed after the hour mark, with two quickfire goals from Bristol. City grabbed their second of the game through Joe Byran, who slotted home from an acute angle through the legs of Jed Steer. Town made their third and final substitution quickly, with Joe Lolley replaced by Sean Scannell. On 65 minutes, Town’s afternoon went from bad to worse when Kodjia scored his second and Bristol City’s third; the striker skipped through the Town defence and fired into the corner from outside the box.
Bristol City continued to push and ten minutes later, were rewarded with a fourth through Lee Tomlin who impressively flicked the ball up and volleyed home, with Jed Steer having little chance of stopping the ball which was heading for the top corner.
Overall, it was a disappointing afternoon for the Terriers and the 933 Town fans who made the long trip, and one that will give food for thought to David Wagner as his team head to the final game next week at home to Brentford.
