Bristol City and their fans couldn’t help but wind up Cardiff with a savage tweet and chant in Sunday afternoon’s local derby.
The Robins made it back-to-back league wins as Tommy Conway and Rob Atkinson found the net to help themselves to another three points.
The impressive Conway headed home late in the first half before another header from Atkinson sealed the victory, meaning a happy 59th birthday for Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson, as his side climb to seventh in the early-season table.
A Cardiff comeback never looked likely, however the story might have been different had Bentley not denied substitutes Mark Harris and Rubin Colwill.
Weimann thought he had scored a third for Bristol City late on, only for his far-post finish to be ruled out for offside.
Cardiff’s second league loss of the new campaign sees them drop to 12th, and the wait for a first away triumph of 2022-23 goes on for Steve Morison’s team, who would have moved into the Championship’s top two with a win.
After the game, Bristol City put out a tweet that quickly went viral, captioned: “hold that. đźâđš”
hold that. đźâđš pic.twitter.com/OTxTQpA2H6
â Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) August 21, 2022
Bristol City XI: Bentley; Atkinson, Naismith, Vyner; Scott, Williams (King 82), Massengo (Wilson 88), Dasilva; Weimann; Conway (Martin 79), Wells (Klose 90).
Subs: O’Leary, Tanner, Pring.
Cardiff City XI: Allsop; Romeo (Etete 83), Ng, Kipre, Bagan (Simpson 8); Wintle, Rinomhota (Ralls 65), Sawyers (Colwill 65); O’Dowda, Watters (Harris 57), Ojo (Philogene 57).
Subs: Alnwick.
Attendance: 21,645 (2,471)
Supporters from three sides of Ashton Gate, knowing a win was coming Bristol City’s way, could be heard singing “Cardiff get battered everywhere they go”.
Some things never change in lifeâŠ
đ¶Cardiff get battered everywhere they gođ¶
Incredible home support from Bristol City and some lovely football đđ»
Vlog to come out later, donât miss it
đ„đ pic.twitter.com/hLhopaoogOâ A View From The Stands (@AVFTS1) August 21, 2022
Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson told Sky Sports:
“It was a good way to spend my 59th birthday, a really hard-fought game.
“We could have scored more – it was a really good performance and a positive day for us.
“It was a very honest performance. The team is developing an identity we can be proud of. In all the games we’ve played so far there have been some positive things.
“I am really pleased with how we played. It’s great to have good young players as part of it. We have quite a nice blend.”
Cardiff City manager Steve Morison:
“I understand and everyone else understands, everything else doesn’t matter – we lost the game. That’s all anyone cares about and that’s all we care about.
“It was always going to be a tough start to the game. Everyone is fresh, energetic. We saw that period out. They had one chance where Rocky (Ryan Allsop) makes a save.
“Then we have the big moment in the game where we have to score and then they go down and score. They got most of their chances through us committing men forward and them hitting us on the counter.
“It’s all pretty much irrelevant. Nothing you say is going to have an effect. It’s another derby defeat.”
Cardiff City manager Steve Morison had some stern words to offer his strikers after wasting golden opportunities.
“What did I say to them? I told them today ‘I’m fed up of defending you, you’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net. That’s your job. You get your moments, you have to put the ball in the back of the net’,” Morison said of his strikers.
“That’s exactly what I told them. But the plus point is, we are getting them the chances, they just need to put the ball in the back of the net.
“You have to keep plugging away. You have to keep believing and be confident. Just keep putting yourselves in the areas and take the chances. It’s all about a mindset.
“I don’t want to talk about myself because I had my mind and I can’t tell you what they’re thinking. I can only try and help them take those chances.”
When questioned if the strikers he does have at his disposal have what it takes to get the requisite goals this season, he replied: “We don’t know yet. They haven’t done it. But it’s what we’ve got. There’s no one else there at the minute. There’s no one else available that can come and do it either.
“We keep working and we will keep creating chances for them and hopefully they will start taking them.”
On the derby defeat itself, the fifth straight derby loss for the Bluebirds, Morison couldn’t hide his disappointment, saying: âI understand and everyone else understands, everything else doesnât matter â we lost the game. Thatâs all anyone cares about and thatâs all we care about.
âIt was always going to be a tough start to the game. Everyone is fresh, energetic. We saw that period out. They had one chance where Rocky (Ryan Allsop) makes a save.
âThen we have the big moment in the game where we have to score and then they go down and score. They got most of their chances through us committing men forward and them hitting us on the counter.
âItâs all pretty much irrelevant. Nothing you say is going to have an effect. Itâs another derby defeat.â
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