Mark Sykes scored a brace to help Bristol City produce one of the high-scoring football scores of the weekend in the Championship. After breaking down the left side, Cameron Pring’s driven cross was directed in by Antoine Semenyo in the 17th minute, giving the hosts the lead. Four minutes later, Nahki Wells outmuscled rookie Blues defender Kevin Long to get free through the middle and beat John Ruddy with a shot. On the 34th minute, Birmingham answered when Troy Deeney converted a penalty after Pring had fouled Tahith Chong inside the box. But two minutes after the break, Sykes scored again off of another Pring pass to re-establish the two-goal advantage.
On 66 minutes, the ex-Oxford winger added a fourth goal by tapping the ball from Semenyo to the far post into an open net. In the 77th minute, Reda Khadra made his Birmingham debut as a substitute by eluding a defender on the left and shooting past Max O’Leary. However, it was insufficient for a Blues team whose defense appeared to be quite porous. Nigel Pearson, the manager of Bristol City, felt less pressure following the outcome and performance. Long, a veteran defender, made his debut for Birmingham, although Khadra, another recent hire, was placed on the bench. With more than 2,000 traveling supporters, the Blues got off to a strong start, and in the eighth minute, Pring had to make a goal-saving challenge on Deeney.
Before Sykes put the outcome beyond question, Chong missed a 20-yard shot. After forcing O’Leary to make a stop as the Bristol City goalkeeper hurried to the edge of his box, Khadra scored the opening goal for the visitors. The replacement was a ray of sunshine on an otherwise depressing day for Birmingham. A spectacular finish was attempted by their throngs of supporters, but Bristol City still looked dangerous down both flanks and won the game rightfully.
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