‘Little impact, looked exposed’ - Bristol City player ratings in Queens Park Rangers loss

Bristol City suffered a 2-1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers on their return to EFL Championship action at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

Two goals inside a four minute spell from Norweigan international Stefan Johansen and Wales forward Tyler Roberts gave the visitors a comfortable advantage at half time.

Bermuda-striker Nahki Wells pulled a goal back on the hour mark, but Nigel Pearson’s side were unable to find a second goal, which consigned them to just their second home defeat of the campaign.

Results elsewhere mean that City drop down to mid-table in 12th and are now four points off of the top six whilst Michael Beale's side move up to fifth-position.

Tale of the match

Both sides were eager to get on the front foot from the off, QPR looked to gain some early possession while the hosts attempted to assert themselves too.

The first half chance came after seven minutes.after some neat play down the right wing by Mark Sykes, the ball eventually fell to Alex Scott, who took a touch out of his feet and fizzed a powerful effort just wide of the mark from 20 yards out.

City should’ve been in front minutes later, when Wells’ header from close range was pushed behind well by Seny Dieng.

Nigel Pearson’s team were almost made to rue their missed chances straight away. A long ball over Kal Naismith found Ilias Chair, who went through on Daniel Bentley’s goal. But the goalkeeper made himself big and blocked the forward’s effort.

The visitors, though, did open the scoring on the 19 minute mark. Andi Weimann gave the ball away cheaply in midfield, Tyler Roberts found Tim Iroegbunam, whose initial effort bounced back off the post and onto Bentley. But, to the keepers dismay, the ball fell kindly to Johansen who tapped home from five yards.

Just two minutes later, the away sides team was doubled. A neat passing move saw Joe Willock shift the ball to Kenneth Paal, who fired across goal for Roberts to bundle home.

The hosts struggled to gain any real attacking possession, and things could’ve gotten worse on the half hour mark.

Chair first blazed over from 10 yards out, before he fired wide of the mark from an acute angle less than a minute later.

The Robins were given a golden opportunity to pull a goal back before the break, when a quick counterattack saw the ball fall to Conway.

The young striker beared through on goal but saw his effort blocked by Dieng. 0-2 at the break as boos echoed around Ashton Gate.

Although, the negative reception seemed to work to an extent, as the Robins came out on the front foot in the second half.

The introduction of Antoine Semenyo seemed to push the Robins on somewhat, as the Hoops were content to sit back and try and hit on the counter.

On the hour mark, Wells pulled a goal back. Semenyo played through Weimann on the right hand side, who crossed into the area.

Leon Balogun failed to deal with the bouncing ball, and the Bermudan was on hand to prod home from five yards out.

City continued to try and break Michael Beale’s side down, but struggled to create any notable openings.

With 10 minutes to play, the City players, coaches and faithful were left frustrated when Dieng appeared to pick the ball up outside of his area following good pressure from Wells. However, the referee saw nothing wrong.

The visitors were able to see the game comfortably to end the Robins’ three match home winning streak.

Player ratings

Daniel Bentley - 7

Good save from chair in the first half, but could do nothing about the goals. Set the counterattack away for Conways chance and was untroubled in the second half.

Zak Vyner - 6

Looked relatively assured, but gave the ball away a couple of times unnecessarily.

Kal Naismith - 4

Gave the ball away in vulnerable positions too often, although wasn’t helped by a lack of movement in front of him.

Looked exposed to the ball over the top and did not inspire much confidence to the rest of the backline. His delivery was a threat from set pieces.

Rob Atkinson - 5

His lack of pace left him helpless in behind a couple of times, also lost a couple of key duels which could have led to further punishment.

Mark Sykes - 6

Full of running and looked a threat down the right hand side.

Alex Scott - 5

Put himself about in midfield but to no end. Failed to have any impact on the game in an attacking sense.

Joe Williams - 5

Struggled to get into the game and was a passive figure early on, made some neat passes and tenacious tackles in the second half but offered little protection to the backline.

Jay Dasilva - 6

Couldn’t get into the game from left wing back early on, but had more of the ball after the break.

Andi Weimann - 4

Was full of running but was poor on the ball. Gave the ball away cheaply for QPR’s opener and had little impact on the match.

Nahki Wells - 7

Good quality on the ball, should’ve scored with a first half header. Tenacious as always.

Tommy Conway - 5

Looked a threat in behind at times. Missed a golden opportunity moments before the break. Subbed off at half time.

Antoine Semenyo (subbed on for Conway, 46’) - 6

Was a handful when he came on and got City on the front foot. Made a good pass in behind to Weimann for Wells’ goal.

Chris Martin (subbed on for Atkinson, 65’) - 6

Came on to offer something different up top

Andy King (subbed on for Williams, 74’) - 6

Like for like change.

Han-Noah Massengo (subbed on for Weimann, 74’) - 6

Tried to make things happen.

Kane Wilson (subbed on for Sykes, 74’) - 6

Got forward a few times.