Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City at Ewood Park as two goals from Nahki Wells saw the Robins on their way to victory on Saturday.
Saturday 3 September 2022 18:27, UK
Nahki Wells netted a second-half brace as Bristol City made it four wins in five games with an impressive 3-2 victory at Blackburn.
Nigel Pearson's side ran out deserving winners in a game they bossed and, but for wasteful early finishing from Andreas Weimann and Wells, they would have been out of sight by the break.
They did hit the front through Tommy Conway's bullet header just before the interval and afterwards, their Bermudan forward took centre stage.
Wells doubled the advantage with a sublime finish 10 minutes after the restart and, though Tyrhys Dolan's emphatic finish halved the deficit, Wells restored their two-goal lead from close range to net his fourth of the term.
Ben Brereton Diaz lashed home his second in as many games in injury time to set up a frantic finish but Bristol City held on to climb to third, while it's four defeats in five for Rovers.
Blackburn went close in the opening minute as George Hirst's cross found Bradley Dack, whose low shot was parried onto the head of Ryan Hedges but the ball bounced agonisingly over.
The Robins carved Rovers open soon after but Weimann couldn't convert Robert Atkinson's cross and Wells then somehow headed wide when unmarked at the back post as the visitors wasted superb openings.
Hirst fired wide under pressure after good work from Ryan Hedges and at the other end Bristol City were profligate again through Wells, who shot straight at the legs of Thomas Kaminski.
Their pressure finally told in the 42nd minute when Weimann drove down the right flank before perfectly crossing for Conway at the back post and he crashed a header into the corner.
A poor pass early in the second half was seized by Wells who struck a fine low shot that Kaminski parried to safety.
Daniel Bentley produced a smart save from Dolan but Wells doubled the lead in the 55th minute when he latched onto Weimann's defence-splitting pass before calmly slotting into the left corner from outside the area.
Dolan finally got on the scoresheet 19 minutes from time when he engineered space and hammered home from 12 yards.
But two minutes later Wells pounced after Kal Naismith's header struck the post and though Kaminski blocked the ball it was adjudged to have crossed the line, though Naismith rifled home to remove any doubt.
Rovers rallied as John Buckley's long range drive was parried by Bentley, who could do nothing in the third minute of injury time when Dolan found Brereton Diaz to fire home from 12 yards, but the Robins deservedly held on.
Blackburn's Jon Dahl Tomasson: "I think we should be disappointed with the result and performance. We know we played against a very good side. We know we can be very good if we're not passive, play a few touches, which we didn't do.
"It was frustrating conceding two goals on the counter attack. But you see it, it's a young group, with a lot of new players who are going through a big transition. I said it from day one and I'll keep on saying the whole year, you'll probably get tired of me. But it will go like this, up and down."
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "[Wells has] got a real enthusiasm for a more senior player. It's infectious too. He cares a lot about his football. It hurts when he's not playing but last year when he didn't get many opportunities, he was a really good team-mate to his peers and was very supportive to them and he deserves his chance and he's taken it well so far.
"A really good finish. Nahki is a good finisher but actually today his workrate and his understanding of what the team needed was right up there, so yes, a good contribution."
