Bristol City 4 - Crystal Palace 1: Resilient City come from behind to advance

THERE must have been a terrible feeling of deja vu for Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson at Ashton Gate and it had nothing to do with the fact he was once Bristol City’s caretaker boss.

BristolPA

Bristol City proved too good for their Premier League counterparts

Instead, painful memories of standing on a touchline as your team falls apart, which was the case when Hodgson’s  England side tumbled out of Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland, would have been revived in the West Country.

Hodgson looked a forlorn figure as his Premier League strugglers surrendered an early lead before suffering an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Championship promotion contenders, who fielded Icelandic international Hordur Magnusson.

Hodgson might have chosen a weakened side, with 10 changes, but it was a demoralizing defeat that will do nothing to raise spirits ahead of this Saturday’s key London derby with West Ham.

Yet Palace started brighter and only seven minutes had gone when Lee Chung-Yong rattled the crossbar with a thunderous strike following Bakary Sako’s cross.

Robins keeper Luke Steele was by far the busiest man on the field and had to fend off Sako and Sullay Kaikai efforts as the Premier League strugglers went for the kill. 

Bristol City defender Aden Flint reminded Hodgson attack is the best form of defence, as the ball fell invitingly for him in the penalty area but he shot straight at Wayne Hennessey.

Yet it seemed like only a matter of time before Palace went ahead and Sako made their dominance pay in the 21st minute when he latched on to Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s neat pass and drove a low shot beneath the keeper.

When club-record £5.3million striker Famara Diedhiou went off injured it seemed the writing was on the wall for City but then they got a helping hand thanks to Patrick van Aanholt’s howler in the 34th minute.

Striker Matty Taylor, only playing after a successful appeal against his sending-off in the Leeds game, was on hand to thump the ball in from close range after left-back Van Aanholt’s header back to Hennessy dropped short.

Matters went from bad to worse for Hodgson in the 39th minute when Magnusson’s long throw caused havoc in the penalty area and substitute Milan Djuric took advantage of the mayhem by thumping the ball home.

After the break, Palace raised their game in a search for the equaliser but Steele denied Sako with a full-stretch one-handed save.

Crystal PalacePA

Crystal Palace's miserable start to the campaign continues

Any hopes that Hodgson had of salvation were extinguished on the hour when wing-back Joe Bryan let rip with a rasping, rising shot that soared past Hennessy into the top right-hand corner.

It was a strike that would take some beating but Republic of Ireland winger Callum O’Dowda managed to eclipse Bryan’s effort six minutes later with a belter

of his own when he beat Hennessy with a 20-yard volley.

It secured Bristol City a place in the last eight of this competition for the first time since 1989 and gave the locals chance to taunt Hodgson with a rendition of “You’re getting sacked in the morning”.

“I don’t think it’s a set-back at all but it is massive set-back for a few of the players out there tonight. For the 10 players who were at home it is anything other than a set-back. It just cements their place in the team and it cements the fact I’m choosing the right team," said Hodgson after the game. 

“It is a massive set-back for one or two of the players who were brought into the club at quite considerable expense in order to be better than the so-called first team players and they didn’t take the opportunity.

“Basically I took a risk and I take the responsibility for that. We have had a couple of tough Premier League games and I was anxious that we rested those players and I was also very anxious to see some players.

“It was an opportunity for them to knock on the door of the first team and start threating thee places of the team I have played in the last two games, so I am bitterly disappointed that didn’t work out.

“I’m very disappointed for the fans who came all this way not knowing what team I was gong to pick, possibly thinking I was going to play the team that played against Chelsea and Newcastle.

“I’m disappointed by the way in the end we capitulated after for the first 45 minutes having arguably the better of the game but we contrived to give away goals at important times and in the end we are on the back of a heavy defeat.”

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