Blackpool vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
Bloomfield RoadAttendance10,804.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackpool and Bristol City at Bloomfield Road as Theo Corbeanu snatched a last-gasp draw for the Tangerines in a six-goal thriller on Saturday.
Saturday 27 August 2022 18:34, UK
Theo Corbeanu's last-gasp strike earned a share of the spoils as Blackpool claimed a pulsating 3-3 Championship draw against Bristol City at Bloomfield Road.
In a topsy-turvy game, Nigel Pearson's side twice came from behind before going in front at 3-2 and, just as they looked to have pinched all three points, the hosts nabbed a sixth and final goal at the death through Corbeanu.
It means both sides sit just beneath the play-off places.
The Tangerines, showing just one change from their last outing in another thrilling 3-3 draw with Burnley, hit the front with just seven minutes played through Josh Bowler.
City had actually started the brighter and Nahki Wells came close to firing the visitors in front when his snapshot ricocheted back off a post.
The Robins were made to pay for that miss when Bowler opened the scoring not long after.
First, home forward Gary Madine produced a superb piece of control to pluck the ball out of the air and then teed up Bowler, whose deflected effort squirmed into the back of the net.
The home side could and probably should have doubled their advantage before the interval. Madine missed making a connection from a Shayne Lavery centre, while Bowler and Lavery both then spurned chances.
And that profligacy was punished just before the interval when the Robins levelled matters. Tommy Conway turned the ball home from just a few yards out leaving Blackpool goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw with no chance. That was a fifth goal in six games for the 20-year-old.
The hosts recovered from that setback and came out firing on all cylinders after the restart. After Jordan Thorniley flicked the ball on from a corner, Jerry Yates was alive to the opportunity, firing home and restoring the advantage.
But just as in the first half, the lead did not last and super substitute Antoine Semenyo drew City level after 63 minutes. With only his second touch after coming on to replace Alex Scott, Semenyo slotted the ball past Grimshaw for his second in as many games.
And it got better for the visitors just seven minutes later when they took the lead for the first time in the contest.
A direct free-kick was fired in at Grimshaw, who had to adjust to save it. An awkward scramble then ensued and it ended with the ball hitting Blackpool defender Marvin Ekpiteta and trickling into the back of his own net.
The hosts rallied in pursuit of a third goal and substitute Corbeanu pounced on a defensive error to deny City a fourth-straight win in all competitions.
Blackpool's Michael Appleton: "Obviously two 3-3 draws on the bounce is exciting for the fans. I was a little bit more pleased last week with the 3-3 than I was with the one this week. But the players have shown great character today. It was a game full of errors for both sides, it was just one of those games - it could've been 6-6.
"I just felt once we went 2-1 up we were dominating the game, controlling it and we had some really good opportunities to turn the screw and go two ahead and that didn't happen and when that doesn't happen, you can get punished as we did. The second half from a disappointment point of view we switched off, they played a quick free-kick, we switched off and we got punished. The third goal that can happen, players make mistakes, a couple of errors in the space of two seconds."
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "We're disappointed that we didn't see the game through because we played well. We came up against a side who caused us quite a few problems with a relatively-direct style at times. We went behind twice, bounced back, kept our composure and it's just unfortunate that individual errors have cost us those two extra points.
"Once a bit of time goes by, I'll reflect in a slightly-different way but at the minute, we've basically thrown away a couple of points which is very frustrating because we've played well. I know it's a mistake. I can't change that now. There's no point me trying to overthink that. We overplayed. This is not an easy place to come to. The atmosphere is quite hostile for visiting teams, both players and the staff. It's a good football venue to come to and you need to be committed to get something from it."
