Bristol City 1-1 Fulham: Robins battle back for draw

Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Bristol City and Fulham at Ashton Gate as Aleksandar Mitrovic put the Cottagers ahead, but Kasey Palmer struck back to earn a point for the home side.

Saturday 25 September 2021 18:51, UK

Kasey Palmer scored within three minutes of coming on as a substitute to earn Bristol City a battling 1-1 draw against Fulham at Ashton Gate.

The visitors took a 50th minute lead when half-time sub Neeskens Kebano crossed from the left and Harry Wilson nodded across goal for Aleksandar Mitrovic to head in from close range.

But City refused to buckle and Palmer volleyed home from a narrow angle in the 79th minute after Fulham goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga had done brilliantly to palm out Chris Martin's shot.

The result extended City's run without a home win to 15 games, but they took much credit from a committed performance against superior opponents.

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Fulham, backed by a large contingent of travelling fans, made a strong start, with crosses that created several half-chances.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid had a 23rd-minute shot blocked before Nahki Wells miskicked six yards out at the other end.

Both goalkeepers were brought into action as the interval approached, Gazzaniga saving low from Martin and City's Dan Bentley diving to stop a similar effort from Josh Onomah.

Marco Silva made two changes at the break, sending on Kebano and Harrison Reed for Nathaniel Chalobah, who had been booked, and Onomah.

The decision paid quick dividends ,with Kebano setting up the opening goal.

Wilson was getting too much space on Fulham's right and almost doubled their advantage by beating Bentley, only to see his effort roll agonisingly wide.

City boss Nigel Pearson responded by sending on Nathan Baker for Cameron Pring and moving Jay Dasilva forward to left wing-back, also replacing Tyreeq Bakinson with Joe Williams after 64 minutes.

It did not stop Wilson getting in behind the defence again in the 69th minute, only to dwell on his shot and allow Baker the chance to make a recovery tackle.

Wells and Baker headed inches over, Dasilva had a shot blocked and Williams fired wide from distance as City tried to stage a late rally.

But Fulham remained a threat and Bentley had to spread himself to save at the feet of Kebano.

Gazzaniga made two outstanding saves to deny Wells and Martin, but the second saw the ball drop for Palmer, who had replaced George Tanner, to find the net.

In a thrilling finale, Fulham were denied by the crossbar when Jean Michael Seri's shot was deflected and Mitrovic twice shot narrowly wide before also clipping the woodwork at the death.

What the managers said...

Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "The players showed great tenacity against good opponents. While Fulham could have had more goals, so could we.

"I'm not kidding myself and we have a lot of work still to do, but the players know their jobs and that they have to defend as a team."

Fulham's Marco Silva: "The goal was clearly offside. It wasn't a difficult decision and I can't understand why the linesman failed to spot it. I have seen a replay, but I knew at the time from the bench that it was offside. A poor decision has gone against us.

"I wasn't happy with our first-half display. But we made a couple of changes at the interval and the second half was much better. The substitutes made an impact, but the whole team played with more purpose. We just have to be calmer with our finishing. There were so many clear opportunities created, but we couldn't get the second goal to kill them off."