Bristol City vs West Bromwich Albion. The FA Cup Third Round.
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Wednesday 20 January 2016 09:22, UK
Salomon Rondon's early second-half goal saw West Bromwich Albion beat Bristol City in their FA third round replay on Tuesday evening.
The original tie ended in a 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns ten days ago, with a late James Morrison strike earning the Premier League outfit a replay at Ashton Gate.
But Tony Pulis's side finally made the second attempt count, a close-range strike from Rondon seven minutes after the restart securing a home tie against Peterborough.
The Robins had changed manager since the first game, with John Pemberton in caretaker charge following the dismissal of Steve Cotterill, and looked buoyed by their late winner against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Luke Freeman looked to get involved early on and had the first real effort of the game, making a surging run towards goal after Burns played the ball to him near the halfway line.
He got away from three West Brom defenders on the right of the box, finding plenty of space to take his chance but he was well saved by the returning Ben Foster.
Not long after, Burns - the hero against Boro at the weekend - was picked out by a through-ball from Bobby Reid and hit a great effort from the right-hand side of the box that just drifted wide of the goal.
West Brom were forced into an early substitution when Chris Brunt was taken off with a thigh complaint, with Sebastian Pocognoli coming on in his place and he played out a real battle with Burns throughout the game.
The Baggies were mostly restricted to long-range efforts in the first half, Stephane Sessegnon, Craig Gardener, Rondon and Victor Anichebe all shooting from around 25 yards and while a few were close, they failed to trouble debutante Max O'Leary.
But they should have gone ahead late in the second half, with Gareth McAuley heading over from point-blank range after Craig Gardener's shot was initially blocked.
Bristol City also came close in the final minute of first-half extra-time, with Freeman curling a free kick over the top of the wall and despite looking destined for the top corner, just went wide of upright.
The breakthrough came in the 52nd minute, when Dawson's cross from the right found Rondon between two Bristol City defenders, the forward showing some great control as he took the ball on his chest and slotted home from close range.
The rest of the half lacked many clear-cut opportunities, with the Robins not showing the attacking intent they had in the first period.
Their best chance for an equaliser came just after the hour mark, as captain Aaron Wilbraham headed over from a Burns cross, although some good defending from McAuley stopped him from getting decent contact on the ball.
Pemberton continued to make positive steps to finding the equaliser with his substitutions, bringing on Jonathan Kodjia - who scored the first equaliser at the Hawthorns - for the final 25 minutes.
The first corner of the game came 10 minutes later after some good work from James McClean won West Brom the set-piece, which was punched away by O'Leary despite the whistle blowing for a foul on the young goalkeeper.
The Robins found a second wind in the final ten minutes of the game, and they were nearly gifted the chance after Foster spilled his clearance from another good effort from Burns.
But he did well seconds later to turn another Burns effort behind for a corner, with Baker's header from the resulting set-piece easily finding the hands of the England international.
The rest of the game passed without much incident, and saw West Brom through to the fourth round with an ultimately comfortable win.
