Bristol City 2-0 Swansea City: Andreas Weimann inspires Robins victory against Swans

Image source, Huw Evans picture agency

Image caption, Bristol centre-half Adam Webster had missed the Robins' last two matches with an injury

Bristol City beat Swansea to register their seventh successive win and move into the Championship play-off spots.

After Andreas Weimann had seen a first-half header ruled out for offside, the former Aston Villa forward put the hosts in front 42 seconds after the restart when he converted Jamie Paterson's cross.

Swansea pushed for an equaliser but that gave Weimann the time and space to set up Callum O'Dowda to seal victory.

Boosted by the return of Adam Webster in defence, the hosts absorbed long spells of pressure from Swansea City throughout but Graham Potter's side failed to carve out any clear chances.

Victory moved Bristol City up to sixth at the expense of Derby County, who drew with Preston on Friday, and they are now just seven points off the top two.

For Swansea, a seven-game unbeaten run comes to an end, amid a turbulent time for the Welsh club, after Tom Carroll, Jefferson Montero and Wilfried Bony all left on deadline day.

Image source, Huw Evans picture agency

Image caption, Swansea City full-back Declan John started just his fourth Championship game since joining in August 2018

Swansea, who left out Wales international Daniel James after his proposed loan move to Leeds United fell through, started the brightest of the two sides.

Summer signing Declan John delivered two dangerous balls in the first half but neither Oli McBurnie nor Nathan Dyer tested Frank Fielding in the Bristol City goal with their efforts.

Josh Brownhill almost gave the Robins the lead on the stroke of half-time but Swans keeper Erwin Mulder was equal to the effort.

But it did not take Lee Johnson's side long to make amends for that missed opportunity, with Weimann burying his header into the bottom-right-hand corner to ease the tension around Ashton Gate.

George Byers almost levelled the score on 62 minutes but his 30-yard strike was saved superbly by Fielding to tip his effort onto the post.

Swansea continued to pile forward but in doing so left Weimann free in the middle of the park with time to pick out O'Dowda, who put the result beyond doubt.

It could have been worse for the Swans but Mulder denied O'Dowda his second with a fine save after 80 minutes to keep the score at 2-0.

Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson:

"I don't mind our supporters getting ahead of themselves and partying. But my job is to keep the players focused.

"There is still plenty of room for improvement and a lot we can work on. Take your eye off the ball in the Championship and you can soon be on the slide. It was a strong performance against a good Swansea side. I'm pleased with the clean sheet and felt we defended really well as a team.

"What encourages me most is that we are on a great run with a lot of quality players out of the team or even the squad for one reason or another."

Swansea boss Graham Potter:

"The boys gave everything at the end of a tough week. We didn't have the ideal preparation, but that is not an excuse.

"I understand that this is a disappointing time for our supporters and it is a challenge for all of us. But we have to come together as a club and move on.

"We knew the main focus of the transfer window was hanging onto our players and the positives were that we kept Dan James and Leroy Fer. I knew when I took the job how tough life is for clubs coming down from the Premiership and all I can do is work as hard as I can to move us forward."