Bristol City 0:1 Walsall: League Cup Match Result

Match report

Walsall steal victory at Ashton Gate

Bristol City and Walsall met in the Round of 128 of the League Cup on Thursday evening, and the visitors took all three points with a 0:1 scoreline at Ashton Gate. It was a clean sheet for Walsall despite playing with less than a third of the possession.

The decisive moment came in the forty-seventh minute when A. Pressley found the back of the net. And here's the thing — Walsall had created five big chances throughout the game compared to Bristol City's single opportunity, but it was the away side that converted when it mattered.

By then the statistics told a familiar story. Bristol City finished with 72 per cent possession and 26 shots, nine of them on target, yet their expected goals of 2.73 produced nothing beyond the opening exchanges. Walsall, meanwhile, managed only five shots but kept their accuracy at 56 per cent and relied on efficient defending to see out the match.

The visitors changed their shape at half-time, bringing on J. Wallace and R. Smith in the fifty-seventh and sixty-seventh minutes respectively. I. Moore picked up a yellow card in the fifty-sixth minute before being substituted himself in the sixty-fourth, while S. Sprangler and R. Browne also received booking in the second half.

Walsall's recent results had not been kind — they had lost to Aston Villa 5:0 and to Telford United 1:0 in their previous outings — but this performance suggested they were not travelling to make up the numbers. The result closes the game out for the visitors and sends them through to the next round of the competition.

Prepared from match data

Key numbers

Possession, % 72 – 28.00

Shots on target 9 – 5

Shots off target 12 – 2

Expected goals 2.73 – 1.74

⇄ 32' R. Leak — Substitution ⚽ 47' A. Pressley — Goal 🟨 56' I. Moore — Yellow card ⇄ 57' J. Wallace — Substitution ⇄ 58' A. Randell — Substitution ⇄ 63' E. Ahui — Substitution ⇄ 64' I. Moore — Substitution ⇄ 67' R. Smith — Substitution 🟨 67' S. Sprangler — Yellow card ⇄ 69' L. Tolaj — Substitution ⇄ 78' G. Tanner — Substitution 🟨 90+2' R. Browne — Yellow card

Match events

32' 0:0 Walsall Substitution R. Leak off: J. Connolly
47' 0:1 Walsall Goal A. Pressley assist: R. Smith
56' 0:1 Walsall Yellow card I. Moore
57' 0:1 Bristol City Substitution J. Wallace off: Y. Hirakawa
58' 0:1 Bristol City Substitution A. Randell off: D. Ballard
63' 0:1 Walsall Substitution E. Ahui off: R. Browne
64' 0:1 Walsall Substitution I. Moore off: C. Crew
67' 0:1 Walsall Substitution R. Smith off: A. Dallas
67' 0:1 Walsall Yellow card S. Sprangler
69' 0:1 Bristol City Substitution L. Tolaj off: E. Riis
78' 0:1 Bristol City Substitution G. Tanner off: J. Williams
90+2' 0:1 Walsall Yellow card R. Browne

Statistics

72 Possession, % 28.00

9 Shots on target 5

12 Shots off target 2

2.73 Expected goals 1.74

1 Big chances 5

136 Attacks 63

13 Corners 4

3 Fouls 13

13 Free kicks 3

1 Offsides 0

0 Yellow cards 3

0 Red cards 0

5 Goal kicks 12

35 Throw-ins 13

All statistics

16/3644% Aerial duels 20/3656%

121 Backward passes 32

12 Blocked shots 2

13 Clearances 62

14/4531% Crosses 4/1233%

10/2638% Dribbles 7/1450%

1.74 Expected assists 1.18

82 Failed passes 72

4 Goalkeeper saves 10

7 Interceptions 10

20 Key passes 6

25/5744% Long passes 16/4536%

146 Passes into the final third 30

428 Passes in the opposition half 149

317 Passes in own half 137

0.27 Shot accuracy 0.56

7 Shots from outside the box 1

26 Shots inside the box 8

10/1856% Tackles 13/2259%

700 Total passes 274

Line-ups

Bristol City

Starting XI
#	Player	number
1	Sam Tickle	1
2	Lisav Naif Eissat	2
3	Cameron Pring	3
16	Robert Joseph Andrew Dickie	16
19	George Tanner	19
4	Adam Fletcher Randell	4
6	Max Bird	6
12	Jason Knight	12
17	Jed Fernley Wallace	17
20	Sam Greenwood	20
9	Lorent Tolaj	9

Substitutes
#	Player	number
40	Brad Collins	40
5	Robert Atkinson	5
38	Noah Johannes Eile	38
8	Joseph Michael Williams	8
10	Scott Edward Twine	10
27	Gibson Yah	27
7	Yu Hirakawa	7
18	Emil Riis Jakobsen	18
23	Dominic Ballard	23

Show full squad

Walsall

Starting XI
#	Player	number
1	Jed Ward	1
3	Mason Hancock	3
5	Harrison Burke	5
22	E. Ahoi	22
25	Declan Skura	25
26	Ryan David Leak	26
6	Sven Michael Sprangler	6
11	Reece Smith	11
15	I. Moore	15
17	K. Clark	17
19	Aaron Alex Pressley	19