Barnsley are right back in the battle for survival after securing their fourth win in their last seven matches.
The Reds have collected 14 points from their last eight games, they had only collected 14 in the whole season prior to this (29 games) a run which has taken them from bottom and eight points from safety to 22nd and just two points from safety.
Carlton Morris opened the scoring for the second game running, the second time he has netted in back to back games for the Reds but the first of his six league goals in 2021-2022 that hasn’t been netted after 44 minutes or in first half injury time.
His opener last night after 10 minutes is the second earliest he has scored for Barnsley – netting after two minutes against Rotherham last season.
Michal Helik grabbed the second with a fine header from Amine’s Bassi’s corner, his first goal for the club in exactly a year (netting on the 13th March 2021 at Bournemouth)
It was Helik’s seventh goal for the club and they have won six of them, the one blemish… a home draw with last night’s opponents Bristol City in October 2020.
Barnsley have been at least 2-0 up at half time in three of their past six league matches, as many times as in the previous 72.
This was Barnsley’s seventh clean sheet of the season, three of which have come in the last eight matches.
Amine Bassi set up Helik’s goal, his third assist for the club, making him the joint top goal-creator at the club this season.
Between them Morris and Bassi have been directly involved in each of Barnsley’s last seven goals (Morris scoring two and assisting three with Bassi scoring twice and assisting two)
Bristol City were forced into a substitution after 39 minutes, the first time there has been a substitution in the first half of a Barnsley league game since the home match with Cardiff in February.
This result ended a run of five successive 2-2 draws between the sides at Oakwell.
Barnsley have though scored twice against the Robins in six successive Oakwell meetings.
They are unbeaten in the last seven Oakwell clashes.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
7. Callum Brittain
6. Mads Andersen
30. Michal Helik
4. Callum Styles
33. Matty Wolfe
17. Claudio Gomes
26. Remy Vita
27. Amine Bassi
28. Domingos Quina
14. Carlton Morris
Substitutes:
44. Devante Cole (for Morris 70)
5. Liam Kitching (for Styles 72)
22. Clarke Oduor (for Vita 90+3)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 11. Aaron Leya Iseka, 21. Romal Palmer, 24. Aapo Halme.
Bristol City Team:
1. Daniel Bentley
24. Robbie Cundy
5. Rob Atkinson
25. Timm Klose
3. Jay Dasilva
14. Andreas Weimann
6. Matty James
42. Han-Noah Massengo
36. Alex Scott
9. Chris Martin
18. Antoine Semenyo
Substitutions:
8. Joe Williams (for Scott 39)
21. Nahki Wells (for Williams 55)
37. Tommy Conway (for Semenyo 87)
Unused Substitutes:
13. Harvey Wiles-Richards, 16. Cameron Pring, 26. Zak Vyner, 33. Sam Bell.
Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson said:
"It's the same group of players who played at the weekend and did very well, but our inconsistencies came back to haunt us and that remains a problem for us this season.
"There was no reason why we couldn't perform in the same sort of way that we did against Blackburn, but the way we started was sloppy.
"We were also wasteful on the ball and were turning the ball over so many times when there was not a lot of pressure on us. It all comes down to concentration.
"We've got eight games to go now and the players have the opportunity to show me what they are made of before we look to make decisions concerning next season's squad."
Match Reports:
Sky Bet Championship Results
TUESDAY 15TH MARCH 2022
BARNSLEY (22nd) 2-0 Bristol City (18th)
Morris 10
Helik 21
Birmingham City (20th) 0-2 Middlesbrough (7th)
Connolly 23
Balogun 62
Blackburn Rovers (4th) 3-1 Derby County (23rd)
Morrison 28
Wharton 53
Dolan 59
Gallagher 90+7
AFC Bournemouth (2nd) 1-1 Reading (21st)
Solanke 8
Ince 83
West Bromwich Albion (12th) 1-0 Fulham (1st)
Robinson 64
WEDNESDAY 16TH MARCH 2022
Blackpool (13th) 0-0 Sheffield United (9th)
Cardiff City (17th) 2-1 Stoke City (16th)
Baker 23
Doyle 39
Hugill 43
Coventry City (11th) 0-2 Hull City (19th)
Smallwood 4
Longman 28
Luton Town (5th) 4-0 Preston North End (14th)
Berry 9
Onyedinma 28
Berry 42
Diaby og 59
Millwall (10th) 2-0 Huddersfield Town (3rd)
Afobe 27
Afobe 57
Nottingham Forest (8th) 3-1 Queens Park Rangers (6th)
Gray 40
Spence 55
Yates 83
Johnson 87
Peterborough United (24th) 2-3 Swansea City (15th)
Obafemi 41
Szmodics 51
Marriott 63
Obafemi 71
Piroe 90+1
Barnsley lie in 22nd place in the Sky Bet Championship with 28 points from 37 games. We are 31 points off the Play-Offs, 38 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 49 points off First Place and 2 points inside the Relegation Zone.
Up to 17/03/22
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Thirty Eight: Sheffield United v Barnsley, Saturday 19th March 2022. Kick-Off: 12:30pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Thirty Nine: Barnsley v Reading, Saturday 2nd April 2022. Kick-Off: 3pm