B B C Sports” Bristol City 1 (Twine 45+1) Wolves 2 (Ait-Nouri 10, R. Gomes 21).

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes scored first-half goals to advance Wolves to the Emirates FA Cup third round against Bristol City on Saturday lunchtime.

On their first visit to Ashton Gate since 2019, Vitor Pereira’s side led 2-0 after 21 minutes, and despite Scott Twine’s free-kick halving the deficit on the stroke of half-time, the Old Gold held on to survive late pressure and advance to Sunday’s fourth round draw. The first opening of the game came from a sweeping Wolves play, and it was a significant one for the visitors, landing on Ait-Nouri’s right boot. Goncalo Guedes found R. Gomes with a ball out to the right, and the Portuguese teenager stood up his man before crossing into the danger zone, where Ait-Nouri received it only a few yards away, but Max O’Leary stood firm to prevent the opener from point-blank range.

However, the deadlock was broken just minutes later by the same guy, who did not dwell on his previous miss. A corner kick was cleared only as far as Joao Gomes, who delivered back into the box and found Ait-Nouri at the back post to head in from close range inside 10 minutes. Pereira’s team attempted to capitalise on their good start and nearly doubled their lead when Jorgen Strand Larsen got free with R. Gomes and Guedes for company, but the latter was unable to make clear contact with the ball, and the Robins were able to comfortably clear the ball off the line.

The Old Gold were in the mood in the southwest, and they demonstrated their superiority when Strand Larsen gathered the ball between the lines and had time and space to quickly pick out Guedes on the right. R. Gomes made a move inside his compatriot and got the ball thanks to a nice Guedes touch before settling down and dinking into the far corner for two. Guedes had chances to make it three, but he couldn’t make touch with his first attempt. He then received the ball following some strong Strand Larsen hold-up play, but sent his left-footed effort high and wide of O’Leary’s goal. The attacker then attempted to take advantage of O’Leary coming out of his goal and despite the stopper being way off his line, Guedes was unable to get the power behind his long-range effort and O’Leary was able to get back in time.

As half-time approached, the home side put some late pressure in their strongest run of the opening 45 minutes, with Santiago Bueno well-positioned to stay firm and make a key block when Anis Mehmeti cut inside and tried for goal. To their credit, the Robins halved the deficit inside one minute of extra time thanks to a beautifully executed free-kick, when Wolves had taken their foot off the accelerator slightly. A foul by Hee Chan Hwang just outside the area allowed Twine to strike up and over the wall, out of reach of Sam Johnstone, who had little chances.

Half-time | Bristol City 1-2 Wolves

Wolves had an early opportunity to regain their two-goal lead in the second period, as an overload down the left side saw Ait-Nouri and J. Gomes combine before the latter cut the ball back for Hwang, who was in plenty of space but got underneath the ball and cleared the crossbar. R. Gomes’ persistence almost paid off when he kept close to Haydon Roberts, who was facing his own goal, and Gomes nipped in, before taking the ball out of his foot and nearly squeezing his effort inside the near post, but the ball cannoned back off the woodwork. Shortly after, Guedes took aim from the distance and pushed O’Leary into a smart save low to his left which was comfortably parried away from any danger.

Wolves had the ball in the back of the net for a third time, however by the time R. Gomes had latched onto Strand Larsen’s flick on and lobbed it over the top of O’Leary, the offside flag was already up to deny the wing-back his second of the afternoon.

Hwang had a good chance with just under 20 minutes left when Guedes raced clear down the left and crossed with the outside of his boot, but the South Korean shot over after the ball had reached the back post. Hwang was changed shortly after, and his replacement, Pablo Sarabia, nearly had the desired impact, shooting a long-range shot that rebounded off the far post. With five minutes of the match remaining, Bristol City were still in the game at 2-1 and came closer than ever to equal when Twine’s free-kick was met at the back post by Ross McCrorie, who headed back off the underside of the crossbar. as Wolves survived a late scare and five minutes of additional time to progress.

Full-time | Bristol City 1-2 Wolves

Bristol City: O’Leary, McCrorie, Mayulu (Wells 77), Twine, Mehmeti (Hirakawa 65), Knight (Bird 65), Vyner, McNally, Tanner, Roberts, McGuane, Earthy (69). Unused substitutes include Bajic, Naismith, Sykes, Bell, and Morrison. Wolves: Johnstone, Doherty, Ait-Nouri (Pond 90+6), Bueno, Andre, J. Gomes, Strand Larsen, Hwang (Sarabia 75), Agbadou, R. Gomes (Lima 89), and Guedes.

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