Happy return for Weimann
Many happy returns to andreas Weimann , who went back to his old Pride Park stamping ground and reminded everyone of his goal- poaching qualities.
The austrian scored one and was involved in the build-up to the second to leave Derby still looking for their first home win of the season. Weimann left Derby for the West Country in the summer of 2018 after three years at County and did the decent thing with a muted celebration after scoring.
‘He won’t take pride that it’s Derby,’ said Bristol coach Lee Johnson. ‘He has great respect for the club but had to do his job. andi always gets a good reception whichever club he is at. He runs his heart out. any fan will appreciate that when he puts on the shirt, he runs himself into the ground.’
Weimann showed composure after good work by Benik afobe, who found Kasey Palmer. The striker pounced, turned and slotted the ball past Kelle Roos.
In added time of the first half, Bristol doubled their lead, Jack Hunt beating Scott Malone to deliver the cross which set up Josh Brownhill. as the ball crossed the goalmouth, there was Weimann cleverly stepping over the ball.
Derby did fight back but the breakthrough came in the last few minutes, when substitute Jack Marriott curled a belter past Daniel Bentley. Derby started the night with the incentive of possibly going top of the table and coach Phillip Cocu said: ‘It was a bad start. I don’t like excuses and it is a disappointing defeat.
‘after we conceded a goal, I saw the reaction but I want to see this at the start of the game. The second mistake was a big blow, of course.’ all credit to Bristol City. Johnson has given his squad a massive shake-up and shown imagination with the recruitment of a speedy teenager who caught the eye for more reasons than his thicket of hair.
Han-noah Massengo made history last season at Monaco when he became the first player born this century to figure in the Champions League. He contributed fully to the backs- to- the- wall performance.
‘The boys worked like trojans, both mentally and physically,’ Johnson added. ‘ The back three were warriors. We’ve had six sessions to work on the defensive side and the boys showed great application.’