JAKOBSEN RIIS-ES TO THE OCCASION!
EMIL Riis Jakobsen was the toast of Preston, scoring twice, his second at the death, as Ryan Lowe’s men rescued a dramatic point against Bristol City.
And boss Lowe said he was proud of his battling players after putting an “unacceptable” first-half display behind them.
They may have gained a point, but the Lilywhites’ playoff push suffered from a disappointing performance – the hosts were particularly poor in the first half which City dominated after Chris Martin opened the scoring after 12 minutes.
“We know the first half simply wasn’t good enough, hopefully it’s a one-off in that sense,” said Lowe.
“I won’t accept the firsthalf performance from the players, and they know that.
“But despite that I was really pleased with the reaction of the players in the second half.
“We freshened it up after the break and I’m pleased with the reaction. We weren’t quite at it first half and we were disappointed with large parts of it.”
Nigel Pearson’s visitors enjoyed the bulk of possession in the early stages with Martin’s calm finish deservedly edging them in front.
Antoine Semenyo’s clever ball released Andreas Weimann in behind and his whipped cross into the box was steered home by the Scotland international from a tight angle.
Preston did rally themselves before the break, with Andrew Hughes nodding just wide from Ben Whiteman’s corner, and Jakobsen’s snap shot was well kept out by Max O’Leary.
Lowe opted for a double substitution at the interval, with Joshua Earl and Alistair McCann brought on, and the hosts turned the tide after 52 minutes.
Cameron Archer’s fierce drive was superbly parried away by O’Leary, but Danish star Jakobsen was the quickest to react as he poked home the leveller from close range.
However, that equaliser was not capitalised on by Lowe’s side in the second 45, with City easily keeping them at arm’s length in the closing stages.
Despite appearing to be in the stronger position to go on and win the game, Preston’s vulnerability at the back was punished by Semenyo.
Han-Noah Massengo’s trickery allowed him to glide past two Preston challenges on the edge of the box and his near-post ball was fired home by Semenyo.
City almost sealed the result with a third goal, as Martin powered an effort over the top.
But there was to be a final sting in the tail for Preston in added time as a swift counter attack caught City out and Jakobsen arrived on cue inside the box to volley home Brad Potts’ brilliant cross.
“It is frustrating and annoying not to come away with three points,” said Robins manager Pearson.
“You also have to say it was a fantastic strike for the equaliser.
“We know we have to be more streetwise. We had the chance to run it into the corner and run the clock down, and we didn’t.
“We could have had a more comfortable lead, but we created chances and missed them.”