3 things we clearly learnt about Bristol City after 2-1 defeat v Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Bristol City’s search for a first home win under Nigel Pearson stretches on after two goals in 60 seconds from Lyle Taylor turned the game on its head in stoppage time yesterday and earned Nottingham Forest a 2-1 win.

The Robins hit the front just before halftime courtesy of 18-year-old Alex Scott but surrendered their lead late on – falling to a defeat that sees them drop into the bottom half of the table.

But was it all doom and gloom for City? Here’s three things we learnt from last night’s defeat…

The awful home record is more than just bad luck

In isolation, it would be easy to look at last night’s late defeat as a freak result but when you consider what has come before it, it is evidence of a wider problem – and one that Pearson needs to solve.

The Robins have now gone 17 games at Ashton Gate without a win and squandered three opportunities to end that run by conceding goals in added time this season.

Shane Lavery earned Blackpool a point with a 92nd-minute equaliser on the opening weekend of 2020/21, while Danny Hylton levelled in the 91st minute for Luton Town a few weeks later, and, well, we all know what happened last night.

The problem looks two-fold as City have been unable to capitalise on chances to put games to bed and then crumble late on defending leads – often sinking further and further back toward their goal almost expecting the inevitable.

Supporters will hope that it will just take one win to break the trend but, unfortunately, you feel it may reflect a deeper fragility in the squad that Pearson needs to put right.

Han-Noah Massengo’s return could be massive

City spent a lot of money to bring Massengo to Ashton Gate in 2019 and it’s starting to look like this will be the season where we really see that start to be repaid.

The Frenchman has been sidelined for a few weeks due to injury but returned from the bench yesterday to serve a reminder just what he offers the Robins midfield.

His energy is infectious and he so often seems to win the battle for a loose ball but it’s his quality in tight areas that caught the eye last night, with a wonderful roulette starting an attack that so nearly led to Nahki Wells putting City two up.

It would be understandable if parts of the Ashton Gate faithful found it hard to be positive at the moment but it’s important to recognise how important Massengo’s return to fitness could be.

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Alex Scott is a special talent

Despite the fact we’re only three months in, 2021/22 has been a season stocked full of milestones for City’s ‘Guernsey Grealish’ and last night saw him bag his first senior goal for the club.

He missed a good chance to score early on but didn’t let his head drop and was in the right place to hammer home the opener after Brice Samba had parried away Wells’ effort.

The teenager rarely looks out of place at Championship level and already seems to have the trust of Pearson.

He’s a special talent and it’ll be exciting to see how the teenager continues to develop as the season wears on.