Two first-half goals from Emil Riis, both provided by Anis Mehmeti, were enough for the Robins to cruise past the Pilgrims
Plymouth Argyle play Bristol City in a friendly during pre-season on July 26, 2025 at the EV Charger points stadium in Plymouth, England. (Photo by Rogan/Bristol City)(Image: Rogan/Bristol City)
Bristol City put in an impressive performance to beat League One side Plymouth Argyle in their penultimate preseason friendly, coming away from Home Park 2-0 winners. Two first-half goals from Emil Riis, both provided by Anis Mehmeti, were enough for the Robins to cruise past the Pilgrims, with the City defence limiting Argyle to just one attempt at goal.
Riis’ first came from a neat counterattack, which saw Mehmeti drive from inside the Bristol City half to the edge of the Plymouth area, where he shifted the ball right to the 27-year-old to fire the BS3 side in front after 25 minutes.
Thirteen minutes later, the pair combined again, after some more tricky footwork from the Albanian international saw him fool the Plymouth defence, coming inside from the left and whipping a right-footed cross in for Riis to tap home at the back post, which was enough to secure a 2-0 victory.
The Robins started out on the front foot, looking to get the ball forward from the outset, and tested Argyle goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond pretty quickly when Riis received a through ball in the box from Jason Knight and quickly hit a powerful attempt at goal after five minutes.
Ashby-Hammond did well to shut down any chance of Riis beating him at his near post, though, pushing the Dane’s strike out for a City corner.
After an early scare, the hosts started to grow in the game and began to offer a threat on the break, starting a dangerous attack when Xavier Amaechi was found in plenty of space on the right half of the pitch after 12 minutes.
City’s left wing back Yu Hirakawa came over the cover the threat, but was quickly beaten by Amaechi, who moved into the box by sending the ball through Hirakawa’s legs. Rob Atkinson was waiting for the winger on the edge of the six-yard box, though, pick-pocketing him off the ball and clearing it to safety.
The hosts’ best chance of the half came from a set piece, when a ball sent in from deep was met by Kornel Szucs at the far post. The Argyle defender rose high to head the ball, but it only went as far as the body of George Tanner, with the ball bouncing out for a corner after 17 minutes.
Not long after, there was a brief stoppage in the game, as multiple players from both teams were caught up in a tussle on the far side of the pitch. Referee Lee Swabey struggled to stop it from becoming a mass brawl, but eventually diffused the situation, with the game continuing a few minutes later without any bookings being awarded.
It wasn’t long after the restart that City took the lead, with the Robins hitting the hosts on the counter, punishing them as Riis hammered a strike past the Plymouth goalkeeper with composure after 25 minutes.
City doubled their lead 13 minutes later after Mehmeti drifted inside from the left unchallenged, having all the time in the world to whip a right-footed cross for Riis to tap home at the back post and send the Robins into the break two goals to the good.
Gerhard Struber’s side resumed their control over the match throughout the second half, creating several chances and showcasing a real ability to win back possession when dispossessed in the attacking half.
The Robins added a different element to their game with the introduction of Sinclair Armstrong in place of Riis after 60 minutes. City started to send low-driven vertical balls from the middle of the park for the pacey striker to run on to, which the Plymouth back line struggled to deal with.
The Irishman made an instant impact, beating the Argyle defence to a long ball and moving into a great position in the box after 63 minutes, but his shot at goal was weak, not troubling Ashby-Hammond.
It took until the 75th minute for the home side to register a shot on target, with two of their seven second-half substitutes creating Argyle’s best chance of the day, but failing to put the ball past City goalkeeper Lewis Thomas.
The 27-year-old had little to do all game, but produced a moment of quality to deny Plymouth youngster Joe Hatch from close range, diving to his right to push Hatch’s header away from goal after he jumped to meet the lofted cross of fellow teenager Freddie Issaka.
From there, Struber’s side continued their domination of the game and were unlucky not to extend their lead in the final minutes of the tie. But a second late goal in three pre-season matches wasn’t to be for City.
Scott Twine had the first of two good chances, hitting the crossbar from a free-kick just outside the area after 86 minutes, before Armstrong displayed some nice footwork when moving inside from the right and forced Ashby-Hammond into a save from a difficult angle three minutes later.
The Robins finish their pre-season by welcoming La Liga 2 side Real Valladolid to Ashton Gate on August 2, before visiting last season’s play-off semi opponents Sheffield United in their opening Championship game seven days later.