What Bristol City did after Sheffield Wednesday win as Mehmeti magic sees Reds meet expectations

All the stand-out talking points from Bristol City and Gerhard Struber’s 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon

Dan Carter is the Bristol City reporter at Bristol Live. He joined the title in November 2024 having previously been a football reporter at Breaking Media. Before that, he was a sports journalism student at the University of Gloucestershire where he also covered the Robins whilst on placement. In his role, he wants to keep supporters informed with the latest news in and around Ashton Gate whether that be on matchdays, during transfer windows or everything in between.

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber applauds travelling supporters(Image: Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

As they had done three-and-a-half miles away at Bramall Lane on the opening day of the season, Bristol City and Gerhard Struber produced another impressive attacking performance in the Steel City to secure the Robins’ first win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in more than a decade.

Was it as all-action as the win over the Owls’ city rivals last month? For half an hour or so, yes, but by the time the clock had hit 35 minutes, the result was already beyond doubt.

‘Oles’ were audible from the away end before the fourth official had even begun to think about first-half injury time, and several of the already-reduced numbers inside the ground in Wednesday colours started to head for the exits.

In truth, Struber’s side had put on a bit of a clinic. The deadlock was broken on six minutes when Owls defender Harry Amass turned Rob Dickie’s right-footed effort from inside the box into his own net. Even at that early stage, it felt like there would only be one winner and that sense of confidence from those in red and white was only further buoyed when Emil Riis slotted home the Robins’ second 12 minutes later.

Although Henrik Pedersen’s side never stopped scrapping or battling, even asking a few questions of City’s backline, they were never truly able to threaten Radek Vitek. Having spurned chances of their own, the Robins put the game to bed with 13 minutes to play of the opening period when Anis Mehmeti was afforded the freedom of the Owls’ box to control Scott Twine’s cross and tuck home his third of the term.

What followed after the interval was pedestrian in comparison to the opening exchanges. Struber’s side seemed to drop down a gear or two, still carrying an attacking sense, but without ever leaving themselves overly exposed in defence.

Ultimately, the Reds saw things out in a professional manner to claim their third league win of the campaign. Though all the fireworks had been packed into the opening 45 minutes, the party mood in the away end continued beyond the full-time whistle as those who had made the journey to South Yorkshire made the most of another away win.

Given the wonderful start to the Struber era, I’m sure a lot of you are already working out plans to get to BS3 for the visit of Oxford United next weekend. Before you turn your attention to the future, however, here are the stand-out talking points from City’s 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday…

What Bristol City did at full-time

As Gerhard Struber and his Bristol City players made their way over the away end, having shaken the hands of their opposition, the usual building cheers echoed from the travelling fans, inviting either the head coach or one of his players to conduct a chorus of noise as Radek Vitek had done at Bramall Lane last month.

Despite the best efforts of Rob Atkinson – who attempted to push one or two of his teammates to the front of the pack – and the supporters, nobody stepped forward. Instead, as a collective, each player remained on their mark and applauded while Struber simply waved.

From the head coach and players’ perspective, there was no need for extravagant celebrations, as their expectation was to win at Hillsborough, as it has been in every game they’ve played, both home and away.

“The boys were very happy in the dressing room, of course, but this was the expectation also from ourselves,” the City boss told Bristol Live post-match. “We did it.

“The boys can remember the last season, it was not normal that they brought points home, especially Sheffield Wednesday, I think it was 10 or 12 years ago that the team [last] won here. So this is special to win away and of course also today, but I think our own expectation in our dressing room is very high and in the end, we are super happy today, but we look forward.”

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For large portions of last term, it felt like no matter who they faced, the Robins would struggle on their travels. While good away performances against the likes of Sunderland and Oxford didn’t bring the results they deserved, there were miserable days at Derby, Blackburn, and Portsmouth.

Now, it would be naive to suggest that sort of difficult afternoon won’t come further down the line under Struber, but it does feel as though the Austrian’s approach on the road, and his team’s for that matter, is completely different.

City are trying to play the same way away from Ashton Gate as they are on their own patch. Their approach hasn’t shifted because of the opponent or occasion, and although there will be times in which teams will get the better of the high-pressing, front-foot style, it won’t be because the Robins are prioritising home matches over their away games.

For the fans that travel the length and breadth of the country to follow their team, the first five weeks – including Saturday’s win at Hillsborough – of the new campaign will have offered a sense of encouragement that such trips spanning hundreds of miles and costing hundreds of pounds are worth it.

The attitude displayed by the players after the full-time whistle and Struber’s post-match comments suggests energetic and attacking displays on the road won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

With seven points to their name from their opening three on the road, the Austrian’s City side have shown positive signs away from the West Country already this term.

Anis Mehmeti steps up

Over the course of the first five league games of Bristol City’s season, different players have stood out at different times. At Bramall Lane and against Derby, Scott Twine stole the show, while Radek Vitek got most of the plaudits against Charlton and Adam Randell and Emil Riis were the stand-out performers against Hull City.

Against Sheffield Wednesday, however, it was Anis Mehmeti who was the real difference-maker for Gerhard Struber’s side. From what felt like the first minute, the Albanian international caused problems, whether that be by combining with Ross McCrorie out wide, or by driving in from the left channel onto his right foot.

It was his intelligent cut-back that picked out Rob Dickie in the box in the lead-up to City’s opener. It was his smart pass into the penalty area which allowed Emil Riis to finish under Ethan Hovarth 12 minutes later, and it was his composed touch and finish that wrapped up the three points later in the first half.

Despite playing such an important role in all three goals, the former Wycombe man will have likely left Hillsborough feeling he could have had a hat-trick as he rattled both the side-netting and the post in the remainder of the contest.

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Those who have watched him over the course of his time in BS3 will have known such an electric performance has always been something Mehmeti has been capable of. What has come as a welcome surprise, however, is the consistency the Albanian international appears to have discovered.

Now I am not saying he is meeting the standard he set against the Owls each and every week. If he were, he wouldn’t be playing for the Robins, but he is beginning to impact matches on a more regular basis. Mehmeti scored against Sheffield United, Hull, and Wednesday. He assisted against the Owls and Tigers, created the space for Twine’s opener at Pride Park, and carried the Reds’ greatest attacking threat in the stalemate with the Addicks.

With McCrorie to his left and both Riis and Twine to combine with, the 24-year-old seems to thrive. Although it has only been five Championship games, the early signs are that both as a collective and individuals, the front three are going to cause the majority of teams an awful lot of problems.

Of course, the challenge for the winger now is to sustain that level of performance over the course of another block of games up until the October international break, then through to November, then into the new year, and then beyond.

Squad building on show

Saturday’s game offered supporters the first look at Gerhard Struber’s Bristol City squad post-summer transfer window.

In truth, it didn’t look an awful lot different from the one on display two days before the deadline, with the only change in the matchday 20 seeing Middlesbrough loanee Neto Borges take the place of now Wycombe Wanderers forward Sam Bell. However, that one alteration brought with it a sense of balance that could prove important between now and the January window, at least.

The Robins were forced to call upon their bench early on against the Owls when Rob Dickie was withdrawn at half-time as a precaution. In his place, George Tanner entered the fold and a slight defensive reshuffle followed, with Zak Vyner moving into the central role left vacant by the vice-captain. Even with that change, the Reds remained solid in the second period, as Radek Vitek didn’t have a save to make.

Similar was true when 14 minutes into the second half, Struber opted to call time on both Adam Randell and Mark Sykes’ afternoon, throwing Max Bird and Yu Hirakawa on in their place. The introduction of Bird gave City a different presence in the middle of the park as he quickly launched multiple counter-attacks with quick, incisive passes, whilst also getting stuck in out of possession.

Max Bird came off of the bench in Bristol City’s win over Sheffield Wednesday(Image: EFL)

Though Hirakawa’s impact wasn’t quite as noticeable, his tricky feet and direct dribbling style caused the Owls different problems than they had to contend with when Sykes was on the field.

The effect of the Robins’ final two changes was harder to recognise, given the stage of the game in which they were made. However, Sinclair Armstrong provided a source of energy at the top end of the pitch, which Emil Riis was unable to, having run the channels so selflessly for the previous 81 minutes and Borges played one or two smart passes in his brief cameo.

While the game was done and dusted as a contest by the time all of those players mentioned above took to the field, the circumstances of the second half served as an opportunity for Struber to showcase not only the depth in his ranks but the variety of different options at his disposal. Not one of the changes he made was stylistically like-for-like – other than perhaps Hirakawa for Sykes – even though he didn’t change the formation whatsoever.

As a result of the business completed over the course of the summer, the Reds appear to have an adaptability that they perhaps lacked at times last term, where they were viewed by some as being rather one-dimensional. Having that ability to alter the way in which your side attack or defend with a single substitution is a real asset, especially in a system as physically demanding as Struber’s.

Although signing another striker closer to Riis’ level would have ensured such competition for places was present all over the pitch, it does feel as though the centre-forward position is the only area in which the Robins are truly going to lack a ready-made alternative.

Over the course of a 46-game league campaign, that depth is going to be called upon plenty.

Is it time to start getting excited?

Now, I’m sure one or two of you reading this will be accusing me of getting a bit ahead of myself with all of this positivity, after all, what is football without a bit of skepticism and pessimism?

It is important to remember that the Sheffield Wednesday team Bristol City beat on Saturday afternoon has been through the ringer over the course of the last few months as a result of the off the field issues stemming from their ownership. They are yet to win a game in the league this term, and the majority of their squad is made up of young prospects, so the Robins were always expected to come out on top at Hillsborough.

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However, Gerhard Struber’s side can only beat what is in front of them. Not only did they beat Henrik Pedersen’s Owls, they did it with a level of professionalism that deserves credit. The game was done and dusted by half-time to the extent that the Reds could take their foot off of the gas to cruise through the second period, and still created plenty of scoring chances.

On a wider level, 11 points from the first five league matches is an impressive haul for City – in fact, it is their second-best start since they returned to the Championship a decade ago. But it is just that: a start.

Nothing is won or lost in the second week of September, and while Struber and his players have given themselves a platform from which they can kick on this term, it is now vital that they do exactly that.

The head coach explained in his pre-match press conference this week that he and his staff were viewing the run of games leading into the October international break – against Wednesday, Oxford United, Preston, Ipswich, and QPR – as a block, as was the case heading into September’s interval. Having got that block off to the perfect start, the Reds now have a chance to really show their credentials over the next four weeks.

While there is no such thing as an easy game in the Championship, at the time of writing, City will be viewed as favourites in all of those games, barring the clash with Kieran McKenna’s recently relegated Tractor Boys. If they perform as they have done so far this term, there is no reason the Robins couldn’t remain unbeaten over the course of those four matches – but that is a big if.

With what we have seen of them so far, City should be relishing the chance to make a real, early splash in England’s second tier.

What Bristol City did after Sheffield Wednesday win as Mehmeti magic sees Reds meet expectations

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