Kenyan defender stars as Bristol down Sheffield Wednesday to keep promotion-playoff hopes alive

STARS ABROAD Kenyan defender stars as Bristol down Sheffield Wednesday to keep promotion-playoff hopes alive

Mark Kinyanjui 11:30 - 05.11.2023

The central defender looked solid as managerless Bristol City downed Sheffield Wednesday to keep their chances of achieving promotion to the Premier League next season alive.

Harambee Stars prospect Zach Onyego Vyner looked impressive as Bristol City claimed a narrow win over the Championship's bottom side Sheffield Wednesday, who had to play the whole second half with 10 men.

The Owls had skipper Barry Bannan sent off before the break after he fouled Jason Knight on the edge of the area after being played into trouble by goalkeeper Cameron Dawson.

Rob Dickie broke the deadlock for the home side when he converted Tommy Conway's cross after the away side could only half-clear a corner.

The home side hit the woodwork through Conway and Sam Bell as they looked for a second to wrap it up, and the Owls nearly snatched a late leveller when Ashley Fletcher deflected Will Vaulks' free-kick but Max O'Leary made a super save.

The Robins parted company with boss Nigel Pearson last Sunday after a 2-0 defeat by rivals Cardiff and put Curtis Fleming in caretaker charge.

They thought they should have had a penalty when former Scotland international Bannan took Knight out right on the edge of the area but the referee awarded a free-kick and showed the Owls midfielder his first red card since March 2016.

Wednesday, who claimed their first win of the season against Rotherham last time out, nearly took the lead in the opening minutes of the second half but O'Leary kept out Dominic Iorfa's header.

Centre-back Dickie scored City's first goal since he had given them a 1-0 home win over Coventry City on 21 October when he slid in to score from close range.

Despite their perilous position, the Owls kept plugging away and only a wonderful reaction stop from O'Leary stopped them equalising.

Conway ought to have made it 2-0 right at the end when he broke forward after Dawson had gone up for a corner but he dallied and Akin Famewo was able to get back and make a challenge.

Danny Rohl's men, who are nine points adrift of safety, host out-of-sorts Millwall next Saturday, while Bristol City are back in action the same day when they travel to second-bottom QPR.

Vyner clocked 61 minutes under his belt. He made three tackles  and won four of his five ground duels.

He looked assured in possession, making two accurate long balls and 55 successful passes, with one of those passes even producing an expected assist ratio of 0.01.

Vyner is born to an English father and a Kenyan mother.

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