City played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at the London Stadium to earn a replay against West Ham United in the Emirates FA Cup.
The hosts went ahead inside five minutes through top scorer Jarrod Bowen but Tommy Conway was on hand to slot home a second-half equaliser.
The Premier League outfit started well and their early pressure proved too much for the Robins.
With just four minutes on the clock, Pablo Fornals’ deft lob over the top of the City defence found Bowen who took it round Max O’Leary to finish.
It took just three minutes for City to carve out a chance at the other end as Sam Bell cut in from the right before seeing an effort pushed behind for a corner by Łukasz Fabiański.
O’Leary then had to produce a good save of his own to deny Fornals on the cut-back from Jarrod Bowen.
City continued to grow into the game but struggled to carve out a clear opportunity against the Europa Conference League champions, though Rob Dickie was unfortunate to see his header fly into the grasp of Fabiański following Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s corner.
It was Liam Manning’s men who looked the more dangerous in the second half as Anis Mehmeti and Gardner-Hickman both saw efforts blocked after a driving run from Joe Williams.
Cam Pring was then presented with a great opportunity to draw City level as Jason Knight’s low cross took a nick off Angelo Ogbonna but the City defender couldn’t direct his effort inside the far post.
City would see their spell of pressure rewarded though as Conway levelled the encounter on 61 minutes after Williams’ stunning through ball set him through on goal to finish with aplomb.
Kurt Zouma’s header over the bar from a West Ham corner seemed about as close as the Hammers would come in the second half, with Conway then seeing a potential second of the afternoon chalked off for offside.
Pring almost bundled himself through a crowded penalty area minutes later but couldn’t quite dig out a shot from a dangerous position.
The final chance of the afternoon came courtesy of a Williams free-kick in stoppage time, but Zak Vyner couldn’t direct his header on target.
Team: O’Leary, Tanner, Vyner, Dickie, Pring, James, Williams, Gardner-Hickman (James 75′), Bell (Cornick 86′), Knight (c), Mehmeti (Weimann 76′), Conway (Wells 81).
Substitutes: Bajic, King, Knight-Lebel, Nelson.
Attendance: 62,500
NEXT UP AT ASHTON GATE!
City are set to welcome West Ham to the West Country for the FA Cup third round replay, with match and ticket details announced in due course.
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