Bristol City and Nottingham Forest fought out a goalless FA Cup draw and will replay their fourth-round tie at the City Ground.

Forest will be glad to avoid the fate West Ham suffered in the third round at Ashton Gate when the Sky Bet Championship side produced a memorable upset against Premier League opposition.

But Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will not welcome the extra game amid their battle to stay in the top flight.

Forest shaded the clearest openings during what was a pretty even affair but, in the end, had to settle for a rematch and the first clean sheet of Nuno’s seven-game reign.

City – 13th in the Championship and 17 places below Forest in the football pyramid – fielded 10 of the team that started the West Ham win, with Jason Knight replacing Joe Williams in the Robins’ midfield.

Forest were unchanged from the side that lost a five-goal Premier League thriller at Brentford last weekend.

There was heartening news on the bench as the influential Morgan Gibbs-White returned following a two-game injury lay-off, and the England Under-21 international came on at half-time to good effect.

City, roared on by another capacity crowd, began on the front foot and Tommy Conway was snuffed out twice by Andrew Omobamidele.

Conway was the hero against the Hammers, scoring in both games, but the young striker missed the target from 10 yards when unmarked, side-footing Anis Mehmeti’s cross wide.

Forest had carried little attacking threat in the opening quarter, apart from Nuno Tavares curling a free-kick in to the side-netting.

But the visitors did force the only save of the first half after 28 minutes, with Ryan Yates firing straight at Max O’Leary in the home goal.

City continued to probe but were almost caught by a swift raid moments before the interval.

Chris Wood led the breakout and fed Callum Hudson-Odoi, who pulled the ball back for the onrushing Danilo to hit the hoarding behind the goal.

Knight headed over Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s corner in first-half stoppage time, but Gibbs-White’s arrival gave Forest more fluidity when building attacks.

Gibbs-White almost made an instant impact with a header that was blocked and it was the midfielder’s lofted pass which saw Wood nod tamely at O’Leary.

City responded with Cameron Pring crossing to the far post and Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner shovelling the ball behind under pressure from Knight.

Robins substitute Sam Bell saw Murillo’s midriff get in the way of a powerful attempt, while Hudson-Odoi should have done better than find the side-netting after Gibbs-White had driven at the heart of the home defence.

When Pring ended a swift City counter-attack by rippling the side-netting and Danilo fluffed his line from a free-kick, the tie was destined to be replayed.

Liam Manning was not in the least surprised by an impressive debut from on-loan midfielder Scott Twine as his first-half goal earned Bristol City a point from a 1-1 Championship draw with Watford.

But the head coach did admit astonishment at the manner of the 25th-minute equaliser. Twine climbed above a defender to head into an unguarded net after goalkeeper Ben Hamer had blocked Tommy Conway’s close-range drive into his path.

“I reckon it’s the first time Scott has ever scored with a header,” said Manning. “He probably closed his eyes and it went in off his nose.”

The goal cancelled out Tom Dele-Bashiru’s 13th-minute well-struck penalty for Watford – after Rob Dickie had handled the ball inside the box – and ensured a fair outcome to a competitive English second-tier clash.

Manning and Twine have worked effectively together before as the player scored 20 goals in a season for MK Dons with the same boss in charge during the 2021-22 season.

Signed last Monday from Burnley on loan until the end of the season, the 24-year-old caught the eye with his accurate delivery from free-kicks and corners.

Manning added: “Scott showed what he is all about and will only improve as he gets to know the other players.

“He had a chance to score before his goal and is great at getting forward into threatening positions.

“His dead-ball delivery is one of the reasons I wanted to sign him and it was clear to see, I felt we had the better chances in the game.

“Two or three outstanding ones went begging. We had 15 shots from inside their box, which is a very high number.

“They had more control in the first half, but we had a chat during the break and came out firing.

“We were much more on the front foot and played in the areas we wanted to play in.

Both sides had chances to claim all three points from a stirring battle with no quarter asked or given.

Dickie had a late header brilliantly saved by Hamer, while Robins goalkeeper Max O’Leary produced a brave first-half save at the feet of Yaser Asprilla.

Watford boss Valerian Ismael said: “It was another solid away performance from us. We were strong, pressed well and were tactically very sound.

“We just needed to be more mature in our decision-making at times. That is the next step if we are to win games consistently. We have to be more ruthless.

“It was a clear penalty and we had another good opportunity to be ahead at half-time.

“Our attacking intent was very good in the first 45 minutes. In the second half, we got into more promising situations only to fail with the right final pass or cross.

“We have to be better at controlling the ball in our opponents’ half. Sometimes we take too many touches and lose possession.

“We need to be more calm on the ball, but that is OK, it will come.

“We are working with a lot of young players and I am pleased with the progress they are making.

“We have the possibility of entering the transfer market before the deadline and I am hopeful of doing some business.”

Manning does not anticipate any more signings before the deadline and said there were no deals imminent that would see players leaving.

David Moyes dismissed the idea of the FA Cup being the best cup competition in the world as “quite ridiculous” following West Ham’s exit at Bristol City.

The Hammers lost their third-round replay 1-0 after Said Benrahma was sent off for reacting foolishly to Joe Williams’ 51st-minute challenge.

VAR was not in operation at Ashton Gate even though it had been used in the original tie at the London Stadium nine days earlier, which finished 1-1.

Although Moyes felt Darren England made the right decision to send off Benrahma, the Scot was unhappy over Williams’ tackle on the Algerian as well as one or two other incidents in the game.

Hammers boss Moyes said: “It’s incredible they call it the best cup competition in the world. Yet one week you have VAR, one week you don’t.

“I find it quite ridiculous they try to claim that, but it’s not level for every club.

“If we’re not having VAR we shouldn’t have it in the tournament at all. If we’re going to have it, then have it everywhere.”

West Ham were trailing to Tommy Conway’s third-minute goal when Benrahma was banished at the start of the second half.

“It made it much more difficult, that’s for sure,” Moyes said about trying to engineer a recovery.

“I’ve had a look at it and I don’t think we can have any complaints. I don’t think his reaction was correct. It was a sending-off.

“I wasn’t sure about the tackle on him. That might have been questionable. I thought in game-time it was a pretty hefty challenge.

“I’m not sure the referee moved in quick enough to deal with the first challenge, which allowed something else to happen. There was one on Danny Ings as well that was not the best either.”

On the defeat, Moyes added: “We should have won the game at London Stadium and done the job better.

“That’s what happens in the cup competitions – if you’re not quite on it, or maybe not at your best, you can find yourself knocked out.”

Bristol City, 14th in the Sky Bet Championship, seized their opportunity against opponents who were without Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus for various reasons.

Robins boss Liam Manning said: “Across the two legs the performance level was really high.

“We got off to a great start which always helps, but there’s a real danger when you’re one ahead to try and protect that lead.

“But we showed a real bravery to try and play and press. We tried to stay on the front foot and I thought we were excellent.

“I was really proud of the lads because we maintained that level of focus you need against opposition like that.”

Bristol City will be at home to either Blackpool or Nottingham Forest in round four.

Bristol City produced an FA Cup upset as 10-man West Ham were beaten 1-0 in a third-round replay at Ashton Gate.

Tommy Conway’s equaliser at the London Stadium nine days earlier had set up this return tie and the  21-year-old striker was the Robins’ hero again as his early goal proved the difference.

West Ham, sixth in the Premier League, suffered further misery as Said Benrahma was sent off after 51 minutes for reacting stupidly to a strong challenge from Joe Williams.

Bristol City, 14th in the Sky Bet Championship, will again meet top-flight opposition in the fourth round should Nottingham Forest successfully negotiate their replay at Blackpool on Wednesday.

West Ham boss David Moyes was short on attacking options with Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio injured and Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Danny Ings, strongly linked with a move to Wolves this January, started for the first time since November alongside Benrahma and Maxwel Cornet.

West Ham were down on numbers and three current academy players occupied a bench one short of taking up its full allocation of nine substitutes.

Bristol City began with nine of the side that started the 1-1 draw in East London and Conway was on the scoresheet again inside three minutes after West Ham had wasted a golden opening – Cornet overhitting a pass with Ings clean through.

The action immediately switched to the other end where Konstantinos Mavropanos’ mistake allowed Conway to round Lukasz Fabianski and make light of a tight angle by rolling the ball home.

Anis Mehmeti sent a 20-yard effort over but the Hammers gradually asserted authority with Max O’Leary’s goal coming under increasing threat.

Ings was off target from the edge of the box, Mavropanos failed to connect with James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick when contact would surely have levelled matters and Cornet was denied by a last-gasp Cameron Pring challenge.

Cornet, making only his second start of the season, underlined his rustiness further by miskicking in front of goal, while Pring was vigilant to turn away Ings’ effort close to the line.

Bristol City had defended for most of the half, but the hosts burst into life in the final minute.

Mehmeti’s low effort tested Fabianski at his near post and the veteran goalkeeper was called upon from the resulting corner to gather Ross McCrorie’s header.

Life got a lot more difficult within six minutes of the restart when Benrahma kicked out at Williams after being fouled.

Referee Darren England took his time to decide the punishment as Benrahma received treatment, but the Algerian was eventually banished when back on his feet.

Tempers boiled over again as Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Aaron Cresswell were booked after grappling with each other.

West Ham almost equalised after Ings and Emerson combined and Cornet crossed for Tomas Soucek to force O’Leary into an excellent reflex stop from close range.

Substitute Nakhi Wells nearly doubled Bristol City’s lead, but the Robins held on for a famous victory and home fans celebrated as if they had won the cup itself.

Substitute striker Will Keane struck a sweet double as Preston claimed a 2-0 home win against Bristol City.

The former Manchester United forward made a fine impact from the bench with two goals in the space of 23 second-half minutes as the Lilywhites claimed their first league win since Boxing Day.

Victory also saw Ryan Lowe’s side end a worrying run of four defeats in their last five Championship matches having made a flying start to the season.

Defeat for the Robins means they have now not won in their last four matches and last won at Deepdale 13 years ago.

Defender Taylor Gardner-Hickman came close to giving the visitors an early lead but saw his goal-bound shot superbly saved by Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.

Montenegro striker Milutin Osmajic tried his luck from the outside of the box with the hosts’ first chance after 19 minutes, but his right-foot strike flew wide of the left-hand upright.

Irish forward Jason Knight thought he had put Bristol City ahead with a thunderous strike, but Preston shot-stopper Woodman pulled off a fine save to tip his effort over the crossbar.

Defender Rob Dickie also saw a header saved by the home keeper, who found himself too busy for his own liking.

Zak Vyner rifled a fierce right-foot shot wide of the right-hand post as the visitors kept pressing for the opener, before Knight smashed over the bar with another excellent chance.

Albanian forward Anis Mehmeti saw his left-foot shot saved by Woodman, who was having a fine afternoon between the posts.

At the other end, Canadian midfielder Liam Millar was denied by a smart block from Robins keeper Max O’Leary, while midfielder Duane Holmes fired over with an angled drive.

Keane, fellow striker Emil Riis and attacking midfielder Mads Frokjaer-Jensen were introduced to spice things up for Preston.

And it worked as they found a spring in their step and were in front for the first time 20 minutes after the triple substitution.

Keane needed just two minutes for his first chance of the afternoon, O’Leary pulling off a fine block to stop his shot flying into the top corner.

The forward went close again five minutes later, firing wide from close range when he probably should have done better.

Mehmeti shot wide for the visitors and had an effort well-saved by Woodman, before Keane finally made the breakthrough.

His clinical strike from the centre of the goal was too good for O’Leary – and not long afterwards he doubled the home side’s advantage.

Frokjaer-Jensen had a shot saved as the pressure mounted, before Keane fired into the bottom-right corner with a superb left-foot strike for his eighth goal of the season.

David Moyes saw his injury worries mount up as West Ham were held to a 1-1 FA Cup draw by Bristol City.

Lucas Paqueta set up Jarrod Bowen’s goal after just four minutes, but limped off shortly after with a recurrence of a knee injury.

Defender Konstantinos Mavropanos was also forced off with a shoulder problem before half-time.

But most worryingly of all, top-scorer Bowen had to be helped from the pitch after the final whistle having gone down injured in stoppage time.

The injuries may have brought into question Moyes’ decision to play his strongest team against the Championship side.

But the Hammers boss insisted: “I had no intention of doing anything else than making sure we put out as strong a team as we possibly could.

“Injuries are part of football, and unfortunately we picked up a couple today. Losing Lucas was a big turning point in the match.”

The Hammers looked on course for a comfortable afternoon when Bowen brought down Paqueta’s ball over the top and fired them into an early lead.

It proved to be anything but, however, after a second-half equaliser from Tommy Conway secured a replay for the rocking Robins.

West Ham’s squad would have been given a whole a week off had they won this third-round tie, but they will now be dragged back in on Friday as Moyes, who reached Wembley twice as a player with City, prepares for a return to Ashton Gate.

A replay is the last thing Moyes needs as the injuries begin to bite, but he claimed: “I’m looking forward to going back to Bristol, I’ve not been there for a long time, I’m really looking forward to going back to Ashton Gate.

“The amount of games we played this season it would be better if we didn’t have it, but if I was Bristol City I’d be thrilled to have West Ham at Ashton Gate.”

Danny Ings has been linked with a move to Wolves this January having hardly figured this season.

The striker, on as a second-half substitute, missed a late chance when he hit the side-netting.

But Moyes insisted: “Danny was probably the best player when he came on. I’d talk about his performance rather than anything else.”

City boss Liam Manning, a former Hammers Under-23s coach, was delighted with his side’s second-half display.

“The immediate emotion would be pride in terms of the performance level,” he said.

“Going a goal down early can derail you but the response was outstanding.

“For the first 20 or 25 minutes of the second half the performance level was excellent, and the goal was a terrific moment of quality.”

David Moyes faces a trip back to his former club after West Ham were held to a 1-1 FA Cup draw by Bristol City.

The Hammers looked on course for a comfortable afternoon when Jarrod Bowen fired them into an early lead.

It proved to be anything but, however, after a second-half equaliser from Tommy Conway secured a replay for the rocking Robins.

West Ham’s squad would have been given a whole a week off had they won this third-round tie, but they will now be dragged back in on Friday as Moyes, who reached Wembley twice as a player with City, prepares for a return to Ashton Gate.

Almost 9,000 members of City’s cider army – among an impressive 62,500 sell-out – made the trip to the capital, but the raucous bunch who filled the Sir Trevor Brooking stand were silenced after just four minutes.

Lucas Paqueta dropped deep to collect the ball and lifted a delicious pass over the top to Bowen.

The England hopeful still had work to do, controlling the ball before knocking it past the dive of City keeper Max O’Leary and beating covering defender Cameron Pring on the goal-line.

Sadly for West Ham it was Paqueta’s last involvement in the match. The Brazilian playmaker was only just back from a knee injury and seemed to suffer a recurrence.

Teenage striker Divin Mubama was sent on as a replacement for a rare chance to impress.

West Ham almost doubled their lead when Bowen got round the back of the City defence and pulled the ball back, but O’Leary made a superb reaction save to claw out Pablo Fornals’ shot.

O’Leary made another fine stop to prevent an own-goal from Pring, who inadvertently turned Bowen’s cross-shot towards his own net, and then tipped a James Ward-Prowse volley wide.

Moyes was forced into a second substitution after just 38 minutes when Konstantinos Mavropanos was hurt after an aerial challenge with Conway, with veteran defender Angelo Ogbonna sent on.

City, 11th in the Championship and on a run of one defeat in five matches under former Hammers Under-23 coach Liam Manning, threatened sporadically in the first half.

But Sam Bell shot straight at Lukasz Fabianski and Rob Dickie’s header was also too close to the Polish keeper.

City should have drawn level early in the second half when a low cross from captain Jason Knight eluded everyone in the box and fell to Pring, who lashed his shot wide at the far post.

But on the hour mark the away fans behind the goal were delirious when Joe Williams pinged the ball forward.

Ogbonna missed it and Conway raced forward before burying his shot across Fabianski and into the net.

West Ham poured forward in a bid to avoid a replay – and preserve their week off – but Tomas Soucek headed over and substitute Danny Ings hit the sidenetting.

Wayne Rooney was pleased to see Birmingham keep a clean sheet after his side drew 0-0 with Bristol City at St Andrew’s.

Rooney, who has had only two wins from his first 14 games as Blues boss, unashamedly admitted that after shipping nine goals in the previous three matches, he wanted to end that defensive rot.

“I am really pleased with the clean sheet, from the last three games and the goals we have conceded,” he said.

“I thought we could have done more in attacking areas but we defended well as a group, we were compact, were hard to play through and really nullified Bristol’s opportunities.

“It wasn’t a classic to watch I get that but we had to really have a big priority today in keeping a clean sheet.

“You always want more and with the three changes I tried to bring some energy on to give us a bit of a boost.

“When you are conceding goals you look at what you can do to change that, we want to play more attacking and entertaining football moving forward – but we had to really prioritise not conceding tonight.

“When you are conceding goals you have to make a decision if you want to go full out and try and score three, four goals. We have been scoring goals but we had to make sure we were solid – that was a gameplan for us today.

Liam Manning focused on the positives of a result that keeps Bristol City within three points of the play-off places.

Manning’s side dominated possession but were unable to produce a shot on target or break down a massed Birmingham defence.

Manny Longelo was the only player to work the goalkeeper, a weak drive straight at Max O’Leary in the first half, while Robins’ Anis Mehmeti had two chances to open the scoring before the break – and Manning was relatively content after extending his team’s unbeaten run to four games.

“In terms of the control we had I thought we probably created the better chances in terms of the two headers that Anis had,” Manning said.

“I thought we restricted them to very few chances, they had a couple of shots from distance but apart from that didn’t trouble us too often.

“It was just a case of whether we had the quality to break down their block.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have. But at the same point the big positives for me were a clean sheet and another game away from home where we pick up a point and we move on.

“They had a game plan to try and stop us which for me shows an element of respect for us and how far we have come as a group that we are coming away here and they are setting up to block at home.

“Let’s give credit to our lads for earning the right for them to do that. I felt if one team was going to win it it was going to be us.”

Bristol City head coach Liam Manning reflected on winning a Christmas cracker against Hull and admitted: “We like to do things the hard way.”

His side led through Tommy Conway’s 24th-minute penalty, awarded for handball against Jacob Greaves, only to fall behind by half-time to Aaron Connolly’s solo strike and an Ozan Tufan spot-kick after referee Ben Toner spotted a dubious foul on Greaves in a crowded box.

Anis Mehmeti matched the brilliance of Connolly’s goal with a similar effort to equalise on 77 minutes and after Hull lost goalkeeper Ryan Allsop to an injury sustained trying to prevent that goal, Knight beat his replacement Matt Ingram with a deflected effort to settle the outcome.

Manning joked that he had aged 10 years during the previous home win over Sunderland and again had his emotions put through the wringer.

He said: “Up to our goal, we were excellent and caused them real problems. Then we got a bit emotional and they took advantage as a very good side who are well coached and on a good run of form.

“The less said about Hull’s penalty the better. There was so little contact on their player and I’m just glad the result wasn’t influenced by a poor refereeing decision.

“But we responded to the setback well, even in the final minutes of the first half, and the second-half performance was excellent.

“We got on the front foot and showed some moments of real quality. We spoke at half-time and there was so much good in the first half that I didn’t want to derail it.

“The message to the players was that we faced a terrific challenge and could either step up and build on our good first-half play or let the penalty decision have an adverse effect.”

Hull head coach Liam Rosenior, a former player for both clubs, was serving a one-match touchline ban and admitted: “Watching from the stand was horrendous. I have learned my lesson and never want to let it happen again.

“Credit to Bristol for playing well, but for us it was three points dropped. I sound like a broken record when I say that we didn’t get the result we deserved.

“Our level of performance was again good, but we have to manage games better because the end product is all-important. It’s so frustrating because we should have more points on the board than we have.

“The defeat was self-inflicted. There was so much good in the way we played.

“Ryan Allsop hurt his back diving for their second goal and that is just bad luck.

“I believe that if you perform consistently over the course of a season you will end up where you deserve to be. We were by far the better team, but key moments in the game have cost us.”

Jason Knight’s 84th-minute strike earned Bristol City a thrilling 3-2 Championship win over Hull at Ashton Gate.

The hosts took a 24th-minute lead when Jacob Greaves handled Tommy Conway’s glancing header and Conway sent goalkeeper Ryan Allsop the wrong way from the spot.

But Hull battled back to equalise on 33 minutes through Aaron Connolly and went in front eight minutes later with the game’s second penalty, coolly converted by Ozan Tufan after referee Ben Toner spotted a foul on Greaves as he contested a free-kick from the left.

Anis Mehmeti brilliantly equalised and a terrific advertisement for Championship football ended with Bristol fans celebrating thanks to Knight, while those who had made the long journey from Hull could console themselves with the fact that their team had given everything.

Bristol had the better of the opening exchanges, Knight forcing saves from Allsop with a shot and a header before Conway’s opener.

But Zak Vyner had already made a saving tackle on Connolly before the striker’s fine solo equaliser, cutting in from the left to drill a sweet low drive beyond the reach of City goalkeeper Max O’Leary.

The home side bitterly disputed the penalty decision that put them behind but Hull were worthy of their interval lead after finishing the first half strongly.

O’Leary saved well from Tufan after one of several strong runs by Liam Delap, who caused problems down the right wing for Hull.

Bristol began the second period well and Conway was just wide with a near-post volley from a Taylor Gardner-Hickman cross.

Again Hull rallied and Lewie Coyle shot wide from distance after two corners in quick succession.

Delap had a shot from a narrow angle saved by O’Leary and Connolly saw a fierce volley blocked as Liam Rosenior’s men wrestled back the initiative.

At the other end Greaves did well to get in the way of a close-range shot from Knight.

Both teams looked to play out from the back and through midfield as an entertaining contest developed.

On 77 minutes, Mehmeti matched Connolly’s goal with a brilliant solo effort, racing in from the left and placing a perfect low shot beyond the diving Allsop.

Hull had to substitute Allsop through injury on 82 minutes and two minutes later replacement Matt Ingram was beaten by Knight’s fierce shot from just inside the box, which took a deflection.

There were chances at both ends right into seven minutes of stoppage time, when Hull substitute Adama Traore volleyed narrowly wide at the near post.

Neither side deserved to lose and rightly received a rousing ovation at the end of a brilliant game.

Liam Manning joked that he had aged ten years watching his City team defend for their lives to beat impressive Sunderland in the Sky Bet Championship.

Tommy Conway’s 20th-minute penalty, after Taylor Gardner-Hickman was tripped by Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, proved enough to settle a hugely competitive game at Ashton Gate.

Play-off hopefuls Sunderland dominated for long periods of the second half but could find no way past inspired City keeper Max O’Leary, who made brilliant saves to keep out two Luke O’Nien headers and one from substitute Jobe Bellingham.

Head coach Manning said: “Max was outstanding, not just with his saves but the composure he showed under pressure.

“I’ve aged 10 years watching the game but I’m delighted for the lads because of the togetherness and spirit they showed.

“We have played better, but despite defending for long periods we were always a threat and had chances to extend the lead.

“I have a terrific group of players and, while there is room for them to develop, they lack nothing in effort.

“In a tough league like the Championship, you cannot afford to get too high when you win or too down when you lose.

“What the fans want to see above all is a team putting bodies on the line and giving 100 per cent. There could be no complaints on that score today.

“The commitment to block shots and stop crosses was fantastic. It had to be because Sunderland played well, particularly in the second half.

“Still, I felt we were always capable of catching them on the break. Anis Mehmeti has hit a post and Harry Cornick was through on goal after going on as a substitute.”

Sunderland were caught playing out from the back for the penalty, having survived a previous scare doing the same, and interim coach Mike Dodds was understandably frustrated.

“My anger is mainly directed at a mad 15 minutes in the first half when we invited Bristol City to take the lead,” he said.

“Apart from the penalty incident, there were three or four other lapses that went unpunished and it gave them impetus.

“If I had seen that sort of sloppiness in training, the players concerned wouldn’t have been in the team.

“I haven’t seen it from the team before and don’t want to again. There were words spoken about it at half-time.

“We completely controlled the second half and created chances without taking them. I can live with that, but what happened in the first half was unacceptable.

“Their keeper has made some good saves, but at times our finishing could have been better.”

Of his own situation, Dodds added: “The club have been great in communicating with me and the ball is firmly in their court over what happens next.

“Whoever becomes the next head coach will inherit a fantastic dressing room at a club definitely on the up.”

The hosts hit a post in the first half through Mehmeti’s curling shot but had to survive several Sunderland penalty appeals during a backs-to-the-wall second half.

Playing towards their 2,600 travelling fans, the visitors applied constant pressure, only to be denied by O’Leary and some committed last-ditch defending.

Cornick had a great chance to settle the outcome when breaking clear, but the hosts were hanging on at the end before celebrating three hard-earned points.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes is expecting a tough test as her side travel to Bristol City in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.

Hayes’ team go into the fixture on the back of a crushing 4-1 defeat by Arsenal last weekend which saw their unbeaten streak in the league come to an end and they will be looking to set the record straight after they also failed to beat Hacken in the Women’s Champions League in midweek.

Bristol City sit 11th in the table and have only won one of their opening nine games but Hayes is not underestimating Sunday’s opponents.

She told Chelsea’s website: “Bristol are going to play five at the back and we’ll have the same sort of challenges (as against Hacken).

“But if we can find a blue shirt, can put the ball into the right areas in the right moments, I’m sure we’ll be fine.

“She (City boss Lauren Smith) will make it difficult for us. You see their result against Arsenal, they’re actually eighth in the league in terms of xG conceded. So they don’t give up as many clear-cut chances as you may think.”

Midfielder Melanie Leupolz and defender Ashley Lawrence are expected to return to training ahead of the fixture and young Japanese forward Maika Hamano could also make an appearance.

Robins boss Lauren Smith is looking forward to another tough test and thinks her side are adapting to different challenges in the league.

She said: “As time has gone on, the performances have lifted and we’ve started to now show we can adapt to teams and that was pleasing to see at Liverpool on the weekend that we changed our shape and press and caused them problems.”

Manchester United will be looking to extend their winning run to five games in all competitions when they play Liverpool and boss Marc Skinner is pleased with what he has seen from his squad heading into the last game of 2023.

He said: “Barring the Manchester City performance, we have been excellent, considering four or five of my players joined us in the last week of the transfer window.

“They have grown together, they continue to grow together and it will be an exciting second half of the season, I can assure you that.”

Liverpool could go level on points with United with a victory on Sunday and striker Leanne Kiernan is setting her sights on competing with the teams at the top of the table.

She told Liverpool’s website: “We want to compete and we are not here just to sit in mid-table. We want to compete with the big teams and we know that on our day we are good enough to compete with the big teams, so we are really looking forward to it.”

Manchester City will be aiming to make it four successive league wins with victory over Everton at Walton Hall Park.

But the Toffees have also enjoyed an upturn in form recently and come into the game unbeaten in three league matches themselves and could move into sixth with a win.

Two out-of-form sides meet at the King Power Stadium when West Ham meet Leicester. Both teams are without a win in their last seven matches and will see the game as an opportunity to break their winless streaks.

Aston Villa host Brighton at the Bescot Stadium as the sides sit 10th and ninth respectively and both teams will be looking for a result to put some breathing space between themselves and the relegation zone.

Jon Dahl Tomasson saluted his Blackburn side for “digging in” to secure a 2-1 win over Bristol City.

Rovers were in control after Arnor Sigurdsson’s first goal since October finished off a well-worked 35th-minute move, and Scott Wharton’s second-half header from his brother Adam’s delivery put Rovers two up.

But City fought back and after Mark Sykes slotted home on the hour they dominated proceedings but could not find a way past the outstanding Leo Wahlstedt.

Blackburn move up to eighth and Tomasson was pleased despite admitting it was not his side’s best performance.

He said: “I think the first half we weren’t brave enough. We turned a lot of opportunities down to play forward.

“I know that Bristol were defending really well and kept the pitch compact but we should have played more forward.

“We scored an excellent goal. An extremely clinical finish, what we’ve been missing in the last weeks.

“It was a great goal and a great pass that hurt. We spoke at half-time that we need to do that more. Don’t turn those passes down.

“I think we started extremely well in the second half, scored a well-worked corner. Great to see the whole Wharton family, not only the two boys involved in that goal but also the whole family in the stand.

“When we conceded that goal, it gets a bit nervous and you can see the squad is a bit stretched. The boys were digging in. When you’re not playing that well, it’s always great to get three points.”

Bristol City are winless in four but Liam Manning said they should have taken something from the encounter.

He said: “Obviously the (first) goal knocked us a bit. We got a little emotional after that, felt sorry for ourselves.

“Then to be fair, disappointing to concede off a corner. Subs came on, we scored straight away and I thought actually the last 25-30 showed what we need to be about which is that fight, togetherness, that spirit, intensity in how we work. Just gave ourselves too big a challenge to overcome.

“I think the scoreline takes away some of the context in terms of whether they become a little more passive because they were two ahead.

“I think overall if you were to go on chances, there wasn’t a lot in it for me in terms of areas we got into, chances we created, shots on goal were quite similar, if not we had more on target I believe.

“So yes, I’m always going to sit here and say maybe we should get something out of the game.”

Blackburn moved to within two points of the play-offs with a 2-1 win over Bristol City.

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men halted a two-game losing streak thanks to Arnor Sigurdsson’s fifth of the campaign in the 35th minute before Scott Wharton’s towering header early in the second half doubled their advantage.

However, they were made to work for the points thanks to a spirited response from the Robins who pulled a goal back in the 60th minute through Mark Sykes’ close-range finish and from there, the visitors were the much better side.

Liam Manning’s side could easily have come away with a share of the spoils but found Blackburn goalkeeper Leo Wahlstedt in inspired form and he made a hat-trick of late saves to thwart Jason Knight.

Rovers remain well placed for a top-six push but while City have only won one of six under Manning, they can take heart from a performance that so nearly produced a fightback.

The Robins frustrated the hosts early on and created the best chances, though Sam Bell’s 10th-minute effort sailed wide of the upright. Tommy Conway almost profited from sloppy play from Adam Wharton but his ferocious effort was too high.

Blackburn were uncharacteristically loose in possession but found their feet and after Sammie Szmodics curled a free-kick just wide, they took the lead 10 minutes before the break with their first flowing move of the game when Adam Wharton’s pass was flicked by Szmodics into Sigurdsson whose touch took him into the area and he casually lifted the ball into the left corner.

It boosted the hosts who finished the half strongly and doubled their advantage in the 52nd minute when Adam Wharton’s deep corner found his brother Scott who rose powerfully to head home at the back post.

The visitors fought back admirably with Conway flashing one just wide soon after before they halved the deficit on the hour.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman pounced on a loose ball before Jason Knight cleverly fed Sykes on the right to slot home from 12 yards for his fourth goal of the season.

It completely changed the complexion of the game and Knight was thwarted three times by Wahlstedt.

First, his low 25-yard drive was parried behind by the sprawling keeper, before a lung-busting Sykes run and cross found the midfielder who swivelled and shot but Wahlstedt was down smartly again to deny him.

Knight went close again with 10 minutes remaining but could only direct his header straight at Sykes and though they kept pressing, City could not force the elusive equaliser.

Huddersfield manager Darren Moore say his side were left “kicking themselves” after being held to a 1-1 draw by Bristol City.

Delano Burgzorg opened the scoring for the hosts but Tommy Conway equalised in the second half.

Moore said: “They were difficult conditions for both teams. Both sides liked to get the ball down and play, considering it got worse in the second half we’re obviously pleased to get the breakaway goal with what we did.

“We grew into the game. I think David Kasumu did some incredible work to get up the pitch and then have the composure to pick Delano Burgzorg out.

“I said we’ll probably kick ourselves in the second half. For their goal, we chose the wrong decisions on the ball and they were able to capitalise on it.

“As the conditions worsened, we had to show a lot of resilience. One or two of our players ran out of gas, which we expected. Credit to the subs who came on, who dug in and saw us through.

“For the goal to come in the manner it did, at the time we were playing well in good areas. For it to come so early in the second half, it gave them momentum.

“We had to be solid off the ball and we had to exploit areas when we were on the ball. When the equaliser went in the impetus and momentum fell with them.”

Burgzorg struck after a devastating first-half counter-attack spearheaded by the impressive Kasumu, who picked the ball up in his own half and drove 40 yards forward before sliding in Burgzorg to score.

Conway capped off a tidy move for the Robins straight after the break, slotting home Andreas Weimann’s precise cross to equalise after Rob Dickie had found Weimann wide on the left with a defence-splitting ball.

City manager Liam Manning said: “From our perspective it was a frustrating game.

“We created two terrific chances in the first two minutes and especially in the first 20 minutes we had some real control.

“Huddersfield were extremely well organised. Despite us having control for that 20 minutes, we were always vulnerable.

“We were frustrated and disappointed to give away the goal. With the manner of the goal it was such a big momentum shift. There were a couple of tweaks we needed to make out of possession but on the whole the first half was what I wanted to see.

“We had some stern words at half-time. We’ve given too many goals away recently that have been on us. For all the good play you have to have a ruthless edge and that’s at both ends.

“Of course some people would think that means creating and scoring goals, but that also means being ruthless in the control you have in the game so you can’t give up counter-attacking opportunities, which they scored from.

“I was delighted with the response we got at half-time. The second half didn’t fall quite tactically as we wanted it to but we carried on balancing the emotional side to the tactical side.

“Darren’s side play with great honesty and hard work. Well organised and set up too, he does a terrific job of that.”

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