Bristol City’s post-match plans were blown off course as their flight home was cancelled in the wake of their goalless draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Having claimed a creditable draw on Wearside thanks mainly to the excellence of their goalkeeper Max O’Leary, who made a string of important saves, City’s players and staff had been due to fly home from Newcastle Airport.

However, high winds resulted in their flight being cancelled, meaning they had to hastily draw up new plans that now involves a 300-mile coach trip back to the south west.

Bristol City boss Liam Manning said: “Our flight home has been cancelled. It’s the wind apparently – it’s bad up here and apparently it’s quite bad in Bristol as well. We found out, as a club, at half-time, but I only found out after the final whistle.

“We’ll have to go by coach now so that’ll add about five hours to the journey home. I guess I’ll spend the time watching the game back. That’s how sad I am. I’ll stick it on the laptop, watch it back, and then use some of that in training next week.”

Manning was pleased with his side’s defensive resilience as they repelled a series of Sunderland attacks to claim a third successive clean sheet, although he admitted he was less satisfied with other aspects of his team’s display.

He said: “The result was more pleasing than the performance. It’s about getting the balance right. In the last two games, the performance and the result were exactly as we would have wanted them. Today, in terms of the performance, we know we can play a lot better.

“I thought there were little mistakes and little things not quite right. We showed a different side to ourselves though. We showed a resilience, a grit and a togetherness. People stepped up, like Max who was outstanding.

“Max made some excellent saves, especially in the first half. He was excellent, but then he has been so often for us. He’s made so many big saves for us.”

Sunderland were thrashed 5-1 by Blackburn on Bank Holiday Monday, so while he was frustrated that his side failed to take all three points, with Adil Aouchiche and Bradley Dack both hitting the crossbar, Mike Dodds was nevertheless delighted with his players’ response to their home humiliation at the start of the week.

Sunderland’s interim head coach said: “I think we had 20 shots on goal. If their goalkeeper isn’t man of the match I’ll be amazed. It was a positive reaction to the previous game, which psychologically is big for the players.

“The last performance was completely unacceptable. I’m disappointed we haven’t won because that should have been three points, and I think their goalkeeper has earned a point for them today.

“I was hoping to see a significant reaction from the players. I thought we got that and it could have been out of sight in the first half. It should have been a lot more comfortable.”

Boss Enzo Maresca was in bullish mood after Anis Mehmeti’s superb strike earned Bristol City a 1-0 win to put another dent in Leicester’s bid for automatic promotion from the Championship.

The winger found the roof of the net with a stunning left-footed strike from the edge of the box in the 73rd minute to inflict a fourth defeat in six league games on the stuttering Foxes.

Leicester paid for missed chances, with Jamie Vardy the leading culprit as he was twice denied by fine Max O’Leary saves when one-on-one with the Robins goalkeeper.

Vardy was substituted after Mehmeti’s goal and along with his team-mates had to endure boos at the final whistle from the massed ranks of travelling fans.

But Maresca declined to join in any sense of panic and said: “There would be cause for concern if the performances weren’t there.

“But we are creating so much and our recent defeats have all been down to not finishing our chances.

“The reaction of our fans at the end was understandable. All I can say to them is if they get nervous now it can transmit to the players over our remaining games. They have been brilliant up to now.

“Jamie Vardy doesn’t need to apologise to anyone after all he has contributed over the years.

“Even the best strikers miss chances. That’s football. He will continue to be a very important player to us over the remaining games.

“We have another game in 72 hours so there is no time to dwell on this defeat. We have to recover quickly and be ready to face Norwich.”

Bristol City head coach Liam Manning paid glowing tribute to his players after their best win since he took charge.

He said: “I have to admit I expected our net to bulge with the Vardy chances but Max O’Leary did an outstanding job.

“He has international ambitions with Ireland and they are looking increasingly realistic.

“We might have had a couple of penalties and the lads were terrific in carrying out our game plan. In the end, we deserved the result.

“Results have not always gone our way recently but the dividing line between success and failure in the Championship is so slim.

“I see the lads in training every day and I know how keen they are to learn and improve.

“Players like Anis Mehmeti are still at the beginnings of their careers. He can frustrate at times but his goal showed what he is capable of producing.

“You always need to ride your luck at times against quality opposition but I couldn’t be happier with the overall team performance.”

Anis Mehmeti’s brilliant strike put another dent in Leicester’s stuttering bid for automatic promotion and gave Bristol City a 1-0 Championship win at Ashton Gate.

The winger accepted a square ball from Mark Sykes on the edge of the box and sent a sweet left-footed shot into the roof of the net to settle a closely-fought game in the 73rd minute.

Leicester had arrived looking to reignite their promotion push after just one win in five Championship games but paid for missed chances, with Jamie Vardy twice denied by outstanding Max O’Leary saves.

Both sides had scoring opportunities in an even first half packed with positive attacking play, with Foxes goalkeeper Mads Hermansen making early saves from Jason Knight and Tommy Conway in a bright Bristol City start.

Hermansen faced a bigger test on 15 minutes when diving to parry a Conway shot and then reacting brilliantly to keep out Scott Twine’s follow-up effort.

Conway had a strong penalty appeal rejected by referee Andrew Kitchen after going down under an 18th-minute challenge from behind by Wout Faes.

But the visitors grew into the match and James Justin sent a low shot wide.

Two better opportunities came Leicester’s way around the half-hour mark when first Faes headed wide from a Harry Winks free-kick and then Vardy fired just the wrong side of a post from Stephy Mavididi’s pass.

Mavididi was causing problems on Leicester’s left flank but the Robins continued to threaten and Twine had a 37th-minute shot blocked after Mehmeti’s penetrating dribble had set up the opening.

Vardy shot across goal and wide of the far post before the half-time whistle brought applause from both sets of fans.

O’Leary defied Leicester with a brilliant double save at the start of the second half, blocking Vardy’s shot after he broke clear down the middle and recovering his footing to stop the rebound effort from Mavididi.

Leicester looked sure to take the lead on 62 minutes when Bristol City were caught trying to play out from the back. Zak Vyner’s pass was cut out by Vardy with the goal at his mercy but O’Leary produced a stunning fingertip save.

At the other end, Sykes fired into the side-netting five minutes after replacing Twine but Leicester were on top and Abdul Fatawu shot narrowly wide before Mehmeti’s superb finish gave the Robins the lead.

Sykes was denied by Hermansen with the home crowd in full voice while Kelechi Iheanacho, on as a 74th-minute substitute for Vardy, had the ball in the net for Leicester five minutes later but was foiled by an offside flag.

From then on the home side managed the game well and had chances on the break.

Bristol City boss Liam Manning chose ‘not to waste his energy’ talking about the officiating after he watched his side suffer their fifth defeat in six Sky Bet Championship matches as they lost 2-0 at play-off chasing West Brom.

Tom Fellows opened the scoring for the Baggies in the 45th minute, before captain Jed Wallace doubled the hosts’ advantage within five minutes of the second half commencing.

City’s players – including goalkeeper Max O’Leary – took exception to the manner of the opening goal, claiming Albion forward Grady Diangana had blocked O’Leary’s view from an offside position. The goal stood and left Robins players and Manning himself bemused.

“You waste your breath on him [referee Tom Nield] to be honest,” he said. “I thought the ref was really poor all game, so I don’t want to waste my energy talking about him.

“I thought the lads all left it out there. We kept trying to play but we just lacked quality in the final third. We need to keep working and improving on that.

“The big thing today was belief. When you’ve had a tough time, believing in the work you do…too often when we go behind we don’t respond well enough. That’s for us to look at but you can see the work that has been done.”

City are 14th, having fallen away in the play-off race, and away supporters at The Hawthorns voiced their frustrations at the full-time whistle having seen their side win just twice on the road since October.

“I can only control what I can,” Manning replied, when asked about his job security.

“You need to have an element of realism. We’ve recruited, made a change mid-season. We have shown we can make progression despite having sold two players to the Premier League last season.

“We want the fans with us, it helps us and it brings us energy at times.

“I turn up, do my best every single day. You can see what the plan is on the pitch, but we need players to step up at key times.”

West Brom, meanwhile, tightened their grasp on fifth position and strengthened their pursuit of the play-offs with this victory.

Manning’s counterpart Carlos Corberan, who has transformed the club’s fortunes since his appointment in October 2022, was only left to rue the margin of victory, which he believed ought to have been greater because of the chances his side created following Wallace’s finish.

“I think that we should have scored the third one, if we were to say it was comfortable. In these types of games, a goal in the last moments can change the feeling,” he said.

“We needed to be constant more than patient, to insist on the things that we needed to do.

“When the opponent is defending and being well organised, you need to disorganise them to create the chance. When you start to do that, positive things can happen – but so can mistakes that give opportunities to them.

“In general we managed some moments in attack well, in some moments no. The same in defence.

“There are things that (we) need to do better to be more dominant in the game.”

A late goal from Leif Davis ensured Ipswich kept pace with league leaders Leicester after coming from behind to beat Bristol City 3-2.

All five goals came in a frantic second half, with the Robins taking the lead through Anis Mehmeti only for substitute Ali Al-Hamadi to equalise.

Tommy Conway’s header put City back in front but Conor Chaplin drew the teams level with a header from a free-kick by Davis before the Town defender sealed the three points.

Al-Hamadi had a penalty saved by City’s goalkeeper Max O’Leary but he was unable to stop Ipswich’s sixth victory on the trot.

It was a dour first half with few chances before the game came to life in the second period.

Chaplin struck the outside of the left-hand post in the 33rd minute after Kieffer Moore’s flicked header from a corner, while at the other end Harry Cornick’s cross was met by Nahki Wells, who headed straight at Vaclav Hladky.

Just before the half-time whistle, a mix-up in the Ipswich defence between Luke Woolfenden and Axel Tuanzebe led to the ball falling to Mehmeti.

He set up skipper Jason Knight but his effort from inside the box deflected off Woolfenden and glanced just past the outside of Hladky’s right-hand post, with the goalkeeper stranded.

The visitors broke the deadlock in the 54th minute when Mehmeti’s shot caught a slight deflection off Massimo Luongo to find its way into the back of the Ipswich net. And Wells had a wonderful chance to extend City’s lead when his shot struck the angle of bar and post and rebounded to safety.

But Ipswich struck back eight minutes later through substitute Al-Hamadi, who had only been on the pitch less than two minutes, turning Davis’ goal-bound shot into the net following Wes Burns’ cross into the City penalty area.

Hladky came to the rescue of Ipswich when he acrobatically turned away a shot from Mehmeti and Mark Sykes’ follow-up was cleared.

City substitute Conway pounced to head the ball past Hladky in the 77th minute following a pin-point cross from Sykes to put City back in front but Chaplin levelled three minutes later when he headed home from a Davis free-kick.

Al-Hamadi missed a chance to put Town ahead for the first time in the match when his penalty was saved by O’Leary after Cameron Pring fouled Burns in the box.

But Town grabbed the three points when Davis’ fierce shot took a deflection off Rob Dickie and went into the back of the net while Jack Taylor struck a post late on to send the delirious Town fans home happy.

Daniel Farke felt his Leeds side had produced an almost perfect away performance as they leapt to second in the Championship table with victory at Bristol City.

Wilfried Gnonto was the match-winner at Ashton Gate with a low left-footed shot from 10 yards in the 48th minute after running on to a long ball from Junior Firpo.

Leeds should have won by a wider margin as they outplayed their mid-table opponents, but a mixture of Max O’Leary saves and some poor finishing kept City in the game.

Farke was delighted with the majority of his side’s display but admits they will need to be more ruthless in front of goal if they want to secure promotion back to the Premier League.

He said: “The margin of victory should have been greater. It was almost the perfect away performance.

“We were so dominant and created so many chances, but I have to criticise our failure to put them away.

“If we want to be celebrating in May we have to be more clinical.

“We were playing a good side and they had one very big chance to equalise, which saw our goalkeeper make a very good save.

“We were breaking with three on one situations and not getting the final pass right over three yards.

“That has to change. But in all other respects I am so happy with the players.

“It’s great to have gone second in the table for our players and supporters. It means nothing to me with so long to go, but it is recognition of how well we are playing.

“We are playing really well and on a good run. But I know from experience how quickly things can change.”

City had one great second-half chance to equalise after 66 minutes when substitute Anis Mehmeti ran onto a Tommy Conway pass only to see his low shot saved at the second attempt by Illan Meslier.

But O’Leary made fine saves to deny the lively Crysencio Summerville on three occasions, as well as Georginio Rutter and Patrick Bamford.

The home side looked off the pace at times and head coach Liam Manning had no complaints.

He said: “First I have to give Leeds credit for being the best side we have played, but tonight we weren’t at the level we are capable of.

“Basic things went wrong like being caught in possession. They close space extremely well all over the pitch.

“I am frustrated because I know we can be so much better. The players seemed to tense up after making errors.

“Max O’Leary has been brilliant for us all season and he was great again in keeping us in the game.

“We had a chance to put things right at half-time and the message was to start doing the simple things well. Then we concede after a few minutes and it was a tough night for us.

“We have played the top sides and Leeds were the best. I expect them to sustain a promotion challenge.

“There have been a lot of games recently due to our FA Cup run, but I am not going to use that as an excuse. We have to work extra hard to bridge the gap to the top teams.

“But in fairness this was an out of character performance and the lads are as frustrated as I am.”

Leeds moved into the Championship automatic promotion places as Wilfried Gnonto’s 48th-minute goal earned a 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The Italy winger beat goalkeeper Max O’Leary with a clinical left-footed finish from 10 yards after running on to a deflected long ball forward from Junior Firpo.

It was no more than Leeds deserved for a hugely impressive display in a largely one-sided contest, with their hosts out of sorts and only able to create a few openings.

City head coach Liam Manning made three changes from the 2-2 draw at Coventry, with Ross McCrorie, Matty James and Tommy Conway named in the starting line-up.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke made one team change, bringing in Gnonto for the injured Dan James.

Leeds made a bright start and had the first effort on goal in the ninth minute when Joe Rodon fired over from a Glen Kamara pass.

At the other end Nahki Wells had a low shot blocked after running on to a Cam Pring header.

Leeds had a great chance to take the lead after 13 minutes when Crysencio Summerville caught George Tanner in possession and raced clear down the middle only to shoot too close to O’Leary, who saved with a hand above his head.

O’Leary was in action again five minutes later parrying a Patrick Bamford shot from inside the box. Then Summerville cleared the crossbar from another good shooting position.

Leeds began to dominate and O’Leary denied them again after 34 minutes, blocking a close-range shot from Georginio Rutter for a corner after Bamford had outstripped Zak Vyner to cross from the right.

City were relieved to reach the interval on level terms, taking their time over throw-ins and set-pieces.

Leeds only needed to find an end product to their slick approach play, and they put that right immediately after the break with Gnonto’s clinical finish.

It should have been 2-0 three minutes later as Summerville robbed Pring and raced through to feed Kamara, whose shot was deflected for a corner with only O’Leary to beat.

O’Leary saved a low drive from the dangerous Summerville, but Leeds almost paid for not putting the game to bed in the 66th minute when Tommy Conway’s pass found Bristol City substitute Anis Mehmeti and his shot almost squeezed under advancing goalkeeper Illan Meslier.

Still Leeds squandered chances, the elusive Summerville firing wide after another penetrating break.

But there was little threat at the other end from a tired-looking Bristol City outfit and the final whistle brought scenes of celebration as the Leeds players saluted their large band of travelling fans.

Nathan Broadhead fired the only goal as Ipswich maintained their impressive Championship record with a 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The high-flying visitors went in front after 16 minutes when Broadhead accepted a George Hirst pass inside the box and drilled a right-footed shot past Max O’Leary from 15 yards.

It proved enough to settle an open, entertaining contest, which did credit to both teams.

The Robins came close to an equaliser in the second half, but were unable to overcome impressive opponents who closed the gap to leaders Leicester to five points with the first of their two games in hand.

Both clubs made one change, with City bringing in Jason Knight for Haydon Roberts and Ipswich replacing the injured Wes Burns with Kayden Jackson for their first game since October 7.

The hosts made a fast start. Sam Bell had a third-minute shot saved by Vaclav Hladky and Tommy Conway should have done better with a 12th-minute header straight at the Ipswich goalkeeper.

But soon Kieran McKenna’s team, cheered on a strong contingent of more than 2,000 travelling fans, were showing why they had begun the campaign so well.

O’Leary saved well from Conor Chaplin and Massimo Luongo and Rob Dickie made a goal-saving block before Broadhead broke the deadlock.

City responded well to going behind. Taylor Gardner-Hickman had a 27th-minute shot tipped over by Hladky and Matty James saw a volley blocked in a crowded penalty area.

O’Leary had to make another good save after 40 minutes, stretching to palm away a Hirst shot.

Just before the interval, Ipswich skipper Sam Morsy hit a sweet 25-yard shot that smacked against a post.

Ipswich began the second half where they had left off, O’Leary making another diving save to deny Leif Davis and Chaplin firing over with the City keeper stranded outside his box.

There was a scare for the visitors in the 63rd minute when Knight was fouled fractionally outside the penalty area and Conway’s low free-kick was gathered by Hladky.

Dickie headed over from a free-kick as City fought hard for an equaliser. But Ipswich remained dangerous and substitute Omari Hutchinson sent a low 74th-minute shot narrowly wide.

City substitute Harry Cornick went even closer moments later, his left-footed shot striking a post and the ball rolling agonisingly along the goal-line before being cleared.

The home side piled on the pressure in the closing stages and centre-back Dickie twice went close with headers.

But Town defended with an intensity and commitment to match their slick approach play and held on to claim three hard-earned points.