Roy Hodgson made a winning start as Bristol City interim head coach as they recorded a 2-1 victory at Charlton.
Centre-back Noah Eile’s first goal since joining from New York Red Bulls in February settled the Championship contest at The Valley.
Former England boss Hodgson returned to club football for the first time since stepping down as Crystal Palace manager in February 2024.
City began strongly, with Emil Riis missing a big chance inside three minutes after being played through by Neto Borges, firing against the outside of the right post. The visitors took the lead after 11 minutes when Scott Twine, whose earlier effort had been blocked by Amari’i Bell, finished from inside the area after being picked out by Max Bird.
Charlton goalkeeper Will Mannion made a diving save to push away a Bird effort, but the Addicks equalised against the run of play on 30 minutes. Lyndon Dykes combined with Charlie Kelman and tucked a low finish into the bottom left corner for his third goal since joining from Birmingham in the winter window. It was Charlton’s first home first-half goal since November 22.
Twine tried a speculative free-kick near the touchline aimed at catching Mannion off his line, but it just cleared the crossbar. Harry Clarke drove over on his weaker left foot in the final action of the first period.
City retook the lead in the 55th minute. Twine’s free-kick squirmed out of Mannion’s grasp and Eile scrambled the rebound home. Charlton tried to respond: Sonny Carey sent a half-volley across the face of Radek Vitek’s goal, and Mannion produced a one-handed stop to deny Twine soon after.
Substitute Ibrahim Fullah forced a smart save from Vitek with a 74th-minute effort from the edge of the box. Vitek then made an even better close-range stop to deny Matt Godden, keeping out the experienced striker with his legs. Tyreece Campbell missed a good chance after Jayden Fevrier’s excellent cross, while Kayne Ramsay produced a superb tackle to deny Sinclair Armstrong following a Bell error.
Vitek made another big save from Joe Rankin-Costello in a pulsating finale, and Armstrong had a late counter chance but was denied by Mannion, leaving Bristol City to hold on for the win.
The managers
Nathan Jones (Charlton): “At the start of both halves we were poor and that cost us the game. If you look at all their chances we gave the ball away or did something rash. It was a game we could’ve drawn or won in the end but we didn’t show enough quality in the final third and some of our defending today was so not like us that it was crazy. Will has made four or five good saves but he has to save it [the winning goal]. Matty Godden has had a great chance which the keeper has pulled off a save. Tyreece Campbell had a chance. Dykesy had a chance. If you can’t keep clean sheets and don’t show enough quality then you are not going to win games. We are conceding poor goals – that is a recipe that will set you back.”
Roy Hodgson (Bristol City): “I’m afraid the cult of the manager or coach is something that I tend to play down. It is football players that win it. If you are going to win then you need quality in your team. There is another element in terms of the desire and determination. Sometimes as a coach you can be proud the players are showing that – you can also be proud of the shape and the way they kept it. I was pleased for the team and the way they went about trying to win the game. In the first half and in the second half, before the onslaught started, we were looking really good value for the victory. I must take my hat off to the goalkeeper, backline and the midfield players for surviving the onslaught. Don’t forget this is the first time I’ve seen this group of players play live and I’ve learned a lot. Football is not a science but if I can trust the players to keep working at the way they played today and keep showing a degree of determination then I shall be happy enough in these last five or six weeks before I get the slippers back out.”
