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Football
Preston North End
vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
3: 00pm, Saturday 27th September 2025.
Deepdale Attendance: Attendance15, 295.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End and Bristol City at Deepdale on Saturday; Paul Heckingbottom's Lilywhites extend their unbeaten start at home to four games after stalemate Saturday 27 September 2025 18: 43, UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Preston extended their unbeaten home record in the Championship this season to four matches with a 0-0 draw against Bristol City. Anis Mehmeti had the best opportunity to win it right at the death for the visitors but was denied from six yards by North End keeper Daniel Iversen. Both teams came into this one with identical records and the game played out in such a fashion with lots of hunger, desire and discipline on display from both groups of players. City made a bright start and Rob Atkinson nearly gave them an early lead, forcing Iversen into a smart stop with his leg on the swivel after Preston failed to deal with a corner. And the Danish goalkeeper was called into another smart stop in the 17th minute, getting down low to tip Mehmeti's low strike from the edge of the box around the post. Against the run of play, Milutin Osmajic wasted a golden opportunity to open the scoring having been played in on goal by Lewis Dobbin, taking a heavy touch that allowed Radek Vitek to take charge of the situation and halt the play. But Dobbin soon resurrected the situation and teed up Alfie Divine in the box, who was denied at the last minute by Zak Vyner.
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Vitek then reacted well at his near post to keep out two consecutive efforts from Lewis Gibson in the 27th minute after being found by Andrew Hughes. Bristol City's best first-half opening came 12 minutes later as Ross Mc Crorie picked out Scott Twine in acres of space in the Preston box but the former Burnley man rushed his finish and dragged well wide. After a scrappy start to the second half, the excellent Mc Crorie sent Mehmeti through on goal but, on the stroke of the hour, the Algerian inexplicably slid the ball wide of the near post. Minutes later, Dobbin shepherded a loose ball across the box for Osmajic but Preston's top scorer dragged a snap-shot across the face of goal. Emil Riis returned to Deepdale for the first time since leaving the Lancashire outfit in the summer and he was jeered in the early minutes by the home fans before departing the pitch in the 86th minute with ironic cheers, having not made a decisive contribution for his new club. However, the visitors thought they had won it in added time when Mehmeti brilliantly weaved his way past two Preston defenders but Iversen made a sensational save from point-blank range to keep the scores level. Preston's Paul Heckingbottom: "He's been protected really well throughout the season so far. He's still made big saves but today he bailed us out which is important but that's what we've tried to do with the recruitment. "The time of that save at the end makes (a big difference). We're in the 94th minute and there's no defenders around Mehmeti, you know he's got in behind and you expect him to score but Dan makes the save. Everyone would have left the stadium defeated. "If that's early on in the game, I'm probably feeling a little bit different here and wondering why we didn't create more or go on to win the game but that is the big, big moment. Points will always be decided in big moments and we've been good in those avenues at the minute. " Bristol City's Gerhard Struber: "I am not frustrated. I am happy with the performance. We know this is the expectation against a team that has started the season very well and has a really good energy. The boys executed the match plan on a top level today. "The overload stress for them (we caused) was really good from the boys. It's not so easy to deal with the long balls and how they normally create their chances. I would say the boys were really good, really compact. I don't think it needs a second opinion to say we should have won the game. "(I was pleased with) how quick we were in the brain and creating the action. Sometimes, we can speak about the result but for me it's performance. "I think we expect to win. We are a professional football team. We want to win the game but sometimes football isn't fair. We have to manage our mind in a good way. We play again midweek and we can take many good things away from this game. " The £250, 000 is up for grabs with Super 6, and as always it is completely free to play. Entries by 3pm Saturday.
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