Charlton Athletic 1-2 Bristol City: Roy Hodgson starts with win at Charlton

Roy Hodgson got off to a winning start in his short spell in charge of Bristol City as his new side claimed a well-earned victory at Charlton Athletic.

Former England manager Hodgson has come out of retirement to steer the Robins for the final seven games this season and he led them to a first win in seven matches.

More than two years since he last took charge of a team, the 78-year-old watched City produce a confident display in south east London.

Scott Twine put them ahead early on before Scotland international Lyndon Dykes brought Charlton level.

But Swedish centre-half Noah Eile scrambled home a winner early in the second half after a mistake by goalkeeper Will Mannion.

The three points pushed the Robins up three places to 13th, but after a second consecutive loss, Charlton remain 18th, eight points clear of the bottom three with six games to play.

The decision to bring in Hodgson for the last few weeks of the campaign surprised even the man himself, who was back in the dugout 781 days after his previous game in charge of Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

This is his second spell with the Robins, remarkably coming 44 years after his first. That period in the old Division Three in 1982 was also the last time the former England manager had led a team outside the top division in English football.

Bristol City were in the play-offs on Boxing Day, but their form has deserted them in 2026 after key players Anis Mehmeti and Zak Vyner left in January, eventually leading to Gerhard Struber's departure.

Emil Riis should have put Hodgson's new team in front inside three minutes when Neto Borges played him in, but he struck the outside of the post.

However, the Robinsdid not have to wait long for the first goal as Max Bird threaded the ball into Twine's pass and he finished well just inside the area.

But the Addicks fashioned an excellent equaliser after some fine combination play between Dykes and fellow forward Charlie Kelman, with Dykes, who won his 50th Scotland cap in the defeat to Ivory Coast on Tuesday, slotting home the ball in off the far post.

Eile's first goal since a move from New York Red Bulls proved the winner when he was on hand after Mannion had spilled Twine's low free-kick.

But there were chances aplenty at both ends in the final half hour with Mannion preventing a clinching third goal.

While at the other end, Radek Vitek produced a superb reaction save to deny substitute Matty Godden as Nathan Jones' team pushed for a point that would have inched them that little bit closer to Championship safety.

It did not arrive, though, leaving Hodgson to celebrate a memorable return to management.

Bristol City interim manager Roy Hodgson told BBC Radio Bristol:

"I thought a lot of it was very good and even the bits I didn't enjoy so much, you have to take your hat off to the players for surviving and dealing with that bombardment towards the end when there's four or five forwards on the field and long throws and corners being hurled into your six-yard box.

"The performance in general and some of the football we played was good and if we could keep that up, I'd enjoy watching that and I think the fans will enjoy watching it and it will give us more success than failure.

[Did he sense a team low on confidence] "I would lie if I say I sensed anything. It's totally new to me what they've done.

"Should I be surprised? To be surprised, I'd have to have an opinion about what they're capable of doing and it's a blank canvas for me.

"I've selected a team and a style of play in conjunction with the other staff members and I know a lot more now having seen them for 90 minutes."

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