John Eustace lauded the “outstanding” Yuki Ohashi after his brace helped Blackburn to a 3-0 Championship victory over Bristol City.
The result never looked in doubt, though the opener was self-inflicted as Max O’Leary’s lackadaisical pass was pounced on by Lewis Travis and – with the goalkeeper in no man’s land – he slotted home his first of the campaign with ease.
Ohashi got in on the act in the second half with two wonderful finishes to take his league tally to four, as Rovers ruthlessly turned the screw on their visitors.
First, Tyrhys Dolan won the ball back before finding Ohashi to curl the ball powerfully into the top right corner and he did so in a defter fashion off his left foot for the third, capping a lightning Blackburn counter.
Rovers sit just one point off the summit after securing a third-straight home league victory for the first time since March 2023 and Eustace praised his outstanding forward, as well the overall performance to keep a clean sheet.
He said: “He’s been outstanding since he’s come to the football club. He’s a real part of the family. The lads love him to bits, his English getting better everyday. He’s a really important member of the squad.
“We have to remember that we recruited him when he was still in season in Japan.
“He was up and running and firing over there. Coming into our group, we’ve given him simple jobs and he’s taken all the messages on board because he’s up to speed, he’s a very intelligent footballer and obviously a very good finisher.
“I said to the boys at half-time, we were fairly dominant that first half but we have to be more clinical in the final third. They all agreed with that and second half we were clinical which was great.
“There was a moment with Pearsy (Aynsley Pears) pulling off a fantastic save, the boys throwing their bodies on the line, defending the box for their lives. They really earned the clean sheet today.”
It was two defeats on the bounce for Bristol City, conceding six goals without reply. They have only won twice away this calendar year and manager Liam Manning apologised to the fans who made their feelings known at the break and full-time.
He said: “Hugely disappointing result and performance. Nowhere near the level we expect or we’re capable of.
“For me, the frustrating bit was, any team you work with, you want to be associated around – the desire, to compete, to run, to win duels, to do the basic side of the game really well, wasn’t where it needed to be today.
“Hugely disappointing because I know we’ve got a group of lads that care and want to do well, so yes, frustrated and disappointed with that.
“The big bit for me is we have to learn from today. We’ll have a tough meeting on Monday, we’ll get back to basics and hard work on Tuesday, Wednesday and we have to be harder to beat.
“Conceding far too many goals and when you look at where a lot of this group were at last year – in terms of the defensive side of the game – we’ve got to get back to that.
“I can only apologise for the performance today.”
