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Matt Doherty appears to be on a personal mission to win the FA Cup for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Irish defender spared their blushes with a last-minute equaliser at League One Shrewsbury Town in the fourth round and then scored twice and created another in the replay.
Here at Bristol City, it was Doherty’s thrusting runs down the right wing that most unsettled the hosts and his first-half assist for Ivan Cavaleiro helped carry Wolves into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003.
Ivan Cavaleiro finds the back of the net from Matt Doherty’s cut back to give Wolves a first-half lead at Bristol City
Cavaleiro wheels away in celebration after breaking the deadlock in the FA Cup fifth-round tie away at Ashton Gate
The goalscorer is mobbed by team-mates with Conor Coady getting himself in the thick of the celebrations
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE
Bristol City (4-2-3-1): Fielding 6; Wright 6, Kalas 6, Webster 6, Dasilva 5; Morrell 6 (Pack 46, 6.5), Brownhill 6.5; Eliasson 5 (Taylor 46, 6.5), Palmer 5 (Paterson 66, 6), O’Dowda 6; Diedhiou 5.5
Subs not used: Watkins, Kelly, O’Leary, Baker
Booked: Wright, Kalas
Manager: Lee Johnson 6
Wolverhampton (3-5-2): Ruddy 6.5; Bennett 6, Coady (c) 7, Boly 7; Doherty 8 (Neves 81), Dendoncker 7, Moutinho 7, Saiss 6.5, Otto 6; Raul Jimenez 7 (Traore 90+2), Cavaleiro 7 (Gibbs-White 70, 6.5)
Subs not used: Ennis, Helder Costa, Ruben Vinagre, Norris
Goalscorers: Cavaleiro 28
Booked: Moutinho, Gibbs-White
Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo 7
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Attendance: 24,394
Man of the Match: Matt Doherty
Ivan Cavaleiro gives Wolves a first-half lead over Bristol City. CLICK HERE for more from MATCH ZONE
The Black Country club were in the Championship then. A hell of a lot has changed since.
Could they win the Cup for the first time since 1960? It may just be possible. They have no concerns in the Premier League, sitting high and dry in seventh, or the ‘best of the rest’ as it has become known.
The complete absence of relegation fears at any point in their first season back in the top-flight means Nuno Espirito Santo’s side might as well have a crack at the Cup.
Manchester City remain, of course, and one of Chelsea or Manchester United but if the quarter-final draw is kind, it may just open up for Wolves.
Lee Johnson’s City may have lost their nine-game winning run – they were the most in-form side in Europe prior to this – but can be proud of a second-half onslaught that had Wolves wobbling.
They have become a first-rate cup side under Johnson’s leadership, claiming a number of Premier League scalps, but now one of the country’s brightest young coaches can focus on taking them into the top division.
Wolves full-back Matt Doherty brings the ball forward from defence as Bristol City’s Jay Dasilva looks to block his path
Bristol City’s Famara Diedhiou jumps high to win the ball ahead of Wolves’ Jonny Otto during the first-half of the game
Wolves’ Belgian midfielder Leander Dendoncker attempts to whip in a cross from the right-hand flank against Bristol City
A Bristol City supporter holds aloft an inflatable FA Cup as the home crowd gets in the spirit of the occasion on Sunday
Bristol City player Kasey Palmer is sent crashing to the turf as Wolves duo Willy Boly and Leander Dendoncker challenge
That will most likely come through the Championship play-offs if they can regain their momentum.
It quickly became apparent that the duel between Doherty and the City left-back Jay Dasilva would be of critical importance to the outcome.
As the Premier League side stifled City’s early enthusiasm and quietened the crowd with their relentless possession game, Doherty was unfailingly the outlet for long balls to the right flank.
Dasilva, just 20, who is on loan at Ashton Gate from Chelsea for the season, is naturally an attack-minded wing-back but while his youthful energy is an advantage in academy games, it can be a weakness in the defensive armour in matches like this.
Doherty probed time after time having found himself in great swathes of space and it was inevitably the Irishman’s intervention that delivered the game’s opening goal – from its first shot – on 28 minutes.
It was Conor Coady’s searching ball from just inside his own half that found Doherty and, his confidence high from early contests with Dasilva, he took him on and drove towards the box.
Wolves’ goalscorer Ivan Cavaleiro looks to get his toe to the loose ball ahead of Bristol City’s Josh Brownhill (right)
Wolves midfielder Romain Saiss tries to direct a header towards goal as the Premier League side threaten
Bristol City midfielder Kasey Palmer has his hands on his head after an opportunity goes begging for the Championship side
Wolves midfielder Leander Dendoncker attempts to shield the ball from his opponent during a hard-fought first-half
Wolves defender Matt Doherty looks to get his side on the front foot as Bristol City’s Adam Webster slides in to challenge
Dasilva seemed to anticipate Doherty cutting onto the outside, running past the ball as the Wolves man skimmed inside him. The break of the ball set Doherty into the clear and he cut the ball back to the unmarked Cavaleiro.
His low shot beat both the desperate lunge of Tomas Kalas, whose efforts unsighted goalkeeper Frank Fielding, and Cavaleiro’s shot just went straight through them both.
Having taken the lead, Wolves were brimming with confidence and could easily have killed off the tie before half-time.
Two minutes after his assist, Doherty played a one-two with Leander Dendoncker and then Raul Jimenez, whose cute flick set the right-back into a shooting position. Deflected, his shot bounced off the far post.
Seconds later and the left side of City’s defence was punctured again with another Jimenez touch teeing up Dendoncker for a shot that Fielding parried at his near post.
It was a one-sided half, City restricted to half-chances, with Callum O’Dowda trying an acrobatic effort that flew over and Kasey Palmer heading off target. Otherwise, it was all defensive graft.
Johnson sent his team out five minutes early for the second-half and made a double change plus a switch to 4-4-2 to try and enliven them.
Wolves striker Raul Jimenez swivels and tries to direct a shot on goal as the Premier League outfit threaten a goal
Joao Moutinho directs a free-kick towards goal as Wolves threaten to double their advantage in the second period
It had some effect, with O’Dowda getting in behind Jonny Otto to cut back to a completely unmarked Dasilva. But the youngster had too much time to think about the strike and blazed over the bar.
Kasey Palmer, another on loan from Chelsea, flashed a free-kick just wide of the post and John Ruddy had to make a one-handed save to keep out Matty Taylor’s shot after Josh Brownhill had tricked his way past three defenders.
The Ashton Gate faithful found their voices now with every attack. O’Dowda’s corner deflected towards the Wolves goal off Adam Webster, only for Doherty – who else? – to clear off the line.
Wolves were only threatening fitfully now, with Fielding’s fingertips touching a Joao Moutinho free-kick over the bar and his palms pushing away a shot by Morgan Gibbs-White.
There was one final wave of pressure, with Ruddy touching over Taylor’s effort before Marlon Pack clipped over the bar from close range with little time to react.
And in the dying seconds, Fielding, waved forward by Johnson for a corner, saw a shot blocked by Ruddy inside a packed Wolves box.
‘Que sera, we’re going to Wembley,’ sang the Wolves fans, daring to dream. And why not?
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