Ryan Reynolds fired a hilarious message to Wrexham star George Thomason after an epic goal against Bristol City. The Red Dragons struck twice and kept yet another clean sheet as they swept aside play-off contenders Bristol, sealing a 2-0 win. Nathan Broadhead’s sumptuous curling effort and Thomason’s wicked corner, which was officially recorded as a Radek Vitek own goal, bookended a performance full of discipline.
A stunning opener sets the tone
The result extended Wrexham’s unbeaten league run to seven matches and lifted them to 10th place in the Championship table, just two points shy of the play-off spots. After an unimpressive performance in their previous outing against Ipswich, Wrexham made sure they were pushing for the opener right from the first whistle, and the reward came after just 16 minutes. Captain James McClean and Thomason combined crisply down the left flank, releasing Broadhead in space. The Welshman opened up his body and bent a curler into the top corner from 25 yards to draw first blood. Bristol City thought they had equalised shortly before half-time, when Ross McCrorie tapped in after Arthur Okonkwo parried Mehmeti’s deflected shot. But the celebrations were cut short as the referee had spotted a foul on Okonkwo by Emil Riis.
AdvertisementReynolds jokes on social media
In the second half came the moment that sent Reynolds into comedic delight. Thomason’s corner curled wickedly toward the far post, striking the woodwork before bouncing off Vitek and into the net. The midfielder wheeled away as though he had scored it, understandably so, but the record books will credit the goalkeeper. Reynolds took to Instagram with footage oft he goal and added the words: "Wow George Thomason. None of my balls have ever done this."
Getty Images SportThomason’s influence grows and so does his confidence
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson also spoke about the goal after the match: "I haven't seen [the goal] back but I think George was really good tonight and I'm so pleased for him because as everybody knows, he came in, got his injury and now he's really shown himself at this level and produced lots of good performances. I felt he typified what we needed tonight. He was industrious in his play but he played with real quality and composure in possession as well."
Since joining Wrexham, Thomason has yet to taste defeat in any of his eight Championship appearances. However, he is not too bothered by the feat.
"I'm trying not to keep that on my mind. But it's not a bad record to keep, so long may it continue," Thomason said.
Parkinson preaches calm with Wrexham
Parkinson, though pleased, moved quickly to temper expectations, not least because Wrexham have made a habit of oscillating wildly between brilliance and turbulence since returning to the second tier. To reinforce his point, the Wrexham manager referenced none other than Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
"I think it's a case of making sure we don't get carried away," the Wrexham boss explained. "I spoke to the lads before the game, I was listening to Virgil van Dijk's interview after the Nottingham Forest defeat and he was speaking about how Liverpool have got to win the first and second balls, be competitive, got to work as a team and how they've got to get their way back with the basics in football. So that's the champions of England talking like that.
"We're not going to get carried away, it's now concentration levels on picking the right team for the weekend, start doing our homework on Blackburn and get ready for another terrific atmosphere here on Saturday."