Sideways Sammy

Coventry City grabbed a late win at home to Blackburn Rovers to make it consecutive victories for the first time this campaign.

The Sky Blues started the better of the two teams, with Luis Binks striding forward from defence and shooting to draw a save from Blackburn’s Leopold Wahlstedt. However, the away side eventually took control of proceedings and created a several openings that could have resulted in goals with better decision-making, ending the half with a thunderous strike from James Hill that glanced off Ben Wilson’s gloves and onto the crossbar.

The second-half followed a similar pattern to the closing stages of the opening 45, with Blackburn Rovers looking the more dangerous. They could have been ahead when Andrew Moran bundled the ball into the back of the net when sent clean through on goal by Sammie Szmodics, but the referee belatedly called for a foul on Ben Wilson. The away side then had a three-on-one with Arnor Sigurdsson through on goal, but the Icelander elected to shoot straight into the Coventry City goalkeeper, instead of picking out either of his better-placed team-mates.

However, it was the Sky Blues who scored the game’s only goal, with some neat build-up play between Jamie Allen and Matt Godden allowing Yasin Ayari to drift into a shooting position on the edge of the area and smacking the crossbar, before Haji Wright managed to contort himself into a position to head the ball home. The home side were then able to see out the final ten minutes, aided by an excellent Ben Wilson save around the 90-minute mark.

Fortune Falls In City’s Favour, Again

For the second game in a row, Coventry City had the benefit of the officials calling a key incident in their favour. After Ben Wilson evaded a red card/penalty against Queens Park Rangers last time out, the goalkeeper was again at the centre of action this time around. Wilson attempted to smother the ball at the feet of Blackburn Rovers’ Andrew Moran, however, couldn’t gain enough control of it prevent it being bundled over the line. Fortunately, the referee eventually decided that Wilson had enough of the ball to have deemed it a foul.

The decision looked to be a marginal one, and, really, the Coventry City defence and goalkeeper should not have put themselves in a position to have relied on the referee to make it. From the defending that preceded the incident to Ben Wilson not taking charge of the situation to prevent the ball being bundled in, the Sky Blues put themselves in the hands of an official who could have called it differently on another day. It was needless jeopardy.

The defending leading to the disallowed goal was endemic of the Sky Blues’ ropeyness at the back throughout the evening, particularly after Liam Kelly came off injured in the first-half. Both Luis Binks and Kyle McFadzean stepped up out of position to try and prevent the through ball from Sammie Szmodics, making it easier for Andrew Moran to get in behind. Then, Bobby Thomas had his body between Moran and the ball, yet expected Ben Wilson to be off his line quicker and thus allowed the attacker to get through on goal. It was a series of poor defensive decisions that nearly cost Coventry City greatly.

Throughout the game, the Sky Blues were sloppy and nervous at the back, giving the ball away in dangerous areas and allowing Blackburn Rovers players to run off the back of the them a little too easily. It was not a great night for Bobby Thomas, in particular, who consistently played his team-mates into danger and also left a little too much space between him and Joel Latibeaudiere at right wing-back, which was repeatedly exploited by Blackburn.

Coventry City not only benefitted from a slice of luck for the key refereeing incident of the game, but they also had some errant opposition finishing, decision-making and the bounce of the ball to thank for keeping the clean sheet here.

Flickers Of What This Team Is Trying To Be

The rising build of Blackburn Rovers pressure around either side of half-time looked a particular concern for Coventry City given that their own attacking play was far from fluent. Aside from a decent first 15-20 minutes, as well as the sequence leading to Haji Wright’s goal, the Sky Blues struggled to find a rhythm going forward, which could have left them in a sticky situation had they fallen behind.

There was at least some semblance of an identity that looked to be emerging during those brief flickers, particularly, earlier on in the game. It is becoming apparent that a big part of how this team wants to play involves the wide centre-backs – and even Kyle McFadzean in the centre, at times – stepping into midfield to help contribute to the team’s creative play. Bobby Thomas, who looked bright early on, did just that in the opening minutes, even continuing a run into the box after passing the ball. Additionally, Luis Binks was able to get an effort off on goal after striding up the pitch from his left-sided centre-back position in the opening period of the game.

With the centre-backs stepping forward, that frees the wing-backs, midfielders and centre-forwards to push further up the pitch and gives the team options in the opposing half. Players like Jay Dasilva, Josh Eccles, Jamie Allen, Matt Godden and Ellis Simms all looked at their most dangerous in this game when they received the ball around the opposing third and had team-mates around them. While the specific combinations required to turn those situations reliably into chances is still to be established, the longer this team can sustain spells like they had in the opening minutes of this game, the more likely that will be developed.

There were a few key reasons in this game why Coventry City couldn’t keep it up. The first is that Blackburn Rovers started to press the Sky Blues more effectively than they had earlier on, forcing the home side to be precise in their passing at a level they weren’t quite capable of – particularly, with someone like Ben Sheaf out who the team’s most effective player at resisting pressing. Secondly, Liam Kelly’s injury-enforced first-half substitution meant that the team lost the ability to break up Blackburn’s rhythm in the centre of the park and the opposition began to control possession more as a result.

The difference in Bobby Thomas’ performance between the opening period of the game and much of the rest of it embodied the team’s struggle to sustain its rhythm. From looking confident with the ball at his feet early on, Thomas was caught dribbling into danger on a couple of occasions in the first-half and started making worse decisions in possession soon after that. That is the result of inexperience, the hope is that more time on the pitch, more time to gel with his team-mates, and more time for the team as a whole to get comfortable with what it’s trying to do will allow Thomas, and others, to maintain the kind of flow that they looked to have had early on for longer spells over the course of the campaign.

A Potentially Crucial Clean Sheet

After criticising the defence for much of this article, the manner in which they held on for a clean sheet in the latter stages of this game should be seen as a step forward. It may have required one good save from Ben Wilson just before the 90th minute to preserve the three points, but there were better signs of composure and organisation than has previously been seen this season when hanging on to a narrow lead late-on.

A lot of Coventry City’s defensive issues this season can probably be placed on the number of new players that have been added to the squad. When players aren’t sure of what their team-mates are capable of and how they react to certain situations, that can be unsettling and lead to poor decision-making. The period of play leading to Blackburn Rovers’ disallowed goal epitomised this perfectly, but there were other similar moments of shakiness at the back resulting from defenders being unsure what their team-mates were trying to do.

It was encouraging then, to see the Coventry City back-line stick to their shape in the final minutes of this game and allow each other to repel danger. It helped that being ahead allowed the team as a whole to sit deep, with the midfield in position to slow down the ball into the box and allow the defence to set itself in position. However, defending as a team is a crucial element in having a good defensive record.

In a season that has been characterised by giving points away with late goals, it was encouraging that Coventry City not only held on for a clean sheet here but looked relatively comfortable doing so. If this can help build confidence in a new-look defence, that will buy time for the team to work things out further forward. You only have to look as far back to 12 months ago to understand the importance of being able to grind out wins in tight games.