Coventry City 1 - 0 Cardiff City

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The Sky Blues earned a deserved three points against the Bluebirds at St Andrew's



A single goal from Tyler Walker gave Coventry City a deserved third Championship win of the season against a big and physical Cardiff City.

But the Sky Blues had to endure late drama at St Andrew's where goalkeeper Marko Marosi had to go off injured deep in stoppage time, replaced by understudy Ben Wilson as the home side hung on to their slender lead.

Mark Robins's men started the game really positively with some excellent forward play and two early chances falling to Jordan Shipley, the best of which saw him volley with his left foot, only to be denied by the keeper Alex Smithies who spread himself wide to make a 12th minute stop.

Ryan Giles, intriguingly deployed out of position on the right to start, twice tried his luck from distance after cutting in onto his left foot, albeit straight at the keeper.

The Bluebirds, meanwhile, looked a threat from set-pieces and attempted to feed big centre-froward Kieffer Moore at every opportunity with Marko Marosi punching clear one corner and palming away a deep cross to help keep the big man at bay.

The City keeper, however, gave away a needless flag kick on the half hour mark as he attempted to dribble out under pressure and that resulted in a free hit for Joe Ralls who fortunately fired well wide of the target.

The ball was in the back of the net on 37 minutes when Marlon Pack sent in a deep free-kick that appeared to come off centre-back Sean Morrison in a crowded box but the referee blew for a foul and the goal was disallowed.

The home side had the better of the possession in the first 45, enjoying 57 per cent of the ball and knocking it about well but just lacking clear cut chances against one of the tightest defences in the division.

Sam McCallum created a golden opportunity, however, for Gus Hamer five minutes into the second period with a delightful cross from the left which found the midfielder unmarked and throwing himself to connect with his head, only to send his powerful effort straight into the keeper’s arms.

But City capitalised on sloppy play from Cardiff in the 54th minute to get themselves in front.

Centre-half Morrison attempted to shepherd the ball back to his keeper but the goalie failed to come and Tyler Walker nipped in to pinch the ball away and turned it into the back of the net to give his side a deserved lead.

The striker almost doubled the lead two minutes later when City forced another error resulting in Walker bursting forward and hitting a shot across the face of goal.

Cardiff boss Neil Harris responded with three substitutions in quick succession as Coventry were forced to defend a bit deeper to weather a spell of pressure and play on the counter attack as the visitors attempted to mount a fight-back.

And Marosi came to the rescue with a decent reaction save from close range to deny target man Moore from a 75th minute corner as City battled every step of the way, defending deep balls and putting their bodies on the line to see out several minutes of added time and record a superb result and second consecutive clean sheet.

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Coventry City added to the pressure on Cardiff City boss Neil Harris with a deserved 1-0 win at St Andrew's



Tyler Walker's delicate chip after an error from Joe Ralls put the Sky Blues ahead in the second half as the hosts won for the first time since October.

Cardiff failed to respond in a display that will do little to quell growing fan discontent in the Welsh capital.

The result sees Coventry pull clear of the relegation zone on 12 points, while Cardiff slip to 18th on 14 points.

The Bluebirds travelled to Coventry's temporary Birmingham home in search of a first away win since 18 October, having won only three of their opening 12, but in truth never looked like winning this one against Mark Robins' organised side.

Coventry's Jordan Shipley should have opened the scoring with the first chance of the game after 12 minutes following Gustavo Hamer's lofted pass that totally split the Cardiff defence, but Alex Smithies denied him from close range.

Marko Marosi was a virtual spectator in the Coventry goal until 20 minutes when Ralls' cross threatened to creep in, while Cardiff were made to rue a lack of urgency in attack when no-one was on hand to turn home Marlon Pack's flick-on.

The Bluebirds twice came close through Josh Murphy and Ralls but both just missed the target with long-range efforts, while Ryan Giles' effort was well held by Smithies after a quick Coventry counter-attack.

Cardiff thought they had taken the lead on 38 minutes when a scramble in the penalty area resulted in the ball in Coventry's net, but referee Jeremy Simpson adjudged that Kieffer Moore had committed a foul.

It was a disappointing moment for the visitors and one they never seemed to recover from.

The Sky Blues finished the half on the front foot, but Hamer shot high and wide after some patient approach play and Coventry were also on the attack immediately after the restart, but Sean Morrison blocked Shipley's drive after Pack sloppily conceded possession.

Coventry should have taken the lead on 50 minutes when Hamer headed straight at Smithies with time and space in the Cardiff penalty area in a big let-off for the Bluebirds, but the visitors did not learn from their mistakes.

Cardiff were conceding possession far too often and on 54 minutes they paid for another error as Ralls' backpass was too strong and wrong-footed Morrison, allowing Walker to pinch possession and delightfully lob Smithies.

Walker might well have added a second within a minute after Liam Kelly's pass split Cardiff's defence, but he fired wide when one-on-one with Smithies in an effort that prompted Bluebirds boss Harris to scream at his players from the touchline.

The Welsh side switched to 4-4-2 and introduced Robert Glatzel, but chances were at a premium with Moore heading straight at Marosi with 15 minutes remaining following a teasing Harry Wilson corner.

Cardiff's danger was coming almost exclusively from set pieces but the hosts dealt well with Cardiff's aerial bombardment, with Marosi bravely denying Morrison after Moore's flick-on in stoppage time in an incident that left the goalkeeper unable to continue.

Ben Sheaf missed a late chance to double the advantage, but Coventry held on as Robins celebrated his 100th victory with the Sky Blues.