Coventry City 2 - 1 Leicester City

[dutchman]

Coventry come from behind to beat Leicester



Haji Wright struck in the closing stages as Championship leaders Coventry City posted a crucial victory over Midlands rivals Leicester City in their hunt for promotion to the Premier League.

Wright came from off the bench and netted with five minutes left to play to complete a turnaround for the Sky Blues, who had trailed after an early strike from Jordan James for the Foxes.

Coventry responded immediately after half-time when Ellis Simms levelled with a goal which had an element of fortune, before Wright tapped in from close range to secure all three points after fellow substitute Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had been denied by visiting goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.

With Middlesbrough claiming three points on Friday night, and with fellow promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town and Millwall also posting lunch-time victories, Coventry's lead at the top - already whittled down in recent weeks - remained under threat prior to their late winner.

Before kick-off, tributes were paid to Terry Yorath, who made 99 league appearances for Coventry between 1976 and 1979.

The former Wales international died earlier this month and there was a minute of applause, with both sets of players and staff wearing black armbands to mark his passing.

With play under way, Leicester were soon in front as Abdul Fatawu freed himself down the right and pulled the ball back into the path of Bobby De Cordova-Reid.

He threaded a cute ball around the corner to James, who made no mistake with his finish, much to the delight of the visiting supporters behind the goal.

Coventry set a punishing pace in the first four months of this Championship campaign but have stuttered since and the Foxes ought to have doubled their advantage five minutes later when De Cordova-Reid's miscued effort, from James' cross, was tipped over by Carl Rushworth.

Leicester carved out the another notable opening when De Cordova-Reid met Oliver Skipp's pull-back after he had broken forwards down the right, but the Jamaica international only found Rushworth's midriff.

And they were made to pay for failing to emphasise their dominance when Coventry equalised within 90 seconds after the interval as Jack Rudoni drove a low cross-shot into the six-yard box and the ball found its way into the corner via the back of Simms' leg.

The mood in the CBS Arena dramatically changed with the hosts level, and they might have taken the lead shortly afterwards when lively loanee Romain Esse beat defender Ben Nelson to Simms' flick-on and crashed a shot against the post.

Coventry completed their turnaround at the death as Sakamoto proved too strong for Luke Thomas and although Stolarczyk produced an excellent save to deny the Japanese winger, Wright was on hand to force it over the line.

The result was particularly timely for Frank Lampard's side, who had won just two of their previous eight league matches, while Leicester's inconsistencies continue to damage their play-off aspirations – they remain four points outside of the top six.

Coventry City manager Frank Lampard told BBC CWR:

"There was a great atmosphere from start to finish. It was tough in the first half, because they gave us some problems and they get their goal.

"They're a good team, with good individuals and their league position isn't the reality when they play like that. They gave us issues, but to turn the game around like that is a big pleasure.

"It's a good feeling for the group, because we had to tactically change some bits off the ball, but the big thing was overcoming the tension and the feeling of what the first half was, to reiterate to the players why they are where they are, at the top of the league, because of the work they've done and the quality they've got.

"They went out and responded, which was brilliant - and hence, the atmosphere in the stadium at the end of the game."