Coventry City 2 - 0 Barnsley

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Coventry City 2 - 0 Barnsley

Postby dutchman » Sun Apr 18, 2021 6:57 pm

Biamou brilliant as Sky Blues secure huge three points

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Coventry City took another huge step towards securing their Championship safety with a brilliant victory over promotion chasing Barnsley

An early volley from Dominic Hyam and a stoppage time strike from Matty Godden gave the Sky Blues their first back-to-back Championship victories this season and another outstanding three points, which they fought and battled for every step of the way.

The result is all the more significant given Rotherham’s defeat to Birmingham, which means Mark Robins’s men now have a nine point gap on the Millers.

City started with real purpose and got their rewards with an early goal fro the unlikely boot of defender Hyam who hit a sweet volley from just inside the box to give his side a ninth minute lead.

The move started from a Gus Hamer throw-in from the right which was held up well by the impressive Max Biamou who played it back to the centre-half to unleash his powerful shot.

Coventry continued to enjoy plenty of pressure in the final third as they opted to go long, making good use of Sam McCallum’s long throws and the keeper often opting to kick long.

The Tykes had their first attempt on goal in the 24th minute when a high cross into the box was headed goalwards by Romal Palmer

but with very little power made for a comfortable take for Ben Wilson.

Hamer and Biamou, who were the two changes to the side, were the standout performers in the first half, making a real difference with their energy and work-rate in the opposition half while Matty James and Liam Kelly added plenty of nous and experience in the middle of the park.

City were right up for the physical battle and were strong and aggressive in the tackle, showing real determination against the promotion chasers who went close from a drilled in free-kick to the near post which was touched wide by former Sky Blues striker Conor Chaplin.

Hyam almost doubled the lead and his tally four minutes before the break when he got his head to a flicked-on McCallum throw into the box but sent his powerful header narrowly over the bar but Bansley almost equalised with the last kick of the half when Cauley Woodrow broke the off-side trap but as he was stretching to connect with the ball Ben Wilson made himself big and did enough to force the striker to fire wide, but City went into the break thoroughly deserving to be head.

Barnsley made a change at the break, replacing Chaplin with the bigger and more muscular Carlton Morris as they attempted to match City’s physicality.

Two more changes followed before the hour as Aapo Halme and Dominik Frieser replaced Palmer and Woodrow before City weathered a threatening free-kick into the box.

Mark Robins then made changes, sending on the fresh legs of Callum O’Hare for Hamer who had run himself into the ground while Viktor Gyokeres replaced Tyler Walker who had struggled to impose himself on the game.

The game was wide open and end to end as both sides pumped the ball long and saw it often come straight back at them, but Gyokeres raced onto a searching pass from Leo Ostigard and saw his shot deflected wide at the last second by a sliding tackle.

Coventry were desperate for a second goal to take the heat out of their narrow and fragile lead.

Wilson came to the rescue in the 71st minute when Frieser wriggled his way in to the right of goal and hit a thunderous strike which the keeper parried clear for a corner.

City defended with their lives to see out the game as the visitors threw everything at them, going close two minutes from time as Dike hooked wide at the far post.

There were four long minutes of nerve-racking added time to endure but Matty Godden secured the outstanding win with a brilliant finish into the far bottom corner after turning his marker in the box.

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Re: Coventry City 2 - 0 Barnsley

Postby dutchman » Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:00 pm

Coventry beat Tykes to move clear of danger

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A second win in three days saw Coventry move further clear of relegation danger and dent Barnsley's play-off hopes.

The home team made the perfect start when Dominic Hyam fired an excellent shot past Bradley Collins in the Tykes goal.

Daryl Dike came close to a late leveller when his effort from Alex Mowatt's cross hit the post.

Matty Godden made the points safe in stoppage-time with a wonderful finish after his initial effort had been blocked.

The victory lifted the Sky Blues nine points clear of the bottom three in 18th, while Barnsley remained in the play-off places in sixth, but just four points clear of seventh-placed Reading.

Defeat, on a day when they struggled to create clear openings, ended Barnsley's record of six successive away victories.

They fell behind in the ninth minute when Hyam smashed a bouncing ball past Collins from the edge of the area after the visitors had been caught out by a quick throw-in.

Cauley Woodrow came close to an equaliser just before the break when he shot just past the post, and Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson made a good save to deny sub Dominik Frieser after the break.

With Barnsley chasing a late leveller, Godden wrapped up the win when he got in behind the Tykes defence and sent a low effort into the bottom corner.

Mark Robins' side travel to Stoke on Wednesday in search of a third win in four, while Valerien Ismael's side visit Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield on the same evening.

Coventry City boss Mark Robins:

"It was a much-needed win. There are still games to come and points to play for so I wouldn't want anybody thinking it was job done.

"We need to get into the 50s. That has to be the aim.

"We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the teams around us but there are also teams we can catch in front of us and that has to be the challenge for us.

"The quality in the game is bereft a little bit now because the stakes are so high.

"But within it we played some good stuff and we did what we needed to do to."

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