Coventry City 0 - 0 Oldham Athletic

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

Sky Blues stutter to another home stalemate in League One



Coventry City stretched their winless run to a disappointing eight League One games – that’s 720 minutes of football – as they played out a frustrating goalless draw at the Ricoh Arena.

The Sky Blues were left to rue Marcus Tudgay’s missed chance on the stroke of half-time to rack up their fifth stalemate of the campaign and see them slip to bottom of the league after Rochdale beat Fleetwood Town at home.

City bossed much of the first half when they were bright and breezy in and around the box but just couldn’t break down a stubborn Athletic side who were well organised and often doubled up on Coventry’s key men. Despite eight shots in the opening 45 minutes they managed to hit the target only once – and only twice over the 90 minutes – and the time they did beat the keeper, Tudgay headed wide when the whole stadium thought he was going to bury it in the back of the net.

The visitors looked rejuvenated after the break when they forced City to defend deep as frustrations set in among the fans and the Sky Blues were left desperately battling to the death, ending the game to a chorus of boos.

Tony Mowbray reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 formation that served City so well for the first four months of last season, with Jordan Willis partnering Jordan Turnbull in the centre of the back four that saw wing-backs Jamie Sterry and Lewis Page drop into the full-back positions. Gael Bigirimana and Vlad Gadzhev were deployed in the holding roles while the forward three saw a return to the starting line-up for Jodi Jones on the right with Marcus Tudgay deployed as a No.10 and Kyel Reid in his more comfortable wide left berth, while Marvin Sordell led the line up front.

Bigirimana once again shone, the athletic midfielder snapping at opponents’ heels and chasing every ball in his vicinity so as not to let Athletic settle for a moment in midfield. The adopted Cov Kid looked to receive the ball at all times and get it forward quickly with some clever passing, including a 15th minute pull-back that Sordell screwed agonisingly wide of the far post.

Reice Charles-Cook was called upon a couple of times in the opening exchanges, first to punch clear a Marc Klok free-kick before a decent save at his near post denied striker Freddie Ladapo. But it was City who were playing all the football with some intricate build-up play posing a threat in and around the box, while Bigirimana and Jones tried their luck from distance.

Jones’s tricky feet was proving effective cutting into the box where he went down under a challenge from Charles Dunne on 17 minutes clearly looking for a penalty as play was waved on by referee Chris Sarginson.

City’s change of formation provided the side with a lot more width with Jones on the right and Reid clearly enjoying reverting to his more natural position where he worked the line to good effect, while both full-backs bombed on in support on the overlap at every opportunity.

And it was Page who provided the best chance of the half, right on the stroke of half time when he sent a superb ball into the box where Tudgay had timed his run to perfection. But the veteran striker, having beaten keeper Connor Ripley in the air, somehow managed to head wide of the target.

Mowbray threw on Ruben Lameiras for Gadzhev – another artist for a warrior – at the break as he looked to unlock the visitors’ door but play was disrupted three minutes in when Sterry went down injured, appearing to have been knocked out cold, during a 50-50 aerial challenge with full-back Dunne. The on-loan Newcastle United defender was treated for five minutes before being stretchered off and replaced by teenage understudy Dion Kelly-Evans.

Athletic had a bit more purpose about themselves in the second half when City were forced to defend their lines for the first 15-20 minutes, during which Lee Erwin thumped the woodwork and forced Charles-Cook to save at full stretch as they racked up their shot count to an impressive 18, albeit only five on target.

And on the occasions City did manage to rediscover their rhythm they were left wanting when it mattered, their best effort created by a low ball in from the left from Sordell which saw Tudgay stretching in the six yard box but unable to connect. The strikers combined again four minutes from time in an almost identical move but the veteran front man was snuffed out at the near post but try as they did, the Sky Blues simply couldn’t find the quality in the final third to get the all important and elusive goal to separate the two sides.

Attendance: 8,813 (453 away).