Sky Blues concluded their Ricoh Arena season with victory over the Blades
Coventry gave their supporters the Ricoh send-off they promised with an ultimately commanding victory that killed off United’s slender play-off prospects.
Two goals in the first eight minutes but the Sky Blues in control but a second-half wobble saw them concede a penalty before Ruben Lameiras wrapped it up with the help of fellow substitutes Jodi Jones and Aaron Phillips.
Desperate to give the fans an upbeat Ricoh send-off for the season, the Sky Blues were well on course for three points thanks to two goals in the first eight minutes.
Tony Mowbray made four changes from the side that succumbed 2-0 at Doncaster last weekend, drafting in Joe Cole, George Thomas, Stephen Hunt and Marc-Antoine Fortune and opting for a 4-3-3 formation with Romain Vincelot taking the armband in the absence of injured skipper Sam Ricketts.
The revamp paid instant dividends as the Sky Blues broke through inside four minutes although the identity of the scorer will create an interesting dilemma for the internal dubious goals committee.
Adam Armstrong, stuck on 19 goals for 11 matches, cut in from the left and unleashed a right-foot shot that took a big deflection off Fortune’s heel to leave goalkeeper Long hopelessly flat-footed as it bounced into the far corner. Fortune initially celebrated but, realising the potential significance, joined the rest of the side n mobbing Armstrong.
There was no debate about the second goal which followed four minutes later, Cole sliding a perfect pass down the inside-right channel for Rose to ram in a first-time shot from the angle of the six-yard box.
It took the Blades 25 minutes to conjure up their first real threat, Charles-Cook turning Sharp’s shot round the post, but the keeper had to pull off a far more demanding save when he dived full length to deflect Flynn’s fierce shot.
City started the second half strongly, dangerous crosses by Hunt and Rose skidding through the Blades area before Fleck almost repeated his long-range chip against Millwall.
Charles-Cook had to hold a shot by one-time City apprentice Adams before Stephens had a shot blocked at the other end after a 50-yard surge down the centre of the pitch.
The Blades grabbed a lifeline out of the blue in the 58th minute, however, as Martin tumbled into Sharp in the box and the striker picked himself up to drill the penalty down the middle and log his 21st goal of the season.
Cole’s angled shot was a fraction wide of the far post after another Stephens run had been developed by Thomas, the latter promptly giving way to Jones as Mowbray looked for fresh attacking legs.
But it was United who nearly struck next, Cole’s handball (surprisingly not punished with a booking) seeing Coutts blast the free-kick into the wall and promoting a spell of intense pressure in and around the home box.
Basham dragged a close-range shot just wide as the Sky Blues struggled to clear their lines – the fans’ growing anxiety underlined as on a couple occasions they forgot to boo Blades skipper Jay McEveley.
If not exactly one-way traffic the momentum was certainly with United, City restricted to counter-attacks, the best of which saw Lameiras’s shot blocked by Baptiste before Jones was denied by Long.
And – fittingly enough in the 87th minute – the three substitutes combined to put the game to bed, Phillips helping on Jones’s low cross with a brilliant back-heel and Lameiras calmly rolling his shot past Long.
The keeper’s finger-tips denied Lameiras an injury-time second as he ran ion to Jones’s defence-splitting pass although the midfielder would probably have done better to tee up the completely unmarked Armstrong.
Attendance: 13,177 (1,909 away).
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 1:48 pm