Wycombe Wanderers 1 - 2 Coventry City
Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2020 7:19 pm
The Sky Blues recorded their first Championship win on the road at Wycombe
A Liam Kelly brace gave Coventry City their first Championship win on the road at second from bottom Wycombe Wanderers.
The Sky Blues skipper scored with a powerful shot and a close range header before the break when he had to go off injured before Mark Robins’s men took the full three points after late drama at Adams Park.
But the win was only secured after a nervous second half when City let the home side back in the game from the penalty spot, making for a tense end to the match when Wanderers had a controversial equaliser ruled out at the death..
City started off fairly positively with plenty of possession and a string of set-pieces in the first ten minutes before Wanderers began to have more of a say on the ball, enjoying three corners in quick succession to turn the pressure on the visitors.
There was a distinct lack of quality as Coventry were unable to get their passing game going in an increasingly scrappy affair where chances were few and far between until skipper Kelly took responsibility.
The midfielder hit a low shot just wide but minutes later in the 34th he found himself with loads of time and space just outside the box and hit a lovely strike inside the keeper’s right-hand post to give his side the lead.
Kelly then picked up what looked like a groin injury but limped on to the break in order to save the manager’s substitution options, and it played right into City’s hands as he put himself in the box for a late set-piece and promptly doubled City’s lead.
The captain would normally take up a position on the edge of the box but he found himself in the right place at the right time when a Gus Hamer free-kick found Leo Ostigard ina deep position, the defender heading the ball into the box where Kelly nodded home from close range as the ball bounced up kindly for him.
Amadou Bakayoko replaced Kelly at the break, adding pace and energy to help stretch Wanderers who made three changes themselves just before the hour.
And City gave the home side a way back into the game when Ben Sheaf fouled David Wheeler just inside the box, leaving Joe Jacobson to slot home from the penalty spot, making it 2-1 in the 61st minute.
Hamer almost added a third goal for the Sky Blues when he won the ball in the middle of the park and, seeing the keeper out of his area, attempted to chip him from the halfway line, only for his shot to bounce the wrong side off the post.
The Chairboys’ goal pepped them up and, urged on by the partisan 2,000 fans, pushed for an equaliser as City were forced to defend deep and play on the counter attack in a nervous last 15 minutes.
And the stress levels went through the roof in the fourth minute of added time when Scott Kashket turned the ball ito the back of the net after a brilliant Ben Wilson save, only for the linesman to flag and rule out the equaliser for off-side.