Off-colour Sky Blues sunk by set pieceCoventry City brought a disappointing end to 2021 with a CBS Arena defeat against Millwall.
The Sky Blues dominated much of the play and enjoyed some decent chances before being caught by a late set-piece goal to put a dampener on an incredibly frustrating night for Mark Robins’s men who were far from at their best after 18 days without a game.
The match started at a high tempo with both sides attempting to assert their authority early on, with neither team having much time on the ball as possession proved hard to retain for any length of time.
City forced the first meaningful attack when Callum O’Hare picked out Tyler Walker in the box, only for the striker - who was making his first start in ten games - to stumble as he attempted to control the ball, rendering him unable to shoot.
Coventry weathered a couple of set piece deliveries from a free-kick and corner as chances proved hard to come by for both teams who were equally guilty of the occasional sloppy pass and lack of quality from their final ball.
The Sky Blues, however, went close to breaking the deadlock when O’Hare drove through on goal and hit a powerful shot that bounced off the Bartosz Bialkowski’s knee before Walker’s attempted shot from the rebound was blocked for a corner.
Todd Kane’s flag kick delivery was then met by Michael Rose whose header was blocked three yards off the goal line, looping up into the air where the keeper fumbled and Dom Hyam connected with an overhead kick that flew over the bar.
The ball skimmed off the top of Walker’s head in the six yard box as he connected with an O’Hare centre eight minutes from the break as the home side continued to look the more likely to score, playing by far the more enterprising football, albeit looking a little ring rusty.
The Lions had their one and only chance of the opening half in the 39th minute when centre-back Shaun Hutchinson headed wide from a free-kick, before George Saville tested Ben Wilson at his near post just before the break.
Robins’s men continued to push for the first goal early in the second half in an increasingly frustrating game against physically tough opponents who used every trick in the book – including time wasting – in an attempt to thwart City’s attacking threat.
The perfect example of their tactics came in the 56th minute when Tom Bradshaw launched into a cynical challenge on O’Hare who threatened to burst away on the break, the Lions’ striker earning a yellow card in the process – remarkably the first booking of the game.
City almost got the all elusive opener in the 67th minute when a lovely ball in from Todd Kane was met by a glancing header by Walker who was denied by a brilliant save.
O’Hare then went down as he dribbled into the box but the referee waved play on amid the Coventry player’s appeals for a penalty.
Viktor Gyokeres and Jamie Allen went on in place of Godden and Kelly as Robins looked to find a way through Millwall’s back line, and both got straight into the pace of the game.
But the Sky Blues were caught with a sucker punch when Bradshaw poked home 11 minutes from time after two flick-ons by his team-mates from a free-kick resulted in the ball falling to the striker on the edge of the six-yard box.
City, who had defended pretty well to that point will be disappointed with the way they handled the dead ball situation.
Jodi Jones was thrown on in a last attempt to salvage anything from the game but despite dominating the final third, City simply couldn’t find a way through.
ATTENDANCE: 18,500 (803 away)