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Coventry City 0 - 1 Preston North End

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 9:10 pm
by dutchman
Sky Blues disappoint on CBS Arena return

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Coventry City were defeated 1-0 on their return to the Coventry Building Society Arena this season after a strike from second-half Preston North End substitute Emil Riis sealed a third straight defeat to end the month.

Sky Blues' had begun to grow into the game in the second half after a lacklustre first half showing, but the substitute Riis kept his cool inside the penalty area

After coming into the side in place of Simon Moore, Ben Wilson's strong start after an early smart save from Greg Cunningham threatened to be undone when the Sky Blues stopper was adjudged to have brought down Troy Parrott barely a yard outside of his penalty area. Wilson was only shown a yellow card, though, and the felled forward failed to threaten to goal from the following free-kick.

Despite being comfortably second best throughout the first 45, Callum Doyle did test Freddie Woodman in the Preston goal from distance after advancing forward with the ball from the back which had the Newcastle United loanee worried. Jake Bidwell also went close twice after finding himself inside the penalty area but couldn't convert.

Sky Blues pushed for an equaliser in the final 15 minutes with the woodwork rattled and a goalmouth scramble kept out but to no avail as they were stopped from scoring for the first time this season but a resolute Preston backline. It means Mark Robins' side heads into transfer deadline day tomorrow remaining rooted to the foot of the Championship table and still without a win despite the circumstances.

ATTENDANCE: 18,913

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Re: Coventry City 0 - 1 Preston North End

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2022 9:12 pm
by dutchman
Preston beat Coventry with seventh clean sheet

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Emil Riis Jakobsen netted a second-half winner as Preston recorded their seventh consecutive clean sheet and avoided a sixth goalless draw this season.

The Danish forward followed up to score only North End's second league goal of the season, after Troy Parrott's effort had been blocked.

Coventry came close to breaching Preston's watertight defence as Martyn Waghorn and Jake Bidwell both struck the woodwork.

But the Sky Blues, who were finally able to play at home this season after repair work to their pitch, slid to defeat and remain bottom of the table.

Despite their modest tally of one Championship goal so far this season, Preston looked the likelier side to break the deadlock in the opening half-hour, with Ben Woodburn narrowly off target twice in quick succession.

Greg Cunningham's effort forced a low save from Sky Blues goalkeeper Ben Wilson, who was fortunate to escape with a booking when he brought down Troy Parrott just outside the penalty area.

But Coventry went close through Bidwell, whose shot sailed inches wide after Viktor Gyokeres set him up and then met Waghorn's corner with a header that was blocked on the line.

Waghorn came even closer to breaking the deadlock after the interval, latching onto Josh Eccles' pass and cutting inside for a drive that took a deflection onto the crossbar.

However, it was Jakobsen who finally opened the scoring in the 73rd minute, slotting beyond Wilson after Parrott's deflected effort fell neatly into his path.

Coventry pressed hard for an equaliser and Matt Godden's cross picked out Bidwell, whose header looped over Freddie Woodman but clipped the bar and bounced to safety.

At the other end, Wilson denied Jakobsen a late second but Preston saw out the game - and became only the third English side in history to begin their campaign with seven clean sheets.

Coventry manager Mark Robins told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire:

"I thought we were in the game all the time. We had a lot of the ball, we're moving it quickly to try and open something up and it didn't quite work, but I don't think we deserved to lose it.

"Preston make it really difficult by having bodies behind the ball. They've worked really hard with clean sheets in every game, so they're doing something right, although we've hit the bar twice.

"We were a little bit on edge and that's probably to do with our league position on the back of having to wait until tonight to play our first home game."

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