Cardiff City 0 -1 Coventry City
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 7:14 pm
McFadzean brick wall and Gyokeres tap-in seal first win on the road
A Viktor Gyokeres tap-in gave Coventry City their first Championship victory on the road in a solid and hard-fought display at Cardiff City.
The Sky Blues should have been in front as early as the third minute after a long kick from Ben Wilson was flicked on by Matty Godden and took a deflection to fall to Gyokeres who had an open goal to shoot into but fired disappointingly wide of the target – what looked like a huge miss at the time.
Cardiff then tested the visitors with three corners in quick success amid some poor marking that allowed a free shot and header from Callum Robinson and Callum O’Dowda, both of which were blocked. And the home side went close again when Niels Nkounkou got the better of Fankaty Dabo to send in a dangerous ball across the face of goal with O’Dowda sliding in and just failing to connect.
Robinson then robbed Callum Doyle to create a free shot at goal, only to fire narrowly wide of the target as the Bluebirds looked the more likely to break the deadlock approaching the 20 minute mark. The Manchester City teenager was taken off minutes later in the 23rd and replaced by Michael Rose.
The Sky Blues took the lead in the 34th minute when Godden flicked on to Allen on the right, with the midfielder cutting in and hitting an angled shot which the keeper parried into the path of the lurking Gyokeres to tap home in the six yard box. That gave Robins’ men plenty of confidence as they suddenly looked the more threatening to the break.
Cardiff applied more set-piece pressure straight from the start of the second half and the home side thought they were back on level terms in the 50th minute when Robinson nipped in behind City’s back line from a corner, whereupon he rounded Wilson and slotted home. However, the Sky Blues appealed for off-side and after the referee consulted his linesman it was ruled out, much to the delight of the travelling Sky Blue Army.
The game fell a bit flat midway through the second half when the Bluebirds made three changes in a bid to pep things up before Kasey Palmer and Martyn Waghorn added fresh legs for Allen and Godden as City defended their slender lead amid mounting home pressure.
But Coventry held on amid four long and nervous minutes of stoppage time to take a brilliant three points.