Reading 1 - 0 Coventry City
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 3:02 am
Restart setback amid set-piece switch off
Coventry City suffered their first defeat in five games despite dominating for long periods at Reading on the resumption of the Championship season.
The Royals started the brighter of the two sides, getting forward from the first whistle and testing City with a number of early set pieces, but the visitors grew into the game and soon began to ask questions of their own.
Callum O’Hare went closest to breaking the deadlock in the 25th minute when he received the ball with his back to goal, turned on the edge of the D and hit and hard and low effort which was denied by a decent save by goalkeeper Joe Lumley who dropped to his right to palm the ball away.
Gus Hamer curled a 20 yard free-kick just wide of the target five minutes from the break in a half of very few chances for either side until first half stoppage time when Yakou Meite got on the end of a Tom Ince cross and headed goalwards, denied by a good save from Ben Wilson.
Coventry counter attacked from the resulting corner when O’Hare was tripped outside the box, leaving Viktor Gyokeres to try his luck from the free-kick but smash it disappointingly into the wall.
The Sky Blues came out all guns blazing in the second half with a string of attacking moves in the final third and Michael Rose heading onto the post from a corner.
But it was the Royals who snatched the lead in the 57th minute from a set piece, with Meite beating Bidwell in the air from a corner and flicking the ball goalwards where Amadou Mbengue nodded in unmarked from two yards out.
City continued to probe and press for an equaliser but simply couldn’t find the bit of quality required to pick their way through and find the back of the net.