AFC Wimbledon 2 - 1 Coventry City

[dutchman]

Coventry City conspired to throw away their EFL Cup first round lead at Wimbledon despite Matty Godden's opener



Coventry City will spend Thursday morning wondering how on earth they weren't in Wednesday night's draw for the second round of the EFL Cup having been dumped out at the first hurdle by League Two AFC Wimbledon at Plough Lane - with the Dons' two goals, which turned the match on its head, arriving in the final minutes of the evening.

City, leading into the 86th minute thanks to Matty Godden's first half penalty, couldn't have done much more besides offer more ruthlessness and a clinical edge in front of goal - they had 28 shots, 11 of them were on target and yet they failed to net in open play over the course of the event. Despite it never looking likely prior to Johnnie Jackson rolling the dice late on and introducing substitutes Omar Bugiel and Ryan McLean, both of those players found the net - McLean doing so deep into stoppage time.

Despite their overall dominance, City could've been behind in double quick time. The towering frame of Harry Pell wrestled his way past young Ryan Howley and his low cross eventually ran all the way to right winger James Tilley, who might've done better when scuffing a first-time shot wide of Brad Collins' left post.

The Sky Blues immediately began to settle after that early wake up call. There were the first signs of a partnership burgeoning between strikers Matty Godden and Haji Wright when the pair combined and the former fed the latter in the penalty area, but Wright's final effort was a pea roller into the arms of keeper Nik Tzanev. Godden himself nodded over a deep Jake Bidwell cross moments later.

The striker did mark the penning of his new contract earlier in the day, though, with the opening goal a little over a quarter of an hour into the evening's action. Strike partner Wright was slipped in, inside the penalty area, and was duly sent flying. Godden claimed the ball and converted beyond the stretched arm of Tzanev.

In play, Wimbledon gave as good as they got but couldn't match their superior visitors for the quality of chances created. Debutant Collins had a quiet first half indeed compared to his opposing number, who denied Godden netting a first-half hat-trick. In between there was some really encouraging passages of play from City, though - Wright's final attempt after Hamer and Godden combined was wayward but the move leading up to the chance was slick indeed.

The Sky Blues continued to enjoy the lions' share of the chances as the second half began. Liam Kelly's brilliant lofted ball was brought down expertly by Wright, who was left in plenty of space, but his final effort - similarly to the one in the first half - left plenty to be desired. Moments later, Hamer's final act of the night - before he was withdrawn - involved him whistling a shot past the post. Embraced by Robins, Hamer was serenaded by the away end as they instructed him to 'sign the contract'.

Wimbledon, who saw Lee Brown sky a header at the back post, continued to give as good as they got and were encouraged while the score remained 1-0. Yet it was the Sky Blues who'd have been left scratching their heads that they hadn't manage to beat the determined Tzanev more than once - and at all from open play.

Wright had a hatful of openings, of varying degrees of quality, throughout the course of the second half but was denied by defenders' legs, or the goalkeeper, or his own sharpness in front of goal. Substitute Kasey Palmer tested Tzanev before the end, as did Ellis Simms before the end - guess who denied him with an incredible tip over the bar?

Maddeningly, the Dons did what any team who only trail by one goal are able to - get back into it, whether they deserved to or not. Substitutes Bugiel in the 86th minute and then McLean deep into stoppage time reversed the score-line and sent the visiting Sky Blues packing.

[dutchman]

League Two Wimbledon upset Coventry with late goals



AFC Wimbledon scored two late goals to knock Championship side Coventry City out of the Carabao Cup and will be away to Chelsea in the second round.

Ryan McLean grabbed the winner in the third minute of injury time after Omar Bugiel's 86th-minute equaliser for the League Two team.

The hosts were seemingly heading towards a first-round exit thanks to a 17th-minute penalty scored by Matt Godden.

Wimbledon started the game on the front foot, with James Tilley going close inside the opening couple of minutes, with his shot zipping just wide.

That was as good as it got for the Dons - until the final minutes.

Haji Wright made his debut for the Sky Blues following his £7.7m move from Turkish club Antalyaspor. He looked bright early on, with his ninth-minute shot being saved by Nik Tzanev.

Wright then drew a foul in the box and Godden converted from the penalty spot to give the Championship side the lead.

Gustavo Hamer went close to making it two in the 34rd minute, only for his free-kick to bend wide.

Haji threatened throughout the game, but the visitors were unable to increase their lead.

With time running out, Wimbledon equalised through Bugiel, who smashed the ball home from 20 yards after Coventry failed to clear a left-wing cross.

A penalty shootout looked likely before McLean clinched his side's place in the second-round draw with a dramatic winner at the far post.

Coventry City manager Mark Robins:

"I don't think we deserved anything - we could have won if we'd done things right, but we didn't.

"We didn't pick the right passes out, we went too long at times and it was just unlike us. Really, they should have been a couple of goals up before the penalty, so we're a little bit lucky coming in 1-0 up.

"So we speak about that at half time and how we can be better and we end up looking poor in the second half too.

"It's a new team so I've got to be careful what I say; I'm making substitutions for physical reasons rather than tactical reasons at the moment because I'm trying to get everyone fit."