Coventry City 1 - 1 Southampton

[dutchman]

Edozie rescues point for Southampton at Coventry



Substitutes Samuel Edozie and Ryan Fraser combined to stretch Southampton's unbeaten Championship run to 13 games with a draw at Coventry City.

Former Manchester City winger Edozie finished a cross by Fraser as Saints drew their fourth successive away game.

USA international Haji Wright had fired Mark Robins' side ahead at the Coventry Building Society Arena, but the Sky Blues could not hold the lead and had to be content with extending their own good run to just one defeat in the past six.

Saints were sharper for most of the game but leading scorer Adam Armstrong lifted three good chances over the bar, while Callum O'Hare struck the crossbar for Coventry.

Both teams were in good form going into the game, with Saints last losing at Middlesbrough in September, while Coventry had won three of their previous four to start looking upwards in the table rather than over their shoulders at the bottom three.

Saints dominated the first half with their brand of possession football but with 12-goal striker Armstrong seeing one shot well saved by Brad Collins and blazing another too high, they could not make the territorial advantage pay.

Coventry's forwards were living off scraps before the break but Wright saw one goalbound shot well blocked by Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Ellis Simms found Gavin Bazunu standing tall when he tried to lift the best opportunity of the half over his head.

The home side stepped up a gear after the break with the running of Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto down the right causing Saints problems.

O'Hare struck the bar with a first-time shot from one van Ewijk cross and moments later he played a sharp through-ball for Wright, and the club record signing cut in from the left and fired his shot past Bazunu to give Coventry the lead.

Coventry defended well as Saints pushed for the equaliser but the introduction of Fraser and Edozie paid off in full for manager Russell Martin.

Fraser was a real menace down the left, and Edozie expertly took down one of his crosses and sent a shot back across Collins to level.

Both sides went for the win in a breathless finale with Joe Aribo curling a shot just over the bar and Armstrong completing his hat-trick of misses for Southampton, while Ben Sheaf's deflected effort was brilliantly beaten out by Bazunu to keep it level.

Coventry manager Mark Robins told BBC CWR:

"First half they had plenty of possession but we worked really hard to deny them any sights at goal, and we did that pretty well. It was a game of chess with them having possession more than us.

"We managed to create one or two openings, ultimately the one for Haji. I'm pleased with the goal, the build-up was calm, considered, incisive and Haji took his time, picked his spot and executed it brilliantly, which is what he's all about.

"The only blip is the goal we conceded, where we got things slightly wrong in their build-up to it. We're on the attack, give the ball away and then we're out of balance a bit. (Bidwell) is in a position to block it but he (Edozie) has hit it into the ground and it's ended up finding its way into the far corner."