COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Late Forson double helps Norwich beat Coventry



Substitute Amankwah Forson scored his first two Norwich goals in stoppage time against Coventry to earn the Canaries a remarkable Championship victory at Carrow Road.

Coventry were closing in on what would have been their first win at Norwich for 16 years before the Ghanaian midfielder curled home an equaliser and then conjured a winner.

Milan van Ewijk had put the Sky Blues ahead with a close-range volley at the back post in a first half that ended with a smattering of jeers from a frustrated Norwich crowd.

Oliver Dovin made a number of saves for Frank Lampard's Coventry either side of the interval, which included keeping out an Emiliano Marcondes header from close range soon after the break.

Borja Sainz went on to have a scrambled effort cleared off the line and Kenny McLean hit the crossbar as the Canaries searched for a response which finally came from Forson with two stunning finishes that had the home crowd in raptures.

The 22-year-old's memorable double to open his account for the club five months after his arrival had him hoisted off the ground by jubilant team-mates at full-time.

The win keeps the Canaries 11th in the table, four points behind the play-off spots, while Coventry slip to 15th.

Championship leading scorer Sainz was lively for Norwich early on, even with the threat of a ban looming over the Spaniard who was charged by the Football Association on Friday for an alleged spitting incident.

The winger forced Dovin into the first save of the game, taking down a ball over the top from Marcelino Nunez before testing the Sky Blues goalkeeper with a snap-shot.

Dovin made another crucial intervention to deny Marcondes before Van Ewijk started and finished an excellent move to put the visitors ahead.

The wing-back pressured the Canaries into giving up possession near the halfway line, then ghosted into the box unchecked to meet a Jake Bidwell cross to volley home.

Norwich were limited by a well-organised Coventry defence before the break, but they made a bright start to the second half in search of an equaliser.

Marcondes hit the side-netting and called Dovin into action with a header in quick succession.

The Swedish goalkeeper also foiled Marcondes in a goalmouth scramble that went on to see Sainz have an effort cleared off the line before Kellen Fisher put his finish wide.

McLean then sent a towering header from a corner off the woodwork for Norwich before Brandon Thomas-Asante missed an inviting chance to put Coventry two up late on, ensuring it would be a tense finish.

And while Onel Hernandez and Shane Duffy threatened for the hosts, it was Forson who emerged as the hero of the day - his equaliser a shot from 25 yards that found the top corner, before he won it with a first-time effort from the edge of the box.

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard told BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire:

"We are all rightly disappointed with the result, but I take a lot out of it - the character of the performance. Sometimes you just have to take these ones on the chin.

"Unfortunately, in a way, football happens. And we could always look at what we could have done to stop it. The first goal, it's nothing because it's a great finish and the second, yes, but the players gave everything.

"We did a lot of good things in the game. We've had lots of possession in the games we've had so far and today it was less so because we know they are a possession team, so we set up [for that] and the players did everything right until the last few minutes."

New Stoke City manager Mark Robins had to settle for a point from his first game in charge as the Potters were held to a goalless draw by Championship bottom side Plymouth Argyle.

Stoke are now unbeaten in three games since the sacking of Spaniard Narcis Pelach on 27 December.

Managerless Argyle have now drawn two games under caretaker bosses Kevin Nancekivell and Joe Edwards since Wayne Rooney left the club on New Year's Eve.

But, while the Devon side remain winless on their travels, this was still only their third away point of the campaign and only their second clean sheet.

And they have already made their first big signing of the January window in Ghana midfielder Michael Baidoo for a club-record undisclosed fee from Swedish side Elfsborg.

Robins got a very warm pre-match reception from the home fans, who seemed to be in fuller voice than they have been of late.

But there was very little of note to report in the first half other than one dangerous Lewis Koumas cross which passed across the face of the Plymouth goal untouched.

It took until three minutes after the break for either keeper to be properly tested. Following Tatsuki Seko's right-wing cross, Conor Hazard was forced to pull off a smart save from Stoke defender Junior Tchamadeu.

It was Tchamadeu's defence-splitting pass which then nearly put in Tom Cannon, only for Hazard to dash from his line and save bravely.

Stoke substitute Wouter Burger then needed too much time as he had a left-foot effort deflected just wide, before Koumas screwed wide of the left post from Tchamadeu's low right-wing cross.

But, although they had 18 shots to Plymouth's two, only three Potters efforts were on target and, in the end, Stoke ran out of ideas against a resolute Argyle defence.

Both sides now have a break from league action as it is the FA Cup third round next Saturday.

Stoke go to Sunderland, before returning to Championship duty at West Bromwich Albion on 18 January.

Stoke City boss Mark Robins told BBC Radio Stoke:

"If you can't win, the key thing is always just making sure you don't lose.

"The players have had a lot of games in a short space of time and that can take its toll. We'll give him them a couple of games off ahead of the FA Cup tie.

"We just didn't have the urgency and quality we needed.

"Sam Gallagher felt his hamstring. It could be just fatigue. And Eric Bocat may be out for a few weeks too."