Ten man Sky Blues battle back twice from behindMatty Godden scored a brilliant stoppage time winner after ten man Coventry City battled back twice from behind to get back to winning ways at the CBS Arena.
The Sky Blues went behind to Bristol City just before the break when Ian Maatsen brought down Callum O’Dowda in the box and was shown the red card as a result, leaving Chris Martin to fire the visitors into the lead.
Matty Godden then pulled Mark Robins’s men level after the break when Viktor Gyokeres was dragged down in the area before the Robins restored their lead with a simple tap-in from Andreas Weimann.
But City continued to push forward and pulled level a second time when Callum O’Hare latched onto a loose ball from a corner and struck home his first of the season, 16 minutes from time.
Godden, however, popped up in four minutes of added time to fire home a superb finish to win the game.
City made an encouraging start with Gus Hamer latching onto a stray pass some 35 yards out from goal and hitting a blistering shot which goalkeeper Daniel Bentley dived to push wide with a good save with just 25 seconds on the clock.
They continued to push for the first goal with some enterprising approach play and four corners in the opening 20 minutes, while Maatsen and O’Hare both had decent shots blocked by Bristol’s back line.
Coventry enjoyed 71 per cent of possession midway through the opening half while the visitors didn’t carve out a single chance on goal in the first 30 minutes.
Bristol hit their first shot – a tame effort that went straight to keeper Simon Moore – just after the half hour mark and began to grow into the game, abeit not hurting the Sky Blues who were beginning to frustrate in the final third with a lack of quality from their final ball.
The Robins, however, had a late flurry of action in the final few minutes to the break when Moore was called upon to punch clear from a deep and threatening free-kick before City pressed the self destruct button when Maatsen caught Callum O’Dowda in the box and got himself sent off for a last man challenge in the process.
Up stepped striker Martin to send Moore the wrong way and give Nigel Pearson’s side a smash and grab lead into half-time.
Mark Robins threw on Todd Kane for Clarke-Salter for the second half as a tactical switch with just ten men on the pitch.
And it took just four minutes of intense pressure for the Sky Blues to get themselves back in the game when Viktor Gyokeres drove into the box and was shoved down by centre-half Zak Vyner.
The referee pointed to the penalty spot amid chants of “off, off, off,” from the home fans, but the offending player was shown a yellow card before Godden stepped up and slotted home to the keeper’s left, low into the bottom corner to equalise in the 51st minute.
City played some intricate football in and around the box as they went looking for a second, with Ben Sheaf receiving the ball in space in the area and having a decent looking shot blocked out for a corner.
But Bristol restored their lead in the 68th minute when Martin got on the end of a cross from the right and was denied by a decent save from Moore but the ball deflected back off the striker and fell kindly to the supporting Weimann for a simple tap-in.
Coventry continued to attack with Tyler Walker going on to replace Gyokeres, and got their rewards in the 74th minute when a Gus Hamer corner was headed back to O’Hare who hit a low angled shot through a crowd of players and inside the far post to equalise for a second time.
The game was wide open with chances at both ends as the two sides went for the win, both willing to gamble for maximum points and looking vulnerable to the counter attacks.
The fans continued to get behind their team in four minutes of pulsating added time when Liam Kelly pocked the ball through a gap to free Godden on the right of the goal, leaving the striker to beat the keeper at his near post with a terrific finish.
ATTENDANCE: 19, 855 (2,894 away)