Coventry City vs Blackburn Rovers. Sky Bet Championship.
The Coventry Building Society ArenaAttendance16,530.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Coventry and Blackburn Rovers at the Coventry Building Society Arena as Jamie Allen's strike earned all three points for the Sky Blues.
Tuesday 1 November 2022 23:27, UK
Jamie Allen's goal lifted Coventry out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win over 10-man Blackburn at the CBS Arena.
The Sky Blues had been in the Championship relegation zone since August after their first three home games of the campaign were postponed, but Allen's first home league goal of the season took them up to 19th place.
The match was played at the CBS Arena, despite uncertainty around where it would be held up until Monday afternoon due to financial problems at CBS Arena Limited, who manage the Sky Blues' lease at the stadium.
On top of their off-field issues, Coventry were also battling a virus in the squad, forcing manager Mark Robins to leave out Kyle McFadzean for the first time this season as Allen took the captain's armband.
Rovers, who could have gone top with victory, suffered their first defeat in five games as 19-year-old Jake Garrett was sent off just six minutes after being introduced as a substitute.
Jon Dahl Tomasson's visitors looked sloppy from the off as first goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski and then Tyler Morton lost the ball, Ben Sheaf nicking possession and feeding Viktor Gyokeres, whose shot was blocked.
Gustavo Hamer had scored in Coventry's 2-2 draw with Rotherham a week earlier and drove forward from the halfway line before his powerful drive was beaten away by Kaminski.
Blackburn's Ben Brereton Diaz already has eight goals to his name this season and went in search of another when he cut inside following Jack Vale's pass and curled an effort past the diving Ben Wilson and his far post.
Rovers' sloppiness at the back continued as Allen was allowed to slide in Callum O'Hare, but Kaminski was out quickly to smother at the feet of the midfielder.
Callum Brittain had the Lancashire side's best chance of the half when a defensive mistake allowed the defender in on goal, but he could only fire into the side netting.
Coventry's deserved goal came after 41 minutes after some patient build-up play in the centre.
O'Hare shifted the ball out to Josh Eccles and his deflected cross found Allen, who tapped in his first goal at the CBS Arena since August 2021 from inside the six yard box.
Tomasson's men were much tighter at the back after the break as they went in search of a leveller, Wilson parrying away Brereton Diaz's free-kick just before the hour mark.
Allen could have doubled his and Coventry's tally when Gyokeres won possession high up the pitch and squared for the stand-in skipper, but his effort was straight at Kaminski.
Rovers' miserable evening was complete when Garrett saw red on just his third Championship appearance for a challenge on Callum Doyle.
Bradley Dack glanced Brereton Diaz's cross wide of Wilson's goal, but the Sky Blues held on for a valuable victory.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "If anybody doubts the commitment of the players, just look at the last two games. What they've done in three days where they've been really ill, and there's a few coughing in there and throwing up at half-time, and still putting a performance in like that, that is unbelievable. I'm so proud of them. Jamie Allen was absolutely unbelievable to captain the team. Lose Kyle McFadzean just before kick-off, he had a 39 plus temperature, but he came and turned up, he wanted to play.
"It's a testament to them (the players), because it's been so difficult for the last few days. On top of that we've got the uncertainty of where we're going to play, so make no mistake the players were absolutely outstanding and supported by a brilliant group of supporters.
"You cannot talk about that and separate that from the supporters, because everybody's going through the same thing together. Those people have been through so much and it needs sorting out, making sure we are capable of playing our home games in the stadium that was built for us. Whoever is going to buy this stadium, make sure we're at the heart of it and we'll all get on fine."
Blackburn's Jon Dahl Tomasson: "It was a disappointing night. We lost the game in the first half when we didn't perform well enough. In possession we were too loose, we gave a lot of the ball away and were not aggressive enough. We had a couple of opportunities, but overall Coventry deserved to be in front at half-time.
"The boys stepped up in the second half but needed the final ball to be better to create something dangerous. We've had lots of ups and downs and will continue to do so. We are not the end product. In the first half we were too slow and there were too many mistakes. In the second half we were better without being brilliant because we did not create enough."
