Coventry City vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.
The Coventry Building Society ArenaAttendance19,788.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Coventry and Middlesbrough at the Coventry Building Society Arena as Viktor Gyokeres scored to earn the Sky Blues their first victory of the season.
Saturday 1 October 2022 19:22, UK
Viktor Gyokeres' first-half strike secured Coventry's first win of the season as they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 at the CBS Arena.
The 24-year-old, reportedly the subject of a bid from Chris Wilder's men in the summer, scored his third Sky Bet Championship goal of the campaign to seal the Sky Blues' first victory since mid-April.
Mark Robins' men remain bottom of the table but have dragged Middlesbrough into the bottom three with them.
Coventry's only change from their 0-0 draw at Birmingham saw Kasey Palmer replace the suspended Gustavo Hamer, while Wilder went with three changes as Boro looked for their first win on the road this season.
Wing-backs Isaiah Jones and Ryan Giles were replaced by Tommy Smith and Marc Bola, the former earning his first start of the season. There was also a change in goal where Zack Steffen returned in place of Liam Roberts.
The Sky Blues were playing just their second match of the season at the CBS Arena and almost gave the 19,788 strong crowd something to cheer in the opening five minutes.
With Dael Fry off the pitch for treatment, Fankaty Dabo's low cross picked out Gyokeres and the Swede turned and teed up Palmer, who missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring when he side-footed wide.
The returning Steffen had to be alert to smother at the feet of Gyokeres when he was slipped in by Palmer, but it was a delicious pass from Dabo that set up the opener.
Defending deep in their own box, Dabo picked the ball up and played a forward pass down the line perfectly into the path of Gyokeres.
Coventry's number 17 left Bola behind and drove towards goal before slotting under Steffen in the 17th minute.
It took Middlesbrough half-an-hour to muster the first of their two shots on target in the first half when the persistent Rodrigo Muniz turned and stung the palms of goalkeeper Ben Wilson.
Coventry's two creator-in-chiefs Dabo and Palmer combined again to set up Matt Godden when Palmer's innovative first-time ball set the striker free but he could not get a clean shot away.
Palmer then picked out Gyokeres on the left-hand side as the Sweden international weaved his way infield and fired a shot that was comfortably gathered by Steffen.
Boro's best chance of the half came right at the end of the opening period. Alex Mowatt's shot was blocked by Callum Doyle, but the rebound landed at the feet of Muniz whose snapshot was saved by Wilson.
It took just 10 minutes of the second half for Wilder to introduce his two dropped wing-backs from the bench in place of Smith and Matt Clarke.
Giles was into the action immediately as Middlesbrough looked a transformed team.
Mowatt laid the ball off to the Wolves loanee and his left-footed cross was inches from being met by the flying Matt Crooks at the back post.
Giles' next cross into the area was slightly behind half-time introduction Chuba Akpom, who then saw an effort claimed comfortably by Wilson as Boro belligerently sought an equaliser.
Fry also came close to pegging the Sky Blues back, but he headed over Jonny Howson's corner.
Coventry's best second-half chance came through Ben Sheaf, who forced Steffen into a smart save to his left.
Palmer's effort from range then bounced wide, with the former Manchester City keeper stranded following a clearance, but Gyokeres' goal proved enough.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "I think that's as good a performance as he's put in. He's been away with Sweden and he's played a game and 30 minutes and he's come back in a really good headspace, really sharp and you could see that today. He's hungry for goals and that could only benefit him and the team.
"It looked like a penalty all day long and they were talking about handball as well. It looked like he dragged him down and that was his intent, but that was their intent all day. You've got to get round him and got to get him down because he destroyed them up at the Riverside last season."
Middlesbrough's Chris Wilder: "The concession of the goal is yet again small details. We have three throws on the left-hand side and we give every throw away, then from the third one they counter, one ball, and we talk about the threat of (Matt) Godden and most importantly Gyokeres running down the side. One of my centre-halves, who's the quickest centre-half in the club, tries to play offside and you're just scratching your head.
"The level of attention and detail that goes into analysis, we've watched Coventry all last year and we've watched them this year, their main threat is Gyokeres and I thought he was the best player on the pitch. What you can't do is step up on the halfway line because he'll punish you - he punished us and we're chasing a little bit."
