Coventry 1-0 Millwall: Viktor Gyokeres steers Sky Blues to victory

Viktor Gyokeres ended his goal drought in the Sky Bet Championship as Coventry beat high-flying Millwall 1-0 at the CBS Arena.

The Sky Blues' top scorer had not been on the scoresheet in the league since a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United on Boxing Day but found the bottom corner with a rasping drive in the second half to break the deadlock.

It was only Millwall's fourth league defeat since the start of October as Gary Rowett's men missed the chance to consolidate their play-off position.

It was a rejuvenated performance from Sweden international Gyokeres, who had been full of energy and hunger before receiving the ball from Manchester City loanee Callum Doyle on the half-turn.

He spun past Charlie Cresswell and set his sights on goal, drilling his effort across George Long from outside the box to net his 13th league goal of the season in the second half.

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It had been a long time coming for Gyokeres, who had numerous chances to break the deadlock in the first period.

Firstly, the marauding 24-year-old sprinted past Kasey Palmer and the ex-Chelsea man slipped in Gyokeres, but Long was out quickly to thwart his effort.

The ex-Brighton forward cut inside and aimed for the far corner midway through the first half but came even closer to ending his drought on the stroke of half-time.

He and Palmer had wreaked havoc in the opening 45 minutes and the midfielder's defence-splitting ball sent Gyokeres through for a second time.

Once again he was met by the onrushing Long, who blocked his stab towards goal before the rebound came off Gyokeres' chest and rolled agonisingly past the far post.

Coventry's star striker had earlier fed Jamie Allen, whose effort was also met by Long, whilst Palmer forced the former Sheffield United stopper into another first-half save.

A neat one-two between Palmer and Gyokeres set the former on his way into the Millwall box, but he could only fire wide.

Millwall looked lacklustre in attack but Luke McNally was forced to block Oliver Burke's effort on the line, while Zian Flemming lifted a free-kick over Ben Wilson's crossbar.

But just as Millwall began to think they could hang on for a point, Gyokeres grabbed Coventry's winner in the 67th minute to secure just a second win in nine for Mark Robins' men.

As Millwall pushed for an equaliser, Romain Esse's effort was deflected millimetres wide of the left-hand post.

The Lions also had appeals for a penalty waved away when Tom Bradshaw clashed with Kyle McFadzean.

The managers

Coventry's Mark Robins:

"It was an unbelievable goal. An unbelievable finish, he must be 25 yards out, a little bit more in terms of the angle, and he's buried it but he does it so effortlessly, the power is incredible and it was worthy of winning any game.

"That's just his mentality, he's really focused, he's a brilliant kid, he's really good to have around, he's honest, he's straightforward, he's focused, he's determined. He knows exactly what he wants and how he's going to get there, he's very selfish as strikers are generally, but he's learning to pass the ball. nYou can see when he releases the ball, he's not doing it quite at the right moment to help both himself and the rest just yet, but he's getting there."

Millwall's Gary Rowett:

"Against a team like Coventry, when they've got Gyokeres up front what you can't do is give balls away and leave him space against defenders because he's very, very good at utilising that space and I thought at times tonight those transitions he looked an immense threat.

"Did we not deal with him well enough or is he just a really good player that a lot of teams are going to struggle against? I don't know but if you want to keep a clean sheet and you want to get something out of the game I think you've got to go and keep him quiet and I thought he looked a handful all night. The goal is probably a testament to that, he brings it down, turns one way, wriggles back inside and hits it from 30 yards."

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