Coventry City vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
The Coventry Building Society ArenaAttendance23,201.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers at the Coventry Building Society Arena as Viktor Gyokeres scored twice for the Sky Blues.
Saturday 12 November 2022 19:35, UK
Viktor Gyokeres' brace earned Coventry their fourth Sky Bet Championship win on the bounce with a 2-0 victory against QPR at the CBS Arena.
The Swede pounced on Jamie Allen's mis-kick to fire past Seny Dieng and then slotted home Callum O'Hare's pass to lift Coventry just two points off the play-offs, despite sitting 22nd in the table prior to their winning run.
The Sky Blues also ensured all four wins were without conceding as they secured their ninth clean sheet in 12 outings.
In comparison, Gyokeres' double handed Michael Beale's QPR their third defeat in a row as they dropped out of the play-off positions.
It was O'Hare's persistence, and a stroke of luck, that led to Gyokeres' third goal in as many games.
The midfielder battled on the left with Ethan Laird before the on-loan Manchester United defender's clearance rebounded off the former Aston Villa man and fell to Allen.
Allen could not provide the finish himself, but the Sky Blues' top scorer was on hand to compose himself and then finish off the crossbar for his eighth of the season.
Coventry had looked threatening in the opening period as Josh Eccles skewed O'Hare's pass wide and Gustavo Hamer's header was saved.
Gyokeres almost grabbed a second on the half-hour mark when he was picked out by O'Hare once again, but the former Brighton man's effort was comfortably gathered by Dieng.
QPR's main threat in the first half came from set-pieces as Jimmy Dunne came close to Ilias Chair's free-kick, before Rob Dickie headed over from close range.
Former Sky Blues loanee Jake Clarke-Salter also headed wide at the back post on the stroke of half-time.
The Hoops enjoyed much more possession after the break, but it was Dickie's piledriver that proved Ben Wilson's toughest test as he produced an impressive save.
Hamer also had to be alert to head Chris Willock's dangerous cross to safety.
But the Sky Blues continued to be a threat on the counter as Kyle McFadzean set Coventry on their way before linking up with Gyokeres, but the defender's effort was blocked to safety.
Gyokeres sealed Coventry's fourth consecutive win in the second tier for the first time in almost 20 years with 12 minutes to spare.
Jake Bidwell picked out Hamer, whose forward pass allowed O'Hare to slide in Gyokeres to calmly slot past Dieng and send Coventry into the World Cup break on a high.
The striker, who will be joining up with his national team in the break for friendlies against Mexico and Algeria, could also have claimed a hat-trick if it was not for Dieng, who beat away his powerful header in the final five minutes.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "He loves to score goals, he doesn't love much else. He can score all sorts of goals and he's learning how to do it in a tough environment because I think he got whacked all over the place again. He was clever, he found space and the pass to him was a sublime pass, the weight of it is great because he's able to take it out of his feet and then stroke it in the corner.
"He was unlucky with the header and a couple of other situations but he worked his socks off again. You can't replace him, everybody needs to know that, everybody should know that, in the football department everybody does know that, he's one of a kind and there aren't that many around. He's priceless."
QPR's Mick Beale: "I thought he was the best player on the pitch. I thought he was the difference between the two teams.
"The difference between the two teams was their striker was particularly sharp and we all know he's a very, very good player so it's disappointing because I'm sat here at the end of another defeat when I thought at moments in the game we showed we're a good football team."
