Coventry City vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.
St. Andrew's Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at St Andrew's
Tuesday 20 October 2020 23:07, UK
Coventry claimed a hard-fought point against Swansea in a 1-1 draw at St Andrew's.
The Sky Blues took the lead through Jordan Shipley but were pegged back by an Andre Ayew equaliser shortly before half time.
Shipley scored his first goal of the season to put Coventry ahead on 19 minutes.
Sam McCallum managed to capitalise when he picked up an under-hit pass from Matt Grimes. The on-loan Norwich man played through Matt Godden down the right, who pulled one back to an incoming Shipley on the edge of the box.
The 23-year-old showed calmness to side foot an effort past Freddie Woodman and in off the post.
Shipley then almost turned supplier 10 minutes before half-time. A swift counter-attacking move down Coventry's left allowed Shipley space to put a delightful chip into the box which Godden brought down well on his chest, but his half-volley was saved by Woodman.
But it was Swansea who managed to grab the next goal with an equaliser on 42 minutes through Ayew.
A superb defence-splitting pass from Grimes, atoning for the error which led to the opener, found a sprinting Jake Bidwell who had to slide to cut back for Ayew. The forward skipped past a defender and slotted past Marko Marosi.
The Swans carried the momentum of the goal into the second half in terms of possession but it was Callum O'Hare who nearly restored Coventry's lead on 70 minutes.
He latched onto a misplaced pass in the Swansea box but Woodman reacted quickly to thwart the midfielder.
The Swans nearly went close themselves moments later as a long-range bending effort from Marc Guehi had Marosi scrambling.
Marosi was in action again shortly after, clearing a whipped in cross only to see the ball fall to Korey Smith, who could not find the target from the edge of the box.
Coventry will be scratching their heads wondering how they did not grab a win late on. Some last-ditch defending saw Connor Roberts clear a Ryan Giles shot off the line - in the melee after O'Hare saw his header glance off the post after a Ben Sheaf cross.
Despite Coventry showing more attacking impetus in a game low on many real chances, they had to settle for a draw - something they will be disappointed with considering late opportunities in the game to grab all three points.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "We played with intensity and aggression. We were on the front foot, the speed was good, we moved the ball well - there was a scrappy fifteen minutes in the first half but other than that I thought we were outstanding.
"We had some good chances to win it and only disappointment is we didn't keep a clean sheet. We're still finding our feet in terms of fitness but apart from their goal we've dealt with everything else. We gave them a real scare and that will give us a load of confidence. Thought we were brave and put in a real performance."
Swansea's Steve Cooper: "I didn't like our first half performance and truth be told I was pleased not be down with Andre getting us back in the game. Coventry do things a bit different tactically and you have to respect that - it got them promoted last season.
"Going one down probably gave us the smack in the face we needed. For 25 minutes of the second half, we had momentum but for some reason we gave it up and ended up being deep conceding too many balls in the box. We didn't create enough chances and because I didn't like our performance, I'm happy with a point."
