Middlesbrough vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Middlesbrough and Coventry City at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday; Bobby Thomas, Haji Wright and Josh Eccles strike for Bluebirds after Boro saw Hayden Hackney sent off.
Saturday 2 November 2024 18:30, UK
Coventry won on their travels for the first time this season after taking advantage of Hayden Hackney's first-half red card to beat Middlesbrough 3-0 at the Riverside.
Hackney was booked after just 11 minutes for a foul on Josh Eccles and got his second yellow card at the midway stage of the first half after lunging in on Brandon Thomas-Asante.
Coventry took full advantage, with Bobby Thomas heading in the opener just before half-time. Haji Wright and Eccles secured the points in the final quarter of an hour.
Coventry climb to 13th in the Sky Bet Championship table after winning successive games for the first time this season but Michael Carrick's Boro have just one victory in their last five outings.
The visitors, buoyed by their come-from-behind victory over Luton last week, were on top from the off and twice had the ball in the net in the opening quarter of an hour, but both goals were ruled out for offside.
Thomas-Asante was the first to be denied by the flag after his deflected shot looped over Seny Dieng, before Wright finished off a sublime Coventry free-kick routine but had strayed ever so slightly offside.
There was further relief for Boro when Isaiah Jones, who had replaced the rested Ben Doak in the starting XI, almost skewed the ball into his own net.
But the hosts did have their early moments at the other end, with Hackney forcing a save out of Oliver Dovin and Riley McGree firing just over the bar.
Coventry were on top and Boro's task was made all the more difficult when Hackney was sent off.
Wright was denied an opener after a superb defensive block from George Edmundson but Boro could not make it to half-time. Three minutes before the break, the visitors played a short corner and Thomas was unmarked in the box to head home an Eccles cross from the right.
Jonny Howson, who replaced Finn Azaz after Hackney's sending off, almost gifted Coventry a second goal just before the hour mark but a stretching Thomas-Asante poked just wide.
Conway was Boro's brightest player and the striker was denied by a fine Thomas block midway through the second half.
Coventry's second goal came 14 minutes from time when substitute Tatsuhiro Sakamoto crossed for Wright to tap in. Eccles wrapped up the points five minutes later when he was played in one on one and calmly beat Dieng.
Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick:
"It was the start and the end that cost us really. I thought we dealt with going down to 10 men pretty well, to be honest, for the most part.
"We didn't start particularly well, were a little bit edgy and didn't really settle into the game.
"I thought we dealt well with a lot of what they threw at us after the red, but the two goals are pretty straightforward goals that aren't down to being a man down, it's just two goals that we should do better with.
"As the game was going, we looked in a decent place and looking like we could get back into the game. We give away a really simple goal. In the end, that makes a difference."
Coventry's Mark Robins:
"It's been a long time coming but the performances were always there, which gives people a bit of anxiety from time to time. The numbers were reduced early in the game but we started brilliantly.
"The game became bitty and they were trying to get one of ours sent off, throwing themselves to the floor at every opportunity. The referee was dishing out yellow cards and you're a bit concerned that the numbers would be evened up.
"I thought we played really well when they had 11. When they went down to 10 men it had a change in focus and direction. They got a little bit more of the ball.
"We eventually became more composed and that came with the second goal, which was a brilliant goal.
"There were some really good bits of play from us. I'm happy but it has been a long time coming. We've been due a bit of luck."
