What a thrilling match. Today we drew to Coventry with both goals coming from the second half. In our last outing, we beat them 3-2 in another tense game. Mark Robbin’s side headed into the game with four wins and one draw in their last five league games; however we have won one, drawn two and lost two. Coventry seem to be on form at the minute and they have not lost in six games. So, we needed to be up to the mark.
In hope of seeing a win on the road, I made the two and a half hour journey down to the West Midlands. I have not seen us win away since 2 January and it is starting to get frustrating. If it was not for the free travel, I would not be making the trips as It would have cost over £100 for today. Nonetheless, it was an aesthetically pleasing stadium and it has made its way up into my top five. However, I was not a fan of the way they would not let us go to the shops or explore around. They did this so that we would have to buy their food and drinks, which were obviously overpriced. And, we had to take the cap off our bottles before entering the concourse. Surely the bottle would do more damage? Anyway, after they checked our tickets on multiple occasions, we finally got in.
The line-ups were announced at 2pm and at first glance I was pleased. Both Jean Seri and Dimitrios Pelkas were included in the starting eleven after being out injured. That meant our team consisted of: Karl Darlow, in goal; Alfie Jones, Lewie Coyle, Sean McLoughlin and Callum Elder at the back; Ozan Tufan, Jean Seri, Xavier Simons, Dimitrios Pelkas and Regan Slater in the middle and that leaves Benjamin Tetteh up front. Rosenior went for a 4:3:2:1 formation, again, and we had two changes since our last game. On the bench was: Jacob Greaves; Greg Docherty; Allahyar Sayyadmanesh; Malcolm Ebiowei; Adama Traore; Óscar Estupiñán and Thimothée Jacques Orcel Lo-Tutala.
In the first period both teams started strong and it was back and forth. When we were on the attack, though, we did not seem threatening and whenever Tufan made a pass over the top, it was too powerful and went out of play. He has been doing this a lot recently and it is annoying to watch. Also, I cannot make my mind up about Tufan; sometimes he turns up to play, but in some games he can be lazy and sloppy. This was rumoured when we first signed him and I am starting to believe it now. For the price we paid, he should be performing at high levels.
For the first 25 minutes, we were able to keep the ball and we were pinging it around well. Pelkas and Elder worked superbly together down the left wing and they also did some great defensive work. It is great to have Pelkas back as he never gives up and I hope he can stay fit for the remainder of the season. We created some decent chances and I have to say that we did not intend on going backwards, which is a huge improvement. However, after 30 minutes, we let the hosts into the game. We always seem to drop off at certain parts of the game and I have no idea why. It is like we want to attack and then see if our defence is still working. We should always be hungry for a goal and if we are not getting through their defence, keep trying.
The first dangerous attack came from Coventry at around the 40 minute mark; the ball was crossed into the box, it landed to Dabo, whose shot was saved by Darlow. However, he did not punch it far and it landed at their player’s feet. It ended up being pinball in the box, but it was us who were able to clear it. Rosenior has been saying that we need luck and we are certainly getting a lot of it.
After this, just seconds before the whistle blew, one of their players was taken down in the box and from my angle it looked like he was fouled. But, despite the shouts from the home crowd, which nearly made me deaf, the referee did not give it. Oh, Tetteh was also taken off due to a hamstring injury, which made the end of the first half more painful. Replacing him was Óscar Estupiñán.
The first half ended goalless.
Despite switching off towards the end, this was a much better performance compared with our last away game against Bristol; however, there were a couple of players that needed to switch on. Simons is an example. He always relied on his teammates to clear the ball and he never went to the loose balls. This allowed one of their players to pick up the ball and all they had to do was make one good pass, which would have allowed them to take the lead. Rosenior must have realised this as he took him off and replaced him with Malcolm Ebiowei.
In the second period it started the same as the first half. We were attacking a lot more and after a few wasted attempts at goal, we finally put the ball in the back of the net. In the 52nd minute, Estupiñán had the ball given to him on the edge of the box and his shot curled into the top right corner of the net. I have been going off Oscar recently, however, that goal has made me change my mind. He got a hat-trick last time we played Coventry as well and it shows that he likes scoring against them.
After this, we dominated and Coventry could not take the ball from us. This is great to see as we usually switch off after scoring a goal. The next best opportunity came from Ebiowei, who dragged his effort narrowly wide of the post. He should have shot in the nearest corner. Nonetheless, I thought that he had a strong performance and he is going to be brilliant for us in the future.
Then, after being in control for a while, the hosts equalised. Gyokeres picked up the ball in the box in the 71st minute, he drove to the byline and cut back for Godden to hook through Darlow’s legs at the near post. I have to say that our defenders were daydreaming and there was no communication. They just watched and allowed them to get close to the goal.
For the remainder of the half both teams failed to score; however, we did put the ball in the back of the net. But, it was offside and the score stayed level. Coventry responded well, though, as one of their players shot from the penalty spot, which went over the bar. After this, for the last 10 minutes, I have to say that Coventry were superb and we could have conceded. We did not seem to want to grab a late winner and all hope was lost in the players. I do not understand why we never look bothered towards the end of the matches and if we did, we could turn these draws into wins. Nonetheless, due to Darlow’s vital saves and some great defending, we were able to come out of the game with a hard-fought point.
So my wait for an away win continues and we have now picked up just two points in our last five away games, which is poor. I was happy with a point and it was a much stronger performance from our last away game. We are now 15th in the table sitting on 46 points. Our chances at playoffs are becoming less likely every week and we need to start picking up three points in every remaining game.
Our next game is against league leaders, Burnley, at home under the lights of the MKM Stadium. We certainly have to turn up to play if we want any chance at grabbing those three points or even a point.