Coventry City vs Sheffield Wednesday. Sky Bet Championship.
St. Andrew's Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew's as second-half goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Jamie Allen fired the Sky Blues to three points
Wednesday 27 January 2021 22:24, UK
Callum O'Hare set up both goals as Coventry ended a near two-month home drought with a 2-0 win over struggling Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew's.
O'Hare threaded Brighton loan striker Viktor Gyokeres clear to put Coventry ahead just before the hour mark and added a precise pass for Jamie Allen to seal the points in stoppage time.
Gyokeres' strike, his first since joining on loan earlier this month, ended a barren run spanning five-and-a-half hours and three goalless draws for the Sky Blues at their temporary home.
Coventry could have won by more as Max Biamou saw a shot cleared off the line but were perhaps fortunate Dom Hyam did not see red for pulling back Josh Windass shortly after Gyokeres' opener.
Victory moved Coventry up to 17th, six points clear of the drop zone, where Wednesday - the division's lowest scorers after firing another blank - remain 23rd, six points from safety.
This was their first Championship game since January 1 after a coronavirus outbreak and they are without an away win in nine attempts.
The Owls almost led in the 11th minute as Barry Bannan's short corner to Matt Penney on the edge of the box caught Coventry napping and his fierce strike took a slight nick that almost deceived City keeper Ben Wilson who fumbled it inches wide.
Coventry's first chance arrived just before the half-hour as Gustavo Hamer's deep corner was met by a bullet header from Leo Ostigard but Owls goalkeeper Keiren Westwood reacted well to parry it away.
Swedish striker Gyokeres, on just his third Sky Blues appearance, was guilty of taking a heavy touch after being found unmarked in the area by O'Hare early in the second half.
But he made amends after 57 minutes, stealing between two defenders and an outrushing Westwood on the edge of the box to lift another classy O'Hare through ball over the keeper.
Coventry had a let-off four minutes later when Hyam was only booked by referee Leigh Doughty for hauling down Windass when the City defender appeared to be the last man.
Bannan curled the resulting free-kick inches over and Windass drilled a shot into the side netting as Wednesday twice came close to levelling.
Coventry almost sealed the points in the 74th minute but Westwood narrowly prevented Hamer's near-post corner creeping in and Biamou's follow-up hit Owls defender Julian Borner on the line.
But they did secure the points just after the 90-minute mark as O'Hare capped a swift break by finding substitute Allen, who fired between Westwood's legs one-on-one.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "It was a big win - with all the injuries we've got this almost feels like a makeshift group but they're not. It's a fantastic win and a really good performance because we dug in, scrappy as anything we've seen all season but that's the Championship. This time of year, these circumstances, it's going to be tough, it's going to be a fight.
"That was the biggest thing for us - it was about outrunning them and outfighting them before any quality comes in. We said at half-time it looks like a set-play but any bits of quality might just undo them and that's what happened. We spoke about movement and Viktor's goal was really well-taken - great run, great movement, great pass. Callum's shown some quality for both of the goals. Tonight was about fight, scrap and determination and we showed that in abundance - and that's what we have to do between now and the end of the season."
Sheffield Wednesday's caretaker boss Neil Thompson: "We haven't scored enough goals all season, home or away, that's the reason we're where we are. We just didn't penetrate Coventry enough and create enough chances. We've got six strikers and trying to find the right permutation is difficult. They've all got to keep focused. We need to win games, it's as simple as that.
"We had probably as experienced a team as we could have out tonight and I thought we showed some decent play at times. But we are just lacking that little bit of je ne sais quoi in the last third that is going to open teams up. We had one or two opportunities and then we've got to keep the back door shut and we didn't do that. I said at half-time that the team who makes the least mistakes will go on and win the game and we just made one or two which cost us."
