Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Coventry City and Sheffield United at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday; Bobby Thomas earns late point for managerless Sky Blues against 10-player Blades.
Saturday 23 November 2024 16:07, UK
Managerless Coventry twice came from a goal down to draw 2-2 with 10-man Sheffield United at the CBS Arena.
Tyrese Campbell, who netted the winner in the Steel City derby last time out, opened the scoring for the Blades before Norman Bassette equalised with his first Sky Blues goal.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi put United back in front before the visitors had Anel Ahmedhodzic sent off after a rush of blood before half-time.
Bobby Thomas equalised inside the final 10 minutes to give interim head coach Rhys Carr a second straight draw.
High-flying United were under the cosh for the opening 10 minutes as Coventry looked to exploit space in behind through Bassette, but Chris Wilder's side went ahead with their first foray into Coventry territory.
Former Coventry favourite Gustavo Hamer drifted inside and played in Rak-Sakyi, whose whipped cross was perfectly placed for Campbell to slam home from close range.
The Blades could have doubled their lead shortly after through Harry Souttar, but the Australian cleared the crossbar with his header.
Coventry were level when Bassette poked in Josh Eccles' inswinging cross from the left, days after his first call-up to the Belgium squad.
It had been a frustrating opening 20 minutes for the pacey striker, who had found opportunities to run in behind Souttar down the left but been muscled off the ball without any end product.
Luis Binks should have done better when he was presented with a free header from Victor Torp's corner before Hamer and Rak-Sakyi combined again to put United back in front 10 minutes before the break.
Hamer's well-weighted pass played in Rak-Sakyi and the winger stroked his effort into the far corner from the left-hand side of the box.
In contrasting fortunes against his former club, Callum O'Hare endured a quiet first half as he was greeted by a chorus of boos by the home crowd.
United goalkeeper Michael Cooper produced a superb reaction save to keep the score at 2-1 when he saved Torp's powerful header from point blank range.
Tempers boiled over on the stroke of half-time when Ahmedhodzic reacted to something Bassette said and the defender got to his feet before grabbing the Coventry forward around the throat and pushing him to the floor.
United had conceded just one goal in their four-match winning streak and it took Coventry over 20 minutes of the second half to register a shot when Milan van Ewijk's speculative effort was deflected for a corner.
The Dutchman was given another sight of goal minutes later and fired through a crowd of bodies, his effort cannoning off the outside of a post.
A clever free-kick routine saw Ben Sheaf's effort deflected narrowly wide for a corner, from which Coventry grabbed their equaliser.
Jack Rudoni's corner was met by Thomas, who was left unmarked to glance his header beyond Cooper and secure a point for the Sky Blues.
Coventry's interim head coach Rhys Carr:
"That spirit is clearly in the squad, so really pleased to come back against what is a good team in this division.
"The 'even better' for us is, if we can win those games and not get punched on the nose early and have to get ourselves back in the game.
"In terms of outcomes we're pleased, we're positive, Sheffield United are a good team and I thought the lads worked hard, applied themselves, showed great spirit and character, all those things they showed the other week at Sunderland.
"We're at home, the fans here are unbelievable, so we wanted to get control of the game and have good intensity and get the crowd with us early.
"I felt we did that. They scored with their first attack which is disappointing, but the lads reacted quite well, got control of the game again and created chances."
Sheffield United's Chris Wilder:
"They started the better, against the run of play we scored, they got back into it with a cross-shot which we're a bit disappointed with from a defensive point of view.
"For me, definitely a point gained with how the game went. We're 2-1 up, do we go kamikaze and play 4-3-2 and open the game up?
"We sat in, we have shown that we're prepared to defend by hook or by crook, the only disappointing thing for us was that we had nothing going forward, no stretching the team.
"It was always going to be a tough game. I think if you look at the players and the composition of the opposition's squad I do believe it is top five or six.
"We tried to hang on in there and we did. We need to be more disciplined evidently. I've got no issue with the red card, I've got no issue with the referee's decision and Anel's fell for the free card trick and that puts even more pressure on ourselves in a tight game.
"He's going to miss three games, internally we're going to have to deal with it. The game is tough enough in this division, especially when you're playing a top side.
"He's touched Anel and then Anel's done what he's done. We've been mugged really, but Anel should know better. If somebody pushes me in the neck I'm certainly not going down holding my face and going down for five minutes."
