Prophetic words from the press corps as Coventry City on the double at Blackburn Rovers
It wasn’t pretty, in fact it was pretty drab for the first 40-odd minutes at Ewood Park where Coventry City managed just one attempt on goal before Ellis Simms lit the touchpaper with a neatly headed goal at the far post to send the visitors into the break in front.
That sparked a much improved second half against Blackburn Rovers, with Brandon Thomas-Asante doubling the lead from the best move of the match just three minutes into the restart – the goal providing a nice cushion and the catalyst for a solid and professional performance to see out the victory.
It wasn’t the most scintillating of games, not City’s best display in terms of free-flowing football (the second goal aside) but it was a gritty and determined performance on a cold and damp Tuesday night away from home, and certainly served to cheer the cockles of the 981 hardy souls who’d made the trip to Lancashire. Here we discuss some of the big talking points from the 2-0 win.
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On the double
City had only won two on road all season so this felt like a really big result at Ewood Park where they chalked up their third Championship victory away from home to keep up the club’s impressive record against Blackburn, who haven’t managed a single win in their last nine meetings.
Having beaten Rovers 3-0 at the CBS Arena earlier in the season, the Sky Blues completed their first league double of the campaign, and this particular milestone was the first time Coventry have achieved that feat in the league over the Lancashire club since 1966/67.
It was also, quite remarkably, the team’s first midweek away league win (excluding bank holidays and playoffs) since February 2022 (at Bristol), according to club statistician Jim Brown.
Ollie racking up the clean sheets
Oliver Dovin more than played his part in his and his side’s fourth clean sheet in their last seven games with three impressive saves over the course of the 90 minutes. His first two, in particular, proved pivotal in keeping the Sky Blues in the game in the first half, while one after the break denied big centre-forward Makhtar Gueye from reducing the deficit to 2-1 and making for a nervous last half an hour, defending a slender lead rather than seeing out the game with a two goal cushion. It can’t be underestimated how important those first two saves were given the fact that Rovers have gone on to win 80 percent of games where they’ve scored the first goal this season.
The pick of the three was his lightning reaction to deny a Danny Batth header from fairly close range, albeit the cross in came as a result of the Swede punching a first header from a set-piece straight out to a Rovers’ player who promptly recycled the ball. Had Batth scored then fingers would have been pointing at the keeper but, thankfully, he redeemed himself with a brilliant stop.
Luck balancing out
City arguably rode their luck on the night when Rovers looked by far the better side and more likely to score in the first 40 minutes but defended reasonably well, particularly in the second half, to see out the victory in a well managed manner. Well timed substitutions helped add fresh legs and renewed impetus with an alternative attacking threat, most notably from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, while Bobby Thomas provided a straight swap for Luis Binks who was withdrawn as a preventative measure due to the fact that the centre-half was on a yellow card.
It was a game in which they arguably didn’t defend as well as they did at Norwich, where they had very little luck and lost, but that rub of the green balanced itself out at Ewood.
Prophetic words from the press corps
The talk in the media room from the home press corps prior to kick-off centred on the likelihood of either Brandon Thomas-Asante or Liam Kitching – both January targets for Blackburn Rovers’ boss John Eustace – scoring on the night, so it was extremely satisfying that both played a significant part in City’s all-important second goal. Kitching started a wonderful five-man move by driving forward up the pitch and into the opposition half before laying it off to Victor Torp to touch it on to Milan van Ewijk who then put in a deep cross beyond the back post. Jack Rudoni controlled the ball and sent in a square pass to the six yard box where both strikers slid in, Ellis Simms getting a touch onto Thomas-Asante who got the final poke over the line before springing to his feet and racing off to celebrate in front of the 981 hardy souls making up a noisy Sky Blues Army.
That’s two in two for the summer signing from West Brom who is finally starting to show his worth and clearly benefiting from a run in the side up front as part of a two-pronged attack.
Can goal spark spree?
Simms has been desperate for a goal and that, we can only hope, will kick-start him into a scoring run. The big number nine is starting to look the part by making the most of his strength and physicality against centre-halves, and if he can add goals on a consistent basis then fans will hopefully see a return to last season’s second half of the season form when his tally raced up to an impressive 19.
He took his goal well, rising high at the back post to nod home Torp’s assist past a flapping keeper – in as a late replacement for first choice Aynsley Pears who was one of ten players either out ill or injured. The centre-forward, however, passed up the opportunity of bagging a second after the break when he directed another free header straight at the keeper rather than either side of him. But with growing confidence it surely won’t be long before the 24-year-old starts putting those chances away as a matter of routine. So far this term he’s managed three in the league and one in the cup, so he’s got a bit of catching up to do. But he was in exactly the same position this time last year with just four to his name and went on to add 15 in a 14 game scoring spree between February and April.
