Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:25 pm
Viktor Gyokeres condemned Cardiff City to their first defeat of the Mark Hudson era, netting the only goal of a closely-fought contest at the Cardiff City Stadium
Cardiff City 0 Coventry City 1
By Glen Williams
The Swede, who had previously missed a glorious opportunity early on, struck midway through the first half after Ryan Allsop had initially saved Jamie Allen's low shot.
Despite that setback, Cardiff asked plenty of questions of the Sky Blues defence for much of the afternoon.
Callum Robinson had the ball in the net just after half-time, but was left frustrated after it was chalked off by referee Bobby Madley.
Interim boss Hudson, understandably reluctant to tinker too much with the formula that yielded such an impressive victory at Wigan Athletic, opted for just one change here, with summer signing Vontae Campbell handed his first start for the club.
With two goals and three assists to his name, Robinson had previously been involved in each of Cardiff's last five goals. Robinson limped out just before half-time in the win over the Latics, but showed little sign of rustiness here, and he was at the heart of his side's efforts in the final third for much of the afternoon.
But, on this occasion, he was upstaged, by counterpart Gyokeres.
The former Swansea City striker should have opened the scoring early on. A mix-up involving Allsop saw the ball deflect off a backtracking Perry Ng straight into the path of the striker, who rounded the keeper only to blaze high and wide.
There were a couple of Bluebirds defenders to navigate, but it will have nevertheless gone down as a howler from a Coventry perspective, and a big let-off from a Cardiff point of view.
To be fair, it seemed to galvanise the hosts, who soon started showing some intent on the front foot from that moment on.
A clever corner allowed Robinson to let fly, but his low shot couldn't quite navigate its way through a forest of Coventry legs inside the box, before Callum O'Dowda then headed into a crowd from the resulting corner.
O'Dowda was inches away from tucking away Niels Nkounkou's low ball a few moments later, before Robinson dragged a low effort just wide.
Aside from a tame Allen header, Coventry initially offered little in the way of response, but Cardiff's failure to make their dominance count proved costly 10 minutes before the interval.
A marvelous ball from Matt Godden was enough to slice open the defence and allow Allen to shoot on the bounce, with Allsop's resulting save palmed straight into the path of Gyokeres.
Having missed a sitter earlier on, he simply couldn't miss this time around, applying what will likely be one of the simplest finishes of his career.
Frustrating. But Cardiff regrouped after the break and, to their credit, began to find their rhythm again.
Mark Harris saw a flicked finish deflected wide by Kyle McFadzean, who would prove a dominant presence in the Sky Blues defence for much of the afternoon.
But Cardiff kept asking questions, and thought they'd hauled themselves level when Robinson turned and fired home inside the area, only for referee Madley to consult his assistant before ruling it out.
It seems as though it may have been an offside call, although there was a hint of handball in the build-up from Robinson as he tried to turn his man.
It felt like nothing was going the way of the hosts, but still they kept plugging away, eagerly trying to break down a Coventry defence that was otherwise growing increasingly comfortable.
Gyokeres would have compounded Cardiff's woes just a couple of minutes after Robinson's cancelled effort, but could only find the side-netting with a typically rasping shot.
Cardiff then had Perry Ng to thank, as he came across to turn another effort from the Swede behind just after the hour.
Hudson made several changes in a bid to crack Coventry's resolute defence, although Robinson remained at the heart of their efforts.
The forward was convinced he should have had a penalty 10 minutes from time after going down under pressure from Fankaty Dabo, but Madley wasn't interested, much to the fury of the home crowd.
Robinson's frustrations went up a notch just a few minutes later, after he fired a half-volley over the bar from close range.
Coventry were happy to keep soaking up pressure as the game reached its climax, but may well have put the contest to bed had Allsop not produced a fine save to turn Jake Bidwell's header over the bar.
There will have been no shortage of frustration here for Hudson, who must have felt his team had created more than enough to take something from this game, but this was a real reminder of the unforgiving nature of the Championship, and how difficult it can be for a manager to find answers.
If he was foolish enough to think this management lark was easy, he will have surely changed his mind after today.
Cardiff City: Allsop; Campbell (Simpson 64), Kipre, Ng, Nkounkou (Ojo 71); Wintle, Ralls (C), Rinomhota (Sawyers 64); O'Dowda (Etete 82), Harris (Philogene 82), Robinson.
Subs: Alnwick, Nelson
Coventry City: Wilson; Doyle (Rose 23), McFadzean, Panzo; Dabo, Sheaf, Allen (Waghorn 75), Bidwell; Eccles; Gyokeres, Godden (Palmer 75)
Subs: Moore, Kane, Tavares, Burroughs
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