Nottingham Forest 2-1 Coventry City: Lyle Taylor penalty ends eight-game wait for home win
- Published
Lyle Taylor slotted the ball past Marko Marosi to snatch an unlikely win for Forest
Lyle Taylor's stoppage-time penalty earned Nottingham Forest a first home win in eight games after Coventry City's second-half revival threatened to deny them the points.
Taylor stepped up coolly with seven minutes of added time up, slamming the ball wide of Marko Marosi in the Coventry goal to settle it.
Forest had gone in front in a dominant first 45 minutes, Scott McKenna firing in after shots from Samba Sow and Luke Freeman were blocked.
City were much improved after half-time, with Maxime Biamou striking a post before Callum O'Hare glanced in an equaliser from a brilliant in-swinging cross.
They had the chance to win it when O'Hare danced through but Brice Samba turned his shot away, and Forest struck late on after Taylor went tumbling in the box deep into injury time.
Forest boss Chris Hughton saw evidence of Forest's fragile confidence as they struggled to cling on to the lead at the City Ground, which has become a home for anxiety rather than a fortress.
But the win put them 20th in the table, two points clear of the bottom three, with Coventry immediately below them.
The hosts had no problems getting off to a good start, with Anthony Knockaert at the heart of their best work, forcing a panicky save from Marosi and teeing up a chance for McKenna, who was unable to bury his header.
However, City - who ended their own seven-game winless run with a home win over high-fliers Reading at the weekend - were more positive after half-time and chipped away at Forest's brittle belief.
Gustavo Hamer took over the chief playmaking baton, teeing up Biamou for his woodwork-rattling effort and after O'Hare had netted, he came close to giving Coventry the lead when he danced in behind but was denied by Samba.
Forest would have felt relieved to pick up anything at that stage but snatched victory when a surge by Taylor was clumsily ended by Kyle McFadzean's lunge, and the former Charlton forward stayed calm to find the net with the last kick of the game.
Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton told BBC Radio Nottingham:
"It was very much a game of two halves. We didn't make the most of the possession we had and didn't create enough shots at goal.
"We didn't start the second half very well, which surprised me. But it's a good feeling to get that win. We've gone in at half-time 1-0 up, so there should have been that feel good factor in the team.
"When they got the goal, you might have thought if one side was going to go on and win it, then it might have been them."
Coventry boss Mark Robins told BBC CWR:
"It was harsh, to concede the way we did on both the two goals was poor. It was poor decision making.
"Coming off with a point we'd have been disappointed, I thought we did particularly well second half, much better, and weren't too bad in the first half either.
"We got back into the game with a really good goal, we hit the post and had numerous chances to finish it off and then at the end of it shoot ourselves in the foot by giving a chance away and there was no time to come back.
"You don't give Lyle Taylor the chance to throw himself to the floor. He still had to score it, and he picked himself up off the floor and scored it."
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