Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Coventry City: Matty James equaliser cancels out Ben Brereton's opener
- Published
Blackburn's Ben Brereton lashed home the opener after 27 minutes
Ben Brereton's first-half goal helped Blackburn end their five-game losing run in the Championship with a point against 10-man Coventry.
The visitors hit the bar inside 20 seconds but found themselves behind after 27 minutes when Brereton fired a sweetly-struck shot past Ben Wilson.
Rovers held their lead until the 50th minute when the Sky Blues equalised after Matty James applied the finish to Tyler Walker's headed pass.
Coventry had Leo Ostigard sent off with eight minutes remaining after the Norwegian picked-up a second yellow card as the game finished all-square.
The Sky Blues made a bright start to the game, hitting the bar inside the opening minute when Sam McCallum's cross sailed over Thomas Kaminski and grazed the top of the woodwork.
McCallum was involved again soon after but dragged a shot wide from the edge of the area, before Jordan Shipley fired over on the half-volley.
The hosts took some time to settle but went close after 21 minutes when Harvey Elliott produced an inviting cross which looked destined to find Brereton until Ostigard intervened.
Rovers were rewarded for their improvement shortly before the half-hour mark when Ryan Nyambe's ball was not dealt with by the Coventry defence, allowing Brereton to lash it home from just outside the box.
The Sky Blues thought they had equalised soon afterwards but Ostigard's effort from a McCallum pass was ruled out for offside.
Blackburn then went close to doubling their lead a minute before half-time when Barry Douglas swung in a dangerous free-kick which missed everyone but rebounded off the post.
Coventry got themselves back on level terms five minutes into the second half when the influential McCallum's cross was headed down by Walker to James, who found the back of the net.
Their chances of claiming all three points took a blow when Ostigard was dismissed, but the draw does move them six points clear of the relegation zone.
Coventry manager Mark Robins told BBC CWR:
"I thought we started brightly and controlled the game and then for whatever inexplicable reason we started giving the ball away, which gives them a little bit of a foothold and they've got quality players in the final third.
"You can't switch-off for a second but we gave them a sniff and they ended up scoring the goal. Our away performances haven't been good enough but this week's away performances have actually been to a good level, even though we've not got the points we think we deserve.
"To go down to 10 men was a travesty. I didn't think there was anything in the second one but he [the referee] got his cards out really quick to send him off and obviously that's a blow to us to win the game."
Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"We started pretty poorly, they started well for about 15 minutes but we grappled the game away from them, came on quite strong and scored a really good goal but it would have been nice to score a second of course.
"We got undone by some pretty poor defending to be honest, a long ball by their goalkeeper. It was frustrating. When I watch teams they're adjusting to us a little bit. That wasn't like the way Coventry normally play I would suggest. Teams see the threat of [Adam] Armstrong and they sit deep.
"The team have been very focused on trying to get positive results and I would have to say in all of the defeats I didn't think 'we deserve nothing from that'."
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