Birmingham City 2-4 Coventry City: Sky Blues fight back to claim vital win

Michael Rose (centre) scored his fourth goal of the season to put Coventry on course for a big win against Birmingham City

Coventry City came from 2-0 down to seal a crucial win against Birmingham City in their hunt for a Championship play-off place.

In a game showcasing how not to defend set-pieces, Birmingham raced into a 2-0 lead with free headers from Kristian Pedersen and Gary Gardner.

Ben Sheaf was left unmarked twice to score his first Sky Blues goals to drag the visitors level at half-time as the home side took their turn to switch off at the back.

More defensive negligence enabled Michael Rose to put Coventry in front before Callum O'Hare made the game safe in injury time.

The win for the Sky Blues follows their excellent victory at Fulham and keeps Mark Robins' side nicely tucked into the race for a top-six finish, three points behind sixth-placed Sheffield United with four games to go.

Keen to improve a recent run at home of only one win in their past four games, Blues made a busy start and took a deserved lead after 12 minutes when the unmarked Pedersen powered home Juninho Bacuna's outswinging corner for his first goal since the final game of last season.

The Sky Blues, buoyed by their upset win against the champions-elect Cottagers, were surprisingly off the pace in the early stages.

Gustavo Hamer's inswinging corner that brushed the top of the Birmingham bar was the closest they came to levelling before they fell further behind. Their defence was caught napping again as Gardner ran in unchallenged at the back post to nod home Marc Roberts' long thrown for his sixth of the season.

But moments later the visitors were handed a way back when the Blues defenders were left on their heels by a Hamer free-kick that Sheaf poked in following Michael Rose's astute nod back.

In first-half stoppage time, Birmingham again switched off from a set-piece as Sheaf headed home a second alone at the back post past Blues goalkeeper Zach Jeacock - making his first appearance of the season in place of the concussed Neil Etheridge.

Coventry started the second period brighter and came close to taking the lead when Jamie Allen sent a flicked header inches wide from Jake Bidwell's testing cross.

Scott Hogan couldn't direct a half-volley from Ryan Woods' cross on target before Gardner sent a header from a Bacuna corner over as Lee Bowyer's side found a response.

Yet again though, their defending let them down when Rose thumped in another Hamer corner with the Blues markers nowhere in sight to claim his second goal in as many games.

Pedersen then had a chance to equalise - and score his second - but sent a free header over. That was as close as Blues came to dragging themselves back into the game before all hope was lost when O'Hara tapped home after Viktor Gyokeres had an effort blocked on the line.

Coventry's win ends a run of four derby draws between the Midlands rivals and moves them to within another victory off the play-off places with four games to go - starting with Easter Monday's visit of second-placed Bournemouth.

Coventry City manager Mark Robins told BBC CWR:

"The first two [goals] were rubbish. The next three were brilliant - that's how we see it.

"The pleasing thing for me was the response from two down. There was no sign of anyone having their heads down and that's testament to the group.

"We weren't great but there were three brilliant deliveries from Gus.

"It's a brilliant outcome from today's game - we're now three points away from things and it gets interesting now starting with Monday's game."

Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer told BBC Radio WM:

"We don't fold, but that's what I see us do at the end.

"You have to have that hunger to keep the ball out of your net and we didn't have that.

"We got back at 2-1 but didn't have the professionalism to see out the half and manage the game - we were soft and leadership was short out there today.

"Five goals from set-pieces is unbelievable, and for us to freeze is unheard of so we're disappointed - we were 2-0 up and coasting and then for some reason we thought it was easy and took our foot off the pedal."

Keen to improve a recent run at home of only one win in their last four games, Blues made a busy start and took a deserved lead after 12 minutes when the unmarked Pedersen powered home Bacuna's outswinging corner for his first goal since the final game of last season.

The Sky Blues, desperate for a win to maintain their outside shot of making the play-offs and buoyed by their upset win against champions-elect Fulham in their last match, were surprisingly off the pace in the early stages.

Gustavo Hamer's inswinging corner that brushed the top of the Birmingham bar was the closest they came to levelling before they fell further behind. Their defence was caught napping again as Gary Gardner ran-in unchallenged at the back post to nod in Marc Roberts' long thrown for his sixth of the season.

But moments later, the visitors were handed a way back when the Blues defenders were left on their heels by a Hamer free-kick that Sheaf poked in following Michael Rose's astute nod-back.

In first-half stoppage time, Birmingham again switched off from a set-piece as Sheaf headed home a second alone at the back post past Blues goalkeeper Zach Jeacock - making his first appearance of the season in place of the concussed Neil Etheridge.

Coventry started the second period the brighter and came close to taking the lead when Jamie Allen sent a flicked header inches wide from Jake Bidwell's testing cross to wipe out the deficit.

Scott Hogan couldn't direct a half-volley from Ryan Woods' cross on target before Gardner sent a header from a Bacuna corner over as Lee Bowyer's side found a response.

Yet again though, their defending let them down when Rose thumped in another Hamer corner with the Blues markers no where in sight to claim his second goal in as many games.

Pedersen then had a chance to equalise and score his second but sent a free header over