Rotherham 0-2 Coventry: Sky Blues stay in play-off hunt with comfortable win over Millers

Viktor Gyokeres's goal - his 15th in all competitions - sealed victory for Coventry CityImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

Viktor Gyokeres's goal - his 15th in all competitions - sealed victory for Coventry City

Goals from Jamie Allen and Viktor Gyokeres gave Coventry all three points at the New York Stadium and plunged Rotherham further into relegation trouble.

Allen's goal was his sixth of the season, while 15-goal top scorer Gyokeres' strike in injury time was the icing on the cake for the Sky Blues as they kept up their surge towards the promotion places.

Allen scored two minutes into the second half when he took a pass from Jake Bidwell on the left before poking the ball into the net after appearing to take a heavy first touch.

Rotherham, who dropped to 21st place in the division on Friday night thanks to Cardiff's late goal against Reading, struggled to get a shot on target throughout.

They had a chance to level with two minutes remaining but striker Conor Washington's effort from Chiedozie Ogbene's cross was blocked by a Sky Blues defender.

The Millers have now won just once in their last seven league games and have only scored more than once in two of their last 13 outings.

City's second win in five days, after Gyokeres broke his goal drought against Millwall on Tuesday night, keeps them in the hunt for a top-six finish as former Rotherham boss Mark Robins' side climb to 11th, now back to just four points off the play-off spots.

Rotherham seemed to have made the perfect start when they had the ball in the net from a back-post header after four minutes, only to have the effort disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

From that point on, Rotherham's Viktor Johansson was the busier of the two goalkeepers, saving from Gustavo Hamer and Gyokeres in the opening 20 minutes.

Rotherham had few chances in the first half, with Oliver Rathbone twice off target from distance and Cohen Bramall also failing to work Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson

Their one attempt on target in the match came four minutes before the interval, when Jordan Hugill's header in front of goal was held by Wilson.

The visitors broke the game open two minutes into the second half, Bidwell feeding Allen for his sixth goal of the season, and Coventry could have doubled the lead almost immediately.

Only a poor pass from Hamer prevented Gyokeres from getting a shot on goal after the striker had made the initial tackle to send the Sky Blues off on the break.

Rotherham were caught on the break again in the 67th minute, only to be spared when Tariqe Fosu hit his shot wide.

But they failed to heed the warning and were caught again in injury time as they went after the equaliser. This time Hamer's pass to Gyokeres was accurate enough to take on and fire past Johansson.

Coventry ended a run of four straight away league defeats. It also means the Sky Blues have not lost in their last 12 games against promoted teams - a run that includes nine wins stretching back five seasons.

Rotherham manager Matt Taylor:

"It started well and we should have been ahead. I can't understand why the foul has been given. It's an injustice - there has not been a collision in there.

"The first-half performance was good enough. As the second half went on, the pressure mounted and execution let us down. Coventry are not a team you want to be chasing the game against.

"We did not do enough second half - I can't think of many occasions when their backline was put under pressure. We were reacting rather than being proactive. We need to find a way of being competitive."

Coventry City manager Mark Robins told BBC CWR:

"This was good because this is a difficult place to come. We won 1-0 last time but the previous time we got hammered 4-0.

"We spoke at half-time about upping the work-rate 10% and how that would win us the game. The breakaway for the first goal was brilliant, but before that, we another chance when we just over-hit the pass a little bit.

"We managed the game pretty well - to a man we stood up to them, because they're a very physical team."

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