Coventry into top six with late win over Portsmouth

Jamie Paterson's acrobatic late winner was the February signing's first goal for his boyhood club Coventry City

Coventry City snatched a spectacular injury-time winner against Portsmouth to boost their Championship play-off hopes.

The Sky Blues looked destined to settle for a frustrating goalless stalemate, only for Jamie Paterson to score in the fourth minute of stoppage time, with virtually the last kick of the game.

Pompey's defence misjudged a long ball forward, allowing Jack Rudoni to float a cross in from the right for Paterson to acrobatically volley home.

Frank Lampard's men go back into the play-off places, in sixth spot, two points above Middlesbrough, while Portsmouth remain 17th, three points off the drop zone.

Sky Blues keeper Brad Collins was called into early action as Coventry struggled to settle, having to dive low to keep out Adil Aouchiche's shot after Victor Torp gave the ball away just outside his own area.

There was a second glimpse of goal for Pompey on 11 minutes when a ball was floated into the path of Josh Murphy. Despite appeals for handball, the former Norwich City man was able to turn and shoot, only to see his shot blocked.

Coventry then also appealed for handball four minutes later. Matt Grimes picked out Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, who cut inside and hit a fierce shot that appeared to strike Andre Dozzell's hand. Referee Gavin Ward shook his head, but subsequent replays suggested the Sky Blues had a strong case for a penalty.

Torp's night was to end on a sour note when he went down holding his ankle, to be replaced by Ben Sheaf.

Portsmouth went close before the half-hour mark when Regan Poole flicked his header on to the underside of the bar, only for Coventry to scramble clear.

Coventry had their best moment of the first half just minutes later, when Rudoni's shot was blocked following Jay Dasilva's run into the box. Portsmouth failed to clear, the ball fell to Milan van Ewijk, who flicked the ball back in for Rudoni, whothrew himself towards the ball, only to send his close-range header just wide.

The opening throes of the second half became scrappy as the home crowd grew more anxious. Portsmouth manager John Mousinho brought on Mark O'Mahony and Terry Devlin in an attempt to inspire the visitors but their game plan became more focused around keeping the hosts at bay.

City tried to conjure up an opening when Rudoni fed Ephron Mason-Clark. He passed the ball for Haji Wright, only for his left-footed shot to be deflected over.

Coventry grew into the second half, yet there was little sign of any quality in front of goal as Portsmouth's defence continued to clear away all signs of danger. Neither goalkeeper appeared particularly troubled by the opposition.

Van Ewijk should have done better when his heavy touch allowed Pompey to clear following good work down Coventry's left by Dasilva.

Liam Kitching went agonisingly close to claiming a late second-half goal, only to see Nicolas Schmid touch his header on to the post.

But Coventry were not quite done - and finally claimed their reward when Rudoni showed his composure to pick out Paterson with a neat chip and the February free transfer signing was parallel to the ground as he powered home his right-foot volley from eight yards.

'Coventry is him' - reaction

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard told BBC CWR:

"We got what we deserved. It was amazing because I thought it would be one of those nights. They were dogged and made it hard for us. But we pushed and we pushed, and for 'Pato' to score that goal is something very special.

"He's a fan of the club, Coventry is him. For him to score a goal of that quality is very special. To show such agility is top level. He's added to the group in the dressing room, and the training ground, and he gives me good options.

"We hit the post, they threw their bodies in front of us, but we showed great character. If you have spirit you push to the end, so it's a big plus for us.

"We know the race we're in. We were looking downwards when I came in. Now we're pushing for the play-offs."

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho:

"It is agony. There's been so many games this year when we've come away from home and been beaten. This is just one of those. It blows my mind we've put ourselves in that position to have to defend from that point.

"The difference between me going into the dressing room and saying what a really good point away from home and where we are now is obviously stark.

"It's just 10 seconds of football. 93 minutes and 50 seconds of really good football and 10 seconds of madness. But we have to be realistic. We can't have those moments in games where we make really poor decisions because the poor decision ends up in the back of the net.

"They gave everything but unfortunately we're falling short and that's the most frustrating thing. It's not a fitness issue. It's not like we look like we're dead on our feet. We put the work in. There's a couple who have let us down but, for the most part, it's an excellent performance and we could have nicked it at the end too.".