Mark Robins ranks ‘brilliant’ Coventry City performance against the league leaders

CoventryLive’s coverage of the Coventry City match as Sky Blues manager Mark Robins delivers his post-match analysis following the thrilling 3-1 M69 derby triumph at the CBS Arena

The M69 derby day triumph for Coventry City was praised by Mark Robins as the team’s “best” effort of the season, if not of many of their previous seasons. After trailing 1-0 to Championship leaders Leicester City, the Sky Blues rallied for three goals in the second half, two from standout midfielder Callum O’Hare and one from full-back Milan van Ewijk.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s foul in the box gave the Foxes the early advantage, and he duly punished City by making the spot kick. However, O’Hare tied the score in the 79th minute, and Van Ewijk scored what appeared to be the winning goal in the 88th. After that, O’Hare put the cherry on top with a spectacular stoppage time volley to seal the three points.

“I honestly thought we were brilliant,” said a happy City boss, reflecting on the 3-1 triumph. “It was one of the best performances we have had this season, and in many seasons. Before you can identify the flaws in the performance, you must assess how skilled the opposition is.

Abdul Fatawu’s straight red card for a sloppy tackle on Jake Bidwell shortly before halftime reduced Leicester to 10 men, requiring Enzo Maresca’s team to sit back and maintain their lead.

“We were excellent, and I didn’t think we were stretched at any point, even with 11 men on the field,” stated Robins. “They had some possession at certain points during the game, but we had a lot of possession in the first half and made some good opportunities as well.”

“If you don’t chase them, they get comfortable and establish a rhythm,” he continued. The ball is stopped, everything is slowed down, and they wait for you to move and make room. They have high caliber players that move and think fast, so in my opinion, the preparation my players have put in and their ability to put aside distractions in order to focus on the game,  rather than be passive, I thought was really important.

“And when you have got more or less a full house, even more so. We spoke about that with Ipswich and not going toe-to-toe with them, but that wasn’t the case today. We went toe-to-toe with the league leaders.”

Reflecting on the goals, the manager had no complaints with the penalty kick.

“They took the lead with a penalty and I thought we were really good until that point when, for whatever reason, we thought we were OK,” he said. “They dropped a little bit but they are waiting for you to just under hit a pass, and that’s what we did. It dragged them down the pitch and we ended up turning the ball over and ended up in that position where Bobby (Thomas) has got to make that decision and tackle and give the referee a decision to make. I have seen it back and it’s a foul and a penalty, so you have to hold your hands up. But we didn’t need to be in that position.

The referee acted without hesitation with the similarly hasty sending off that followed. I’m not sure if that’s related to the penalty ruling. After halftime, we discussed how much more speed we needed to add because, in my opinion, we were playing a little bit more slowly than we should have in the second half when they were merely sitting behind it and we were moving the ball well but trailing by a goal. We were looking for someone who could move quickly, think on their feet, and know how to go past a defense that is standing in your way.

To assist City advance, Robins makes three changes: Ellis Simms, Jamie Allen, and Jay Dasilva.

“The subs made a massive difference and gave us that understanding and extra energy, and some real quality as well – all three,” said the City boss. “Ellis worried them down the left-hand side, there was understanding from Jamie Allen and O’Hare, Tatsu and Ellis made serious contributions.

“Milan demonstrated composure to achieve his goal, but the goals were outstanding. Callum’s first came after some excellent work by Ellis, and he shown the composure to locate the corner. You could see that the second goal was headed for the far corner as soon as it left his boot.

“And the third one, Callum gets engaged in the press early on before trailing Matty Godden into the penalty area, where he creates the opportunity and comes in to seal it with an incredible finish. Thus, the three goals and the performance were both exceptional.