Bristol City vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
Ashton Gate.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Ashton Gate
Saturday 12 September 2020 18:48, UK
Tomas Kalas' late header earned Bristol City an opening-day 2-1 win over Coventry.
The Robins' captain denied the Sky Blues a deserved point as the visitors returned to the Sky Bet Championship after an eight-year exile.
Matt Godden had earlier cancelled out Jamie Paterson's opener, which came after just 21 seconds.
Callum O'Hare hit the post and Leo Ostigard was twice denied by Dan Bentley as the Robins rode their luck, but boss Dean Holden claimed victory in his first league game in permanent charge.
Holden was appointed as Lee Johnson's replacement over the summer and he was handed the perfect start when Paterson struck just seconds after kick-off.
The hosts immediately went on the attack with Famara Diedhiou and, when Nahki Wells crossed, Paterson fired into the bottom corner from 12 yards.
It was a nightmare return to the Championship for last season's League One champions, but they nearly levelled after 11 minutes.
Godden's header was well saved by Bentley, and the onrushing O'Hare smashed the loose ball against the base of the post.
A minute later Marko Marosi saved Diedhiou's header, but the early goal failed to settle the hosts and Coventry recovered well, causing enough problems to suggest they can thrive back in the second tier.
The Sky Blues began to find pockets of space and it was no surprise when they levelled after 33 minutes, when O'Hare's cutback was only half cleared and Godden rifled in.
The Robins looked rusty and Gustavo Hamer's shot was deflected over as composed Coventry continued to press.
Mark Robins' visitors oozed confidence as they looked to extend a 14-game unbeaten league run stretching back to December.
They made light of having played just one competitive game since March after League One was ended early by the coronavirus pandemic, and Godden was inches away from O'Hare's cross eight minutes before half-time.
Bentley saved from Ostigard and the hosts squeaked into the break level, fortunate to have the time to reorganise.
They lacked bite, especially the eternally frustrating Diedhiou, and the striker underlined his deficiencies when he failed to seize on Wells' cutback two minutes into the second half.
Coventry tried to regain control and Bentley bailed the hosts out after 53 minutes with a smart save to again deny Ostigard.
But the Robins slowly improved and the introductions of Chris Martin and Tyreeq Bakinson gave them added steel.
Martin went close to a debut goal when his header was spilled by Marosi and Bakinson drilled just over with 21 minutes left.
But the hosts grabbed their winner with eight minutes remaining when Kalas nodded in Paterson's far-post corner before Andi Weimann hit the bar late on.
Bristol City's Dean Holden: "He [Tomas Kalas] put together a motivational video for the players on Friday which he showed an hour before kick-off. He's taken it upon himself to be a leader. There were some words of motivation, so the goosebumps were going afterwards.
"I had him in mind as captain in pre-season, but I wanted to assess everybody. It's got to be someone who has a winning mentality and puts demands on himself and the ones around him. He is growing in leadership and I'm really pleased for him.
"I thought he played really well and we're putting more demands on our defenders to score goals. They've been working after training and it's nice for it to pay off."
Coventry's Mark Robins: "It was a poor start from us after 20 seconds. We ended up out of shape and out of position and I bet they couldn't believe their luck. After that we settled down and thought we played some really good stuff. The belief was there, we didn't play with any fear, the goal we scored was good and at 1-1 we had some really good chances.
"There are things to be disappointed with because we've given the point away, they've not really hurt us too much. But there are some good things, they have aspirations for promotion and we're looking at it slightly differently. There's enough to take heart from. We'll get fitter, quicker and benefit from this experience."
