Coventry City vs Rotherham United. Sky Bet Championship.
The Coventry Building Society ArenaAttendance18,953.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Coventry City and Rotherham United at the Coventry Building Society Arena as a late Viktor Gyokeres penalty earned a point for the Sky Blues.
Tuesday 25 October 2022 23:48, UK
Viktor Gyokeres' stoppage-time penalty earned in-form Coventry a 2-2 home draw against Rotherham in the Championship.
The Sky Blues had twice found themselves behind through Cohen Bramall's first Millers goal and then Conor Washington.
Gustavo Hamer had briefly levelled things at 1-1 but it was Gyokeres' spot-kick that earned the Sky Blues a point.
Callum Doyle and Ben Sheaf returned for the Sky Blues in place of Jonathan Panzo and Josh Eccles, while Martyn Waghorn was in for Kasey Palmer as the hosts searched for a fourth straight win in the second tier for the first time since December 2002.
Bramall was one of five Millers changes and he was lively from the start, fizzing a cross across goal after Fankaty Dabo's missed interception let him in.
Coventry were dealt an early blow when Waghorn was forced off with injury after seeing a shot blocked inside the first two minutes.
Rotherham continued to press for an early lead when Dan Barlaser's free-kick landed at the feet of Wes Harding, but the defender could not get a clean contact from close range before Georgie Kelly was also unable to poke home from the ensuing scramble.
The Sky Blues began to get a foothold in the game when Jamie Allen set the ball back for Hamer, but the Brazilian scuffed out for a throw-in.
The returning Doyle saw a powerful low drive saved by Viktor Johansson in the visitors' goal, before a well-worked free-kick saw Michael Rose head back across goal for Kyle McFadzean, but the defender could not head in from close range.
Coventry had been the more free-flowing and threatening side until the 40th minute when the half started to unravel after Palmer's misplaced pass in Rotherham's final third.
Barlaser took control and drove forward, with his well-weighted pass finding Bramall who picked his moment to drill the ball past Ben Wilson in the Coventry goal.
Dabo sustained an injury attempting to chase the wing-back down and was forced off on a stretcher.
Rotherham came agonisingly close to doubling their lead after the break when Ben Wiles' cross curled past the far post as Wilson stood unmoved, while the midfielder also saw a shot blocked in the box.
It was a triple change apiece with 15 minutes to go that brought the game to life as within a minute Coventry were level.
Palmer found himself on the edge of the box and his delicate pass fed Hamer and the midfielder found a gap at the near post to score for the second consecutive game.
But parity was to last all of four minutes as Barlaser was to create his and Rotherham's second of the evening.
Washington broke the offside trap and was found by the former Newcastle midfielder. His first effort was well-saved by Wilson but he was alert and in the right place to gather the rebound and slot home his third goal of the season.
Yet Coventry, who scored numerous late goals at home throughout last season, were far from done as substitute Brooke Norton-Cuffy brought down Callum O'Hare in the box and Gyokeres stepped up to slot home his fifth goal of the campaign and earn Coventry a point.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "We haven't lost the game, we've come back late again in the game and not lost it, so whilst we can be slightly disappointed, not really. We've picked a point up and we keep moving forward against a stubborn team that defend deep but have also got some good players.
"We played some good football and the two goals we scored were outstanding again. I thought there was some really good performances as well and the substitutes made impacts. I'm happy with getting back into it and not going under. I think we needed to keep calm heads because you can start to panic and throw balls into the box. At some points we did that but we showed enough calmness to grow and create those better chances."
Rotherham's Matt Taylor: "The second goal is not a penalty. The referee was weak enough to make that decision. The referee was laughing at me when he came off the pitch. We've been involved in a fantastic game of football, credit to both teams, but we do feel hard done by. As that second half went on some decisions went against us and the penalty is soft at best in all honesty.
"Our centre-half doesn't change his path in any way, he follows the player's path and doesn't go in towards the player, doesn't put his leg across the opposition player. (It was) very clever from the opposition centre forward, but that was a soft moment which is a real shame for us."
