Coventry City vs Wigan Athletic. Sky Bet Championship.
The Coventry Building Society ArenaAttendance17,227.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Coventry City and Wigan Athletic at the Coventry Building Society Arena as Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres seal win for Sky Blues.
Tuesday 8 November 2022 23:32, UK
Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres were on target as clinical Coventry secured their third Championship win in a row as they beat Wigan 2-0 at the CBS Arena.
Only Blackburn had taken more points from their previous six games than Mark Robins' men, who made it nine clean sheets in 12 outings.
Coventry's sixth win in eight also took them into the top half of the Championship for the first time this season, just five points off the play-offs with two games in hand over sixth-placed QPR, who Robins' men host on Saturday.
Wigan missed the opportunity to move out of the relegation zone with a sixth defeat in seven matches and remain second bottom, two points from safety.
In a game bereft of chances, Kasey Palmer came closest when Callum O'Hare flicked Jake Bidwell's pass into the path of the midfielder shortly before half-time.
The former Chelsea academy product turned past Curtis Tilt but his effort was met by a flying Rarmani Edwards-Green.
The Sky Blues enjoyed 62 per cent of the ball in the first half but failed to muster a shot on target.
The visitors also failed to trouble Ben Wilson in the Coventry goal and looked most threatening from set-pieces as Jack Whatmough's header back across goal was fired wide by James McClean.
The Irish winger also saw an effort deflected inside the first 10 minutes, while Charlie Wyke headed a corner narrowly wide for Leam Richardson's men.
The Latics had taken 14 of their 20 points this season from their travels prior to their trip to Coventry, including earning four of their five victories to date on the road.
Hamer and Josh Eccles also blazed over for Mark Robins' men before Michael Rose lifted O'Hare's cutback into the empty stand behind the goal after a clever corner routine.
Hamer almost handed the Latics the lead when he forced Wilson to scramble across goal and clear his mis-placed back pass to prevent an embarrassing own goal.
But the midfielder broke the deadlock at the other end 13 minutes from time when he latched onto Gyokeres' lay-off.
The 25-year-old took aim from outside the box and his effort cannoned off Whatmough, leaving Jamie Jones stranded in the Wigan goal.
Wigan failed to threaten the Sky Blues' slender lead and it was Swedish striker Gyokeres who finished the job in stoppage time.
Coventry's top scorer netted his eighth of the season when he latched onto Eccles' punt forward and left the Wigan defence in his wake before calmly slotting beyond Jones with only the second shot on target of the night.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "They're a really tough nut to crack and they've got some really powerful players. They were very stubborn and we had to try and be patient and not get anxious and try to force things because that's what they're after.
"Then changes were made and it opened things up a bit for Gus (Hamer) to hit one and it went in off (Jack) Whatmough's toe and we needed something like that to drag them out, which we did. We still looked a threat, we still tried to play, had lots of the ball, they overcommitted and if we defended properly I know we could hurt them again. They got a warning from it, the keeper dealt with that situation but for the second one the pass from Josh (Eccles) was outstanding, the movement and the power that you saw from him (Gyokeres) and then the calmness, it was a fantastic finish."
Wigan's Leam Richardson: "It does and you can't feel sorry for yourself. We knew our challenge coming out of the summer coming into this league, we knew it was going to be challenging but they've accepted the challenge so well.
"Disappointing result, I thought first half it was very even, keepers didn't have much to do, I thought we possibly shaded it being the away team and then in them moments we've got to be better, especially offensively we've got to be better and make them moments count because you know they're gonna have certain spells."
