Coventry City vs Blackburn Rovers. Sky Bet Championship.
St. Andrew's Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at St Andrew's
Saturday 24 October 2020 18:37, UK
Adam Armstrong's brace helped Blackburn to a comfortable 4-0 Sky Bet Championship win over 10-man Coventry at St Andrew's.
The Rovers striker took his tally to eight for the season in all competitions with goals either side of half-time, while on-loan Liverpool winger Harvey Elliott added a third and Sam Gallagher wrapped it up late on.
Coventry offered little in the way of return, aside from a red card for defender Michael Rose after a clumsy challenge in the box early in the game.
It was a lively and fairly even start to the contest with the ball moving fast along the surface thanks to several hours of persistent rain.
Matty Godden hit the post and the Sky Blues also had a goal disallowed before Rose's straight red card for tumbling Ben Brereton to the ground in the box, preventing a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
Armstrong, a former Sky Blues loanee, stepped up to send Marko Marosi the wrong way and give Blackburn the lead after 15 minutes.
Coventry looked shocked - their usual calm approach to playing out from the back hampered by a mixture of Rovers' aggressive press and being down to 10 men.
Lewis Holtby could have had a few goals. He saw a one-on-one well saved by Marosi - missing the subsequent rebound - and also wasted two free headers.
Armstrong and Brereton both had decent chances to put Blackburn two up, but Coventry went in at half-time only one goal down.
The home side's resolve crumbled shortly after the restart with Armstrong's second of the match.
The impressive Brereton played a smart ball into Armstrong, who had all the time in the world to pick his spot. Though Marosi got a hand to the shot, it was too powerful to keep out and the ball found the net after clipping the bar.
Elliott added a third after 62 minutes. A swift Blackburn counter saw Coventry's defence left wide open thanks to a key pass from Armstrong which found Brereton. He laid it across to Elliott, and the 17-year-old had enough time and composure to grab his first senior goal.
Elliott then turned provider as Blackburn wrapped up the victory with a fourth in the 88th minute.
A good passing move saw Holtby play Elliott down the left, and his ball across the box found substitute Gallagher who slotted home.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "It was a tough afternoon. I thought we started off quite brightly, this was always going to be tough with 11 men but when you lose someone it's difficult. You want to get a foothold, and when they've got a man extra it makes a big difference and we got to a stage where we couldn't cope with it and there were times we caved in.
"It's a game we have to try and learn from because the quality just wasn't there today and we have to try and move past it and not look too deeply at it. The only positive was we kept the score down at half-time, and trying to play with 10 men against a team who moves the ball the way Blackburn do is difficult."
Blackburn's Tony Mowbray: "They're a really decent football team and if we'd have played against 11 for 90 minutes it would have been really tough for us. But I'm delighted with the quality at the top end of the pitch - young Elliott is really tight with the ball and he was excellent and Adam Armstrong does what he does, scoring again.
"I thought we played with the intensity that's required. Plenty to be pleased with. I'd have liked a second goal before half-time. It's not easy against 10 men sometimes, when a team sits back with wide men breaking away - it can be dangerous so I was pleased when the second went in and we did good to break them down because Coventry are a very well-coached team."
