Coventry City vs Nottingham Forest. Sky Bet Championship.
St. Andrew's Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Coventry and Nottingham Forest at St Andrew's as Chris Hughton's side win thanks to a second-half Michael Rose own goal to move away from the bottom three
Tuesday 2 February 2021 22:24, UK
Michael Rose's own goal gifted Nottingham Forest just their third away win of the season as they beat Coventry 2-1 at St Andrew's.
Returning Rose, who came off the bench following a three-month injury lay-off, turned Cyrus Christie's cross into his own net as the visitors came from 1-0 down to clinch the three points.
Maxime Biamou's smart finish had initially put the Sky Blues a goal to the good before Forest captain Lewis Grabban equalised five minutes later.
Mark Robins' men have won just two of their last nine league outings.
The defeat was the Sky Blues' first at home in over three months as victory pushed Forest four points clear of the relegation zone.
It was a quiet opening with Gustavo Hamer's long-range effort the only attempt on goal, but the first half came to life in an entertaining five-minute spell that saw both sides strike.
Biamou cut inside and curled a precise low effort through a crowded penalty box in the 17th minute to open the scoring after Callum O'Hare drove at the heart of the Forest defence.
But the Sky Blues' lead lasted just five minutes when Sammy Ameobi reached the byline and teed up an unmarked Grabban.
Debutant James Garner went close as his glancing header from a dangerous Anthony Knockaert corner landed on the top of the net.
And Knockaert himself carved out a chance 10 minutes before half-time, wriggling his way past Sam McCallum before drilling his effort into the side netting.
Coventry burst out of the blocks in the second half as McCallum saw a shot blocked and Hamer forced Brice Samba into a smart save. But the visitors struck against the run of play in the 53rd minute.
And it was a horror return for Rose as he could do nothing but turn a wicked Christie cross into his own net just eight minutes after coming off the bench.
Coventry piled on the pressure as they desperately pushed to restore parity but star striker Grabban proved his worth in both boxes by clearing Leo Ostigard's header off the line, the closest Coventry came to snatching a point.
Robins' men continued to huff and puff but failed to find a late leveller and Amadou Bakayoko was carried off in stoppage time after a collision with Samba which led to over seven minutes of treatment.
Coventry's Mark Robins: "I thought the first half was poor. The only bit of football we played ended up with us scoring. The two goals were really poor, we can't concede goals like that and the players know that. The goals were really poor goals to concede. Rosey was obviously coming on cold fresh from an injury. You have to get players fit through games.
"We created a lot of openings but didn't work the goalkeeper enough. We had loads of chances to get the ball into those areas but we didn't have the final touch. Some of the crosses from Julien Da Costa are out of this world and strikers should thrive on those."
Nottingham Forest's Chris Hughton: "I thought we showed really good character to come back and win. I heard it's been a long time since we've won after the other team have taken the lead and it's nice to win like that.
"At the end we were hanging on, sometimes you can get a lot from that kind of victory. We have to defend really well and we did that. I thought Brice Samba was excellent in goal."
