Sheffield United vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
Bramall LaneAttendance29,651.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Sheffield United and Coventry at Bramall Lane as James McAtee, Ciaran Clark and Tommy Doyle steered the Blades to a comfortable win.
Monday 26 December 2022 18:56, UK
Sheffield United beat Coventry 3-1 to record their seventh win in eight Championship games and maintain their automatic-promotion charge.
Goals from James McAtee, Ciaran Clark and Tommy Doyle kept the Blades second in the table, eight points ahead of Blackburn.
Viktor Gyokeres, who earlier missed a penalty, scored for the visitors midway through the second half.
United played the final 13 minutes with only 10 men after John Egan was sent off following a second yellow card.
The home line-up showed one change with Max Lowe taking over from Enda Stevens at left wing-back.
Coventry boss Mark Robins was forced to make an early change after Callum O'Hare fell awkwardly and had to be taken off on a stretcher following treatment. He was replaced by Kasey Palmer.
It was a quiet start to the match with neither side creating any meaningful openings.
United striker Billy Sharp went close to opening the scoring after 26 minutes, hitting the bar with a downward header after meeting Oliver Norwood's delivery.
Coventry midfielder Ben Sheaf tried a shot from distance which took a deflection wide.
The breakthrough came from McAtee in the 35th minute, following excellent work from Iliman Ndiaye.
Receiving the ball from Wes Foderingham's punch out, Ndiaye advanced beyond the half-way line before finding McAtee who was free on the right-hand side and the midfielder ran into the area, slotting past Ben Wilson in the Coventry goal.
Coventry threatened to equalise when Jonathan Panzo headed narrowly wide following Gustavo Hamer's cross.
The visitors were handed an opportunity to draw level three minutes into the second half when they were awarded a penalty following Anel Ahmedhodzic's foul on Jake Bidwell.
Gyokeres stepped up to take the spot-kick but it was saved comfortably by Foderingham.
After Sander Berge screwed a shot wide from inside the area, Clark put the hosts further ahead in the 52nd minute with a close-range header from Norwood's free-kick.
Coventry made a triple substitution shortly before the hour mark with Fankaty Dabo, Liam Kelly and Martyn Waghorn taking over from Jack Burroughs, Sheaf and Jamie Allen.
With 20 minutes to go, there was a double substitution for the home side with Daniel Jebbison and Doyle replacing Sharp and McAtee.
Doyle had an immediate impact, producing a good finish at the near post after connecting with Lowe's low cross.
Hamer's well-struck free-kick forced a fine save from Foderingham before the same player created Coventry's goal.
Gyokeres found the net with a glancing header from Hamer's free-kick to reduce the arrears.
There was a further setback for United when they were reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute, with Egan receiving a second booking after fouling Gyokeres.
Waghorn threatened to score a second for the visitors at the death with a far-post header which was straight at Foderingham.
Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom: "We got better and better with the ball, but we still needed that big moment from Wes (Foderingham) as well. I thought from that moment on, we took over. I thought it gave everyone energy, that save, not just the players. That's the moment I thought we really took over.
"I thought Coventry paid us a lot of respect by changing how they play a little bit, slowing things down and having the game a bit more fragmented, so we had to somehow take control of the game and get hold of the ball a bit more and make more passes. The goal settled us down and we were good from that point. There were lots of big moments."
Coventry's Mark Robins: "I think their goal was the turning point because I thought that up until then, we were the better team. I thought we controlled it generally and they were on the back foot for a lot of it. They looked nervy. We are better than the goal we conceded. They countered on us from our own corner, which doesn't generally happen. The way that they broke away, with the quality that they've got, was really quick.
"From our point of view, we were well in the game. The second goal goes in from a set-play and again it's poor. We missed the penalty to try and tie things up and then we don't adjust quickly enough in terms of our mentality. We were well in it and created some really decent opportunities, even at two-nil down. We worked to fashion some chances and tried to put them under pressure, but we ran out of time."
