Swansea City vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
Swansea.com Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Swansea and Coventry at the Liberty Stadium as Ben Cabango headed in the only goal of the game to get Steve Cooper's side back on track.
Wednesday 24 February 2021 22:40, UK
Ben Cabango's towering second-half header ensured Swansea got back to winning ways and stayed in touch with the Championship's top three as they beat Coventry 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium.
The 20-year-old Wales defender broke the deadlock in the 54th minute as he met Connor Hourihane's corner on the edge of the six-yard box.
Cabango was one of two changes made by Swansea boss Steve Cooper from the side hammered 4-1 at Huddersfield at the weekend. He brought Yan Dhanda into midfield, dropped Jay Fulton to the bench and slotted Cabango into defence in place of the injured Ryan Bennett.
Coventry boss Mark Robins went with the same side that secured an impressive 2-0 home win over second-placed Brentford for their latest examination against a top-four side in February. Having drawn with Watford they lost 2-0 at league leaders Norwich before then toppling the Bees.
Visiting goalkeeper Ben Wilson was forced to scramble away a near-post shot from Jamal Lowe with his feet in the eighth minute, but other than that they negotiated the early stages well.
The Sky Blues thought they should have been awarded a penalty a few minutes later when Calum O'Hare hit the deck as he ran on to a ball in the home box.
Referee Andy Woolmer immediately ruled out the shouts for a spot-kick, which did not impress Robins and his coaching staff. Then they saw Swansea's Sam McCallum pick up a yellow card for a tackle that put home dangerman Connor Roberts in a spin.
On a greasy surface, the Swansea were not able to stretch the play or pass with as much accuracy as usual, and the spirit of the Coventry players made life difficult for them.
Lowe and Dhanda were not able to hit the mark with shots for the home side in and around the box and the first half ended goalless with the respective keepers having to make one save each, neither of which really tested them.
Coventry started the second half brightly and McCallum forced Freddie Woodman to dive across his goal to ensure his long-range effort was wide of the mark.
The deadlock was finally broken after 54 minutes. The industrious Dhanda won a corner and a superb delivery from Hourihane was met by Cabango, who climbed higher than anyone else to head home his fourth goal of the season.
The home side had a glorious chance to double their lead in a high-speed breakout of defence, but after carrying the ball half the length of the pitch Lowe fired his shot wide.
Coventry pressed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages and Kyle McFadzean went close with an effort from a free-kick in the 87th minute, but Swansea held on.
Swansea's Steve Cooper: "I thought we were the superior team, created the clearer chances in the game and deserved to win what was a tough game. We were quite happy with a point at their place and we knew it was going to be tough. They had an excellent win at the weekend against Brentford and named an unchanged team.
"But Freddie (Woodman) has not really had a save to make, considering we had to defend a lot of long balls late on and set-pieces. We showed a good side of resilience."
Coventry's Mark Robins: "It was a really poor goal and when it comes down to something like that its unforgivable. It was a brilliant into the box and Connor Hourihane has got a wand of a left foot. But we all know that.
"He put it into an area where we weren't strong enough to stop Cabango coming though. He rose above our goalkeeper and it was a really poor goal for us to concede - lamentable. We were undoubtedly the better team tonight and I think we have been a bit unfortunate. We have got to be better because we are being punished for things."
