Coventry City snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat as Frank Lampard got off to an eventful start to his Coventry City reign at the CBS Arena.
The Sky Blues twice came from behind against fourth from bottom Bluebirds, snatching an 88th minute equaliser from the penalty spot to ensure the new boss avoided defeat on his opening game in charge.
Despite a lively start from his players, Cardiff scored from their first corner and threat in the game as early as the fourth minute when Yakou Meite was allowed to head home unmarked in the box.
City, however, got back on level terms just three minutes later when Tatsuhiro Sakamoto lifted the ball over the Bluebirds’ back line to feed Ephron Mason-Clark who timed his run to perfection and slid in to volley past the goalkeeper.
The first 45 minutes was a frantic affair with end to end action, chances for Coventry who also looked vulnerable to the counter attack at times, albeit looking the more likely to score.
However, Cardiff came out in determined mood in the second half and restored their lead three minutes into the restart when Alex Robertson received the ball some 25-30 yards out and hit a powerful shot that curled away from the keeper Collins who dived full stretch to his left but couldn’t keep the inch-perfect finish out.
City plugged away and eventually got a life-line back into the game in the final five minutes when Ellis Simms won a penalty when his cross was cut out by the hand of a Cardiff player, resulting in City being awarded a penalty. Victor Torp stepped up to drill home Coventry’s second equaliser of the afternoon.
STARTING FORMATION: 4-2-3-1
BRAD COLLINS: 5.5
Unsighted by O’Dowda who stood in front of him when the ball came into the box for Meite to head home unmarked. Made a good save to deny Turbull midway through the first half and a routine stop to deny Meite early in the second before being beaten by a powerful long-range shot from Robertson that curled away from him to find the bottom corner.
MILAN VAN EWIJK: 5.5
Defended reasonably well and linked up nicely with Tatsu going forward. Forced to defend deeper after the break when Cardiff took the game to City.
BOBBY THOMAS: 5.5/6
Played some long balls down the line to try to send Sakamoto free but didn’t quite get the right weight on the pass. Distribution poor at times but read the game reasonably well and got in decent blocks and interceptions.
LUIS BINKS: 5.5/6
Played a high line at times, helping to move the ball upfield. Patient in the build-up. Might have got closer to Robertson to cut out the shot for the second goal.
JAY DASILVA: 5.5
Defended well in tight areas and got forward well, linking nicely with Mason-Clark down the left early on but not enough overall going forward from the full-back.
JOSH ECCLES: 5
A bit hit and miss with his passes but as hard working as ever. Just wasn’t his day and eventually replaced by Torp.
BEN SHEAF: 5.5/6
Steady and reliable in the midfield battleground but reluctant to shoot on one occasion when he had all the goal to aim at. Not as influential as usual.
TATSUHIRO SAKAMOTO: 6
Lifted the ball over the defence to feed Mason-Clark for the early equaliser amid a really lively first 20-odd minutes from the Japanese winger who caused Cardiff plenty of problems early on in the game. However, went quiet after that and eventually made way for Thomas-Asante.
JACK RUDONI: 5.5/6
Linked the play well, particularly when drifting wide to the left where he had a good understanding with Mason-Clark. Took decent set-pieces.
EPHRON MASON-CLARK: 6.5/7
Got City back on level terms three minutes after conceding when he slid and volleyed home a Sakamoto ball over the top. Terrific finish. Looked revitalised and started to show some of the promise we’d all been told about in the summer.
NORMAN BASSETTE: 6.5/7
Ran his socks off, chasing and pressing and threw himself to attempt a diving header on one occasion, albeit unable to connect. Threw himself at everything that came into the area and a constant pest in and around the box.
SUBSTITUTES:
ELLIS SIMMS (66 mins, for Bassette): 5
Isolated and no real impact until he got to the byline and hit a cross that was handled, thus City winning a penalty.
VICTOR TORP (66 mins, for Eccles): 6
Worked hard and added a bit more quality in terms of passing as City were chasing the game. Scored a pressure penalty late on to rescue the point.
BRANDON THOMAS-ASANTE (71 mins, for Sakamoto): 4.5
Lively off the left but not effective enough.
Subs (not used): Oliver Dovin (GK), Liam Kitching, Joel Latibeaudiere, Jake Bidwell, Jamie Allen, Fabio Tavares.
CARDIFF CITY (4-3-3): Jak Alnwick; Perry Ng, Callum Chambers, Dimitrios Goutas, Jamilu Collins (61 mins, for Joel Bagan); Alex Robertson, David Turnbull (42 mins, for Rubin Colwill), Manolis Siopis; Yakou Meite, Callum Robinson (61 mins, for Michael Reindorf), Callum O’Dowda.
Subs (not used): Ethan Horvath (GK), Jesper Daland, Joe Ralls, Chris Willock, Ollie Tanner, Andy Rinomhota.
GOALS:
SKY BLUES: Mason-Clark (7), Torp (88, pen)
BLUEBIRDS: Meite (4), Robertson (48)
REFEREE: James Bell.
ATTENDANCE: 27,137 (1,797 away)
NEXT UP: Millwall (a), Saturday, December 7 (3pm).
