Report | Coventry City 4-0 Argyle
Argyle suffered a tough four-goal defeat at the hands of Coventry City at the CBS Arena on Boxing Day.
The Sky Blues’ scoring came in the first half through a Josh Eccles brace, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto header and an Ephron Mason-Clark volley.
Wayne Rooney made only two changes to his starting XI that played out a frantic 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough at Home Park on Saturday. Andre Gray replaced Ryan Hardie, whilst academy product Tegan Finn made his full debut for the Pilgrims, coming in for Michael Obafemi.
An open three minutes soon found its first chance of the game being created for the hosts down the left flank. A whipped ball across the box by Jake Bidwell was flicked on by a man in blue, but Jack Rudoni couldn’t turn his headed attempt towards goal.
Just minutes later, a near-replica of the previous chance gifted the Sky Blues the lead. An Argyle attack is defended well, leading to a quick counter down the left flank. Ben Sheaf’s header is turned home at the back post by Sakamoto, sending the home fans into jubilation.
Argyle found gaps in the Coventry defence within the opening 12 minutes and did have the ball in the back of the hosts’ net twice – albeit seconds after the whistle was blown for a foul and offside.
The pressure continued to mount from Coventry, once again, from the left flank. A ball across the box from Mason-Clark was pushed away by Daniel Grimshaw but only to the feet of a Coventry body. However, this attempt was blocked by a combination of sliding tackles from Adam Randell and Brendan Galloway. Penalty appeals followed a challenge from Finn, but these were waved away by referee Adam Herczeg.
In the 20th minute, Coventry doubled their lead through Eccles. The midfielder collected the ball from a Mason-Clark cutback on the edge of the area and fired a low effort into the bottom corner of Argyle’s goal.
Despite moving the ball forward occasionally, the hosts continued to pile the attacking pressure on the Argyle backline.
Just before the 40th-minute mark, Argyle were forced into a change with Callum Wright replacing Mustapha Bundu. Things soon turned worse for the Greens when Coventry took a three-goal advantage through Mason-Clark two minutes later. The Sky Blues’ number 10 timed his run behind the Argyle defence to perfection before volleying home.
Coventry soon added a fourth. Tight pressure from multiple blue bodies won the hosts the ball high in Argyle’s half before Eccles set himself and shot towards goal, watching his effort drop under the hand of Grimshaw and into the back of the net.
The Greens pushed forward, after the Sky Blues seemed to find a shooting opportunity, through Bali Mumba. The full-back drove up the pitch and found 16-year-old Finn, who created his own shooting space and fired an effort at goal, forcing Oliver Dovin into a reaction save before the half-time whistle.
Freddie Issaka replaced Gray during the break for Argyle, with substitute Wright moving into the middle of the Greens’ attack.
Argyle’s number 11 found some success through the opening five minutes of the second half, linking play and looking to move forward. He picked up the ball inside the Coventry half and drove towards goal, winning a corner in front of the blue wall of home fans. The ball on top of the Sky Blues’ goalmouth was punched away by Dovin to Al Hajj on the edge of the box, but the midfielder’s effort at goal caused no problems.
A Torp strike from range needed an as-good reaction save from Grimshaw in goal to keep the Coventry lead from growing further. The hosts delved further into their bench on the hour-mark, with Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante coming onto the pitch to freshen the attacking prowess.
Coventry maintained possession throughout the remainder of the misty tie, creating chances for Simms at the same time. However, the forward couldn't find the net as the fog slowly fell upon the CBS Arena.
A free-kick in the final minutes of the game set the hosts up with a chance to add a fifth, but a diving push from Grimshaw ended Torp’s hopes of getting on the scoresheet. Argyle’s Wright was shown a straight red card for a challenge from behind on Joel Latibeaudiere in the 87th minute to round out a hard day in the Coventry mist.
Argyle: 31 Daniel Grimshaw, 2 Bali Mumba, 6 Kornel Szucs, 15 Mustapha Bundu (11 Callum Wright, 37), 17 Lewis Gibson (capt), 18 Darko Gyabi (4 Jordan Houghton, 71), 19 Andre Gray (35 Freddie Issaka, 45), 20 Adam Randell, 22 Brendan Galloway (29 Matty Sorinola, 71), 28 Rami Al Hajj (27 Adam Forshaw, 55), 39 Tegan Finn. Substitutes: 21 Conor Hazard (gk), 3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 44 Victor Palsson.
Booked: Szucs 85
Sent off: Wright 87
Coventry: 1 Oliver Dovin, 4 Bobby Thomas, 5 Jack Rudoni (8 Jamie Allen, 74), 7 Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (23 Brandon Thomas-Asante, 61), 10 Ephron Mason-Clark (29 Victor Torp, 45), 14 Ben Sheaf (capt), 21 Jake Bidwell, 22 Joel Latibeaudiere, 27 Milan van Ewijk (15 Liam Kitching, 74), 28 Josh Eccles, 37 Norman Bassette (9 Ellis Simms, 61). Substitutes: 40 Brad Collins (gk), 2 Luis Binks, 3 Jay Dasilva, 17 Raphael Borges Rodrigues.
Goals: Sakamoto 5, Eccles 20, 45, Mason-Clark, 39
Attendance: 29,420
Referee: Adam Herczeg