Coventry City 2-2 Sheffield United: 10-Men Blades Grind Out Hard-Earned Point | OneFootball

Coventry City pushed for a late winner against Sheffield United on Saturday, but in the end the ten men of the Blades managed to hang on to a point in a 2-2 draw.

The visitors took an early lead in the 14th minute when Tyrese Campbell latched onto an excellent low cross from Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to slot home from the middle of the penalty area. Coventry found an equaliser less than ten minutes later when Norman Bassette steered home a superb Josh Eccles cross which evaded Harry Souttar.

12 minutes later, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi made his low left-footed effort look far easier than it was in truth as it nestled into the far corner right in front of the travelling fans.

Coventry finally found their equaliser against the ten men of United when Bobby Thomas lost his marker, Harry Souttar, and nodded the home side level in the 80th minute.

Chris Wilder brought in Sydie Peck for the injured Oliver Arblaster whilst his partner in midfield, Vinicius Souza, was handed the captains armband.

Lineups

Coventry: Collins, Binks, DaSilva (Bidwell 88), Thomas, Rudoni, Sheaf, Latibeaudiere (Mason-Clark 58), van Ewijk, Eccles (Simms 76), Torp (Thomas-Asante 58), Bassette (Sakamoto 58).

Subs: Dovin, Allen, Kitching, Andrews.

Blades: Cooper, Gilchrist, Souttar, Hamer (Shackleton 76), O’Hare (Oné 76), Rak-Sakyi (Seriki 46), Burrows (McCallum 62), Ahmedhodzic, Souza, Campbell (Robinson 45), Peck.

Unused: A. Davies, T. Davies, Norrington-Davies, Brooks.

Sheffield United striker Tyrese Campbell celebrates his goal which gave the Blades the lead against Coventry City. (Image Credit: Sheffield United Football Club).

First Half

The visitors had to deal with a huge early wave of pressure from Coventry City as Ben Sheaf was denied by Blades stopper Michael Cooper, and Eccles’ effort was blocked.

However, Sheffield United would weather that storm and strike first through the in-form Tyrese Campbell. Vinicius Souza picked out Gustavo Hamer in a pocket of space. The creative midfielder slipped a ball through to Rak-Sakyi down the right and the winger picked out Campbell with a first-time right-footed cross, and the forward couldn’t miss.

Despite United scoring the first goal, they were truly second best for the first stages of the game and the Sky Blues deservedly equalised when Eccles whipped in and inswinging ball from the left flank. With Souttar attempting to clear the ball but mistiming his jump, Norman Bassette capitalised on the ball and steered it beyond Cooper.

The action didn’t stop there in the first half. A run from Anel Ahmedhodzic down the left opened up a chance for Callum O’Hare to pull the trigger against his former club, but his shot from the edge of the box was thwarted.

Another ex-Coventry player was involved in United’s second goal; Hamer in acres of space around the edge of the box would eventually play a delicate through ball to Rak-Sakyi on the left channel of the inside of the box, and the on loan Crystal Palace man powerfully passed the ball into the bottom right corner with his left foot.

As half-time approached, the game reached boiling point when Ahmedhodzic reacted to some wind-up antics from Bassette, and United’s centre-back would see red from the referee.

The players headed down the tunnel for half-time, and it certainly wasn’t peaceful as Sky Sports camera’s picked up plenty of pushing and shoving, with Vinicius Souza trying to calm the situations down.

Second Half

Chris Wilder opted for a change at the interval; Femi Seriki was subbed on for the goalscorer Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, signalling that United were preparing for a hard-nosed defensive display in the second half.

Even though United began the second half in the lead, there was a real buzz around the CBS Arena given the home side had a man advantage for 45 minutes and change.

It was all Coventry to start the final 45 minutes, but much like the first half, they struggled to carve out good shooting opportunities, partly down to some heroic defending from the likes of Harry Souttar and Vinicius Souza.

United’s hearts were in their mouth on the hour mark when substitute Brandon Thomas-Asante went down in the box and the referee blew his whistle. However, his whistle signalled a dive which led to the forward being booked. Harrison Burrows didn’t take too kindly to the cheating antics and he picked up a yellow card which forced Chris Wilder to bring on Sam McCallum in his place, not wanting to risk another player being dismissed.

A few minutes later when the game resumed, Milan van Ewijk found a chance to shoot outside of the box after a drop of the shoulder, only to see his thunderous strike hit the outside of the post.

With the entire second half being played in the Sheffield United half, it looked like Coventry finally struck back level when Ephron Mason-Clark squared the ball in the box to Thomas-Asante, who fired into the net. But the celebrations were premature because the United back line held their line perfectly and forced the forward offside.

Soon after, Gustavo Hamer was forced to leave the field with an injury, being replaced by Jamie Shackleton, and the other returning midfielder Callum O’Hare would be replaced by Ryan Oné.

As the game ticked into the final ten minutes with the Blades still in the lead, Coventry were awarded a free-kick fractions outside of the penalty area on the right. With Rudoni standing over the ball and the Blades dropping deep into the six-yard box, he tee’d up Ben Sheaf on the edge of the box who had all the time in the world to shoot, but his shot was magnificently blocked.

From the resulting corner, Harry Souttar lost his man at the far post and Bobby Thomas capitalised to score a free header.

With plenty of time remaining, plus seven minutes added time, the threat of Coventry City only grew after their equaliser. But with some gamesmanship and gritty defending, Chris Wilder’s men would bleed the game out and secure a hard-fought point on their travels.