Coventry and Boro battle out goalless draw in first leg

THERE was no breakthrough in the first leg of the Championship semifinal between Coventry and Middlesbrough as the two sides played out a cagey 0-0 draw at the CBS Arena.

There were few chances over the course of the 90 minutes, with Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson required to make a couple of decent saves in the first half. Frustratingly for the Sky Blues, who have waited 22 years for a chance to return to the Premier League, they could not muster a shot on target.

Michael Carrick’s side will now look to make better use of home advantage when the sides reconvene at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday night.

Six days on from these two teams facing each other on the final day of the regular season, the first big chance went Middlesbrough’s way after 13 minutes when Riley McGree played the ball through and Chuba Akpom’s dink deflected off Wilson and on to the bar.

The visitors were the first to settle after a scrappy opening, with Coventry unable to make many incursions into their opponents’ half.

The Sky Blues’ first effort on goal, an off-target header by captain Liam Kelly in the 28th minute, lifted the crowd but they soon had Wilson to thank again for keeping the game goalless. Isaiah Jones found himself in behind down the right and the wing-back’s effort from a narrow angle needing turning behind by Coventry’s last line of defence.

Jones then had the ball in the net for Boro four minutes before halftime after being played through by Akpom, but the assistant’s flag had already been raised for offside.

Middlesbrough continued to make the better chances early in the second half as Akpom headed McGree’s cross narrowly wide just over a minute after the restart.