Championship new boys Coventry beat QPR in a Friday night thriller
ADELIGHTED Mark Robins applauded his Coventry side, who came from a goal down to beat QPR and gain their first points back in the Championship.
QPR took the lead four minutes before half-time through a Lydon Dykes penalty, but Coventry hit straight back with a Matty Godden header on the stroke of the break.
Second-half goals from Callum O’Hare and Kyle McFadzean were enough to give the home side the points, despite a Yoann Barbet response.
Robins said after the game: “We took a bit of time to get going. We were just getting used to the speed, maybe that was a surprise. QPR are expansive and we didn’t cope with it well.
“The penalty was harsh and the set-piece they scored from could have been avoided.
“We looked a little bit shellshocked in the first half, Championship football is quicker than League One and there’s not many in our team who have experienced that – and QPR are a difficult side to play against.
“O’Hare’s goal was outstanding and we managed to make plenty of chances. A good evening’s football, I’m delighted.”
Despite dominating the first half, QPR went in level at halftime. The penalty was awarded after a challenge from Coventry skipper McFadzean, who was beaten to a loose ball in the area by a sharper Bright Osayi-Samuel. Dykes subsequently slammed home the penalty.
The home side responded immediately, however, with an equaliser from Godden on the stroke of half-time. Excellent work from Ryan Giles saw the wing-back stand up a beautiful cross, allowing Godden to take his time and meet the cross with a header at the far post. The goal late in the half gave Coventry a huge boost and the Sky Blues managed to take the lead through a delightful O’Hare goal after 50 minutes.
Excellent work from Fankaty Dabo allowed the wingback to hit a low cross into the box, finding an incoming O’Hare, who exquisitely got the ball under control and finished low past Joe Lumley.
Rangers then got level after 76 minutes when Coventry failed to clear an Ilias Chair corner, allowing Barbet to bring the ball down and blast a vicious left-footed finish into the roof of Coventry’s net.
But the hosts clinched the points when McFadzean rocketed a brilliant header past Lumley after meeting a perfect corner from Gustavo Hamer in the 86th minute.
Rangers manager Mark Warburton said: “Coventry are a good team, they will cause sides a lot of problems this year because promoted teams know how to play and win together.
“We were very good in the first half, but we kept letting them in and we were punished for it and it buoyed them when we didn’t get the rewards.
“To let them get back in with it is really poor after playing so well in the first half.
“They dropped deeper and we didn’t match the intensity of the first 15 minutes of the second half. But then we got equal, but we should have got something from the game then.”