Cardiff City outclass Coventry City
Cardiff City continued to put pressure on Queens Park Rangers at the top of the Championship after they defeated Coventry 2-1 away from home.
Peter Whittingham opened the scoring with a penalty for Cardiff before Gary McSheffrey equalised for the home side. Jay Bothroyd denied Coventry a point with a well taken goal with only four minutes to play.
Coventry battled for most of the match, but Cardiff proved to be more clinical up front and had the extra class throughout their team.
The visitors started brightly and took the lead after only five minutes. Ben Turner hauled back Cardiff striker Michael Chopra denying him from getting onto the end of Whittingham’s cross.
The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Whittingham dispatched the penalty confidently past Kieran Westwood in the Coventry goal.
Craig Bellamy, Chopra, Gabor Gyepes and Whittingham all had chances to extend Cardiff’s lead, but Coventry survived the onslaught thanks to some dogged defending and Westwood’s saves.
Coventry came more and more into the game as Cardiff failed to keep up the early tempo, but the Welsh side appeared to be comfortably in control of the game.
However, the Sky Blues were gifted a goal and a way back into the match just before half-time. Cardiff defender Mark Hudson gave the ball away after a poor pass was intercepted by McSheffrey.
The striker raced clear and beat Kevin McNaughton for pace before finishing with a well struck shot.
Coventry started the second half better and Lee Carsley started to dictate the play for the home side.
Cardiff goalkeeper Tom Heaton made a good save from Aron Gunnersson, while Bellamy missed a chance for the Bluebirds.
Cardiff began to show their quality and Coventry were forced to drop deeper as the match wore on.
The game looked as if it was heading for a draw until Chris Burke found himself in space on the left wing. The Scottish player whipped in a low cross and Bothroyd got in front of his marker to fire past Kieran Westwood in the Coventry goal.
The result means that Cardiff have closed the gap at the top of the Championship to two points as league leader’s QPR could only manage a 0-0 draw with Welsh side Swansea.
Cardiff manager Dave Jones appears to be building momentum at the club and with the acquisition of Craig Bellamy they should have the quality to gain promotion this season.
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