Tony Mowbray delighted as Blackburn break down 10-man Coventry

Posted Sunday, October 25, 2020 by PA

Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray was delighted as Adam Armstrong’s double helped his side break down 10-man Coventry to claim a 4-0 victory at St Andrew’s.

The Rovers striker took his tally to eight for the season in all competitions with goals either side of half-time, while on-loan Liverpool winger Harvey Elliott added a third and Sam Gallagher wrapped it up late on.

Coventry offered little in the way of return, aside from a red card for defender Michael Rose after a clumsy challenge in the box early in the game.

Mowbray said: “They’re a really decent football team and if we’d have played against 11 for 90 minutes it would have been really tough for us.

“But I’m delighted with the quality at the top end of the pitch – young Elliott is really tight with the ball and he was excellent and Adam Armstrong does what he does, scoring again.

“I thought we played with the intensity that’s required. Plenty to be pleased with. I’d have liked a second goal before half-time.

“Lewis Holtby could have scored two or three and a second goal would have allowed us to be more relaxed in the second half, but we got the goal pretty early in the second half so I was pleased with that.

“It’s not easy against 10 men sometimes, when a team sits back with wide men breaking away – it can be dangerous so I was pleased when the second went in and we did good to break them down because Coventry are a very well-coached team.”

Rose got a straight red card for fouling Ben Brereton in the box and Armstrong stepped up to send Marko Marosi the wrong way and give Blackburn the lead after 15 minutes.

Brereton assisted Armstrong’s second just after the restart and then teed up Elliott, the 17-year-old showing enough composure to grab his first senior goal.

Elliott then turned provider as Blackburn wrapped up the victory with a fourth after 88 minutes through substitute Sam Gallagher.

Coventry manager Mark Robins said: “It was a tough afternoon. I thought we started off quite brightly, this was always going to be tough with 11 men but when you lose someone it’s difficult.

“You want to get a foothold, and when they’ve got a man extra it makes a big difference and we got to a stage where we couldn’t cope with it and there were times we caved in.

“It’s a game we have to try and learn from because the quality just wasn’t there today and we have to try and move past it and not look too deeply at it.

“The only positive was we kept the score down at half-time, and trying to play with 10 men against a team who moves the ball the way Blackburn do is difficult.”