Darren Ferguson: Peterborough played like a struggling side

Posted Sunday, October 27, 2019 by PA

Darren Ferguson felt Peterborough played like a team at the bottom of the table after salvaging a 2-2 draw against Coventry.

Posh, who had started the day at the top of Sky Bet League One, fell back into the play-off places despite Mo Eisa equalising five minutes into stoppage time.

Coventry, who missed the chance to draw level with their opponents, looked to have earned their first away win of the season thanks to Max Biamou’s stunning scissor-kick in the 85th minute, following earlier strikes from Amadou Bakayoko and Posh’s Marcus Maddison.

Ferguson said: “The most important thing was we were only one-nil down at half-time. I was pleased at half-time with the scoreline, not with the performance, because the game could have been over. They were dominant.

“We didn’t keep the ball well enough, we weren’t aggressive enough, we lost every battle – tackles, second balls. It doesn’t matter what talent you’ve got, you’ve got to win the fight first.

“We got ourselves together at half-time and I calmed them down. We were lacking a lot of composure. It was almost like we were bottom of the league at the start of the game.

“The players responded very well and their performance was very good in the second half. Once Marcus scored I thought we would go on and win it and we should have done.

“You have to give the opposition credit, they are a very good team, but that’s two games in a row we’ve not started well.”

Bakayoko’s near-post opener for the dominant visitors came after 12 minutes following a Biamou through ball, but seven minutes into the second half Posh’s Ivan Toney was fouled inside the area by Kyle McFadzean, with Maddison sending goalkeeper Marko Marosi the wrong way.

Biamou’s superb effort from 15 yards looked to have won the match before Siriki Dembele found Eisa inside the area and he curled in his 11th league goal of the season.

Coventry boss Mark Robins praised Biamou, who has fought back from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

He said: “We were so close, yet so far away. The game is done, and we have to learn lessons, harsh lessons, because Peterborough are a good side and they were top of the division for a reason. They score goals at will, so we knew we had to score.

“In the first half I thought we controlled the game really well. We got a really good goal, a good finish, and we had chances to go and seal it.

“Second half they came out and were brighter than us for whatever reason. We just didn’t start and stopped passing the ball and lost control of the game a little bit.

“Once we regained composure that belief started to grow which brought about the second goal and, when it came, it was a brilliant goal. It was a great move, a good ball in and great finish.”