Coventry fight back to draw against fellow play-off hopefuls Watford

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2023 by PA

Coventry and Watford played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the CBS Arena that did little for their respective play-off dreams in the Championship.

First-half goals from Joao Pedro and Imran Louza put the Hornets 2-0 up but Matthew Godden and Ben Sheaf rescued a point for the Sky Blues.

Coventry sit three points off the play-off places with Watford a further three points off the pace with five games remaining.

Just like their previous home game against Stoke, Coventry conceded early as Pedro found the back of the net after six minutes.

Following an interception in the centre of midfield, Pedro was released on goal and cut inside Kyle McFadzean before slotting his effort elegantly past goalkeeper Ben Wilson.

Gustavo Hamer provided Coventry’s first spark of the afternoon as he dribbled into the box, but saw his powerful effort parried away by Ben Hamer.

The home side enjoyed a good spell in the game but were nearly caught napping in the 18th minute as Ismaila Sarr raced through on goal but slammed his shot high into the stands.

The Watford pace on the break was fierce and the Sky Blues needed Wilson multiple times to scramble out of goal and clear the danger.

Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Viktor Gyokeres both had opportunities to level the scoring but neither could make them count before the break.

Against the run of play, Watford doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time through midfielder Louza. His initial shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded back to the Moroccan’s feet and he duly volleyed into the bottom right corner.

Watford burst out of the traps in the second period, hoping to finish off the match with a third goal and almost got exactly that, but Wilson was equal to Louza’s shot.

Coventry rallied and the home side began an onslaught on the visitor’s goal.

They pulled one back in the 58th minute thanks to a marvellous curling effort from Godden.

Sheaf failed to hit the target twice from close range but with 18 minutes left it was his back-post header that levelled the scores.

But the home side were frustrated in their attempts to find a winner and felt they should have had a penalty when Brooke Norton-Cuffy appeared to be tripped in the penalty area with nine minutes left.

Watford were shellshocked and could count themselves lucky to leave the West Midlands with a point, despite their dominant half-time position.