For just the second time in the team’s history—after their victory in 1987—Coventry City advanced to the FA Cup semifinals, pulling off another incredibly impressive performance and accomplishment.
For the fortunate 4,800 supporters who were able to secure tickets, the Sky Blues triumphed over Premier League Wolves with a thrilling stoppage time double, turning what appeared to be a 2-1 loss completely around. It was one of those memorable “I was there” moments.
From the first whistle, City dominated their opponents in the top flight, displaying fearlessness and confidence in every player’s superb performance on the day, which made the thousands of spectators at home and in other locations and bars as well as those in attendance extremely proud.
READ MORE: Mark Robins’ words to his Coventry City players, “Screaming for an eternity,” ignited a thrilling late FA Cup victory
The contest fluctuated, with City having more than their share of opportunities and one horrible miss before eventually reaping the benefits when Ellis Simms gave them the lead. Hugo Bueno and Ryan Ait-Nouri scored two goals in the final ten minutes to overcome that, sending the Molineux supporters into a frenzy of “que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, we’re going to Wemberly.”
However, Coventry’s tenacity and a healthy dose of “we’ll fight ’til the game is won” mentality resulted to a thrilling finish, with Simms drawing even in the 97th minute and setting up Haji Wright for an incredible winner three minutes later in a thrilling game finale. Thus, for the fourth time in seven years, little old Championship Coventry City will be playing at the Arch as Robins continues to provide happy memories and experiences for the fortunate young who don’t know any different and the long-suffering “old,” whose devotion through the good times is now being rewarded. Here are a few of the main talking points from the thrilling 3-2 victory in the FA Cup quarterfinal.
Adding insult to injury, £161 million
The Wolves injury list was one of the first topics discussed by both managers in their respective post-match press conferences. Mark Robins acknowledged this, saying, “Coming into the game you know they have injuries to key players – I mean, Pedro Neto is ridiculous.” We are deeply saddened by the loss of a couple we know, but it does show that there is still hope.
In contrast, Gary O’Neil declared in his opening gambit, “I am proud of the players.” Naturally, it’s difficult to remain optimistic after a loss, but the outcome of today’s game is just a culmination of the club’s progress over the previous few years, and we’re left with just one senior attacking player who is fit at a Premier League team! It’s difficult, and Coventry was able to take advantage of our inadequacies on the day to win. I’m devastated that we fell just short.
Even though the Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha, who is now absent, cost a staggering £44 million, Jeanricner Bellegarde signed for £12.8 million, and Neto is currently valued at £47 million, the Sky Blues were still significant underdogs going into the game because O’Neil’s starting lineup was still worth approximately £161 million, not including homegrown teenage striker Nathan Fraser. Conversely, Coventry’s entire roster is just worth £45 million.
Robins’ excellent strategic curve ball
Mark Robins changed his team’s formation to further demonstrate his cunning strategy. Due in large part to the loss of winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto for the rest of the season, he had been using a back three with wing-backs with some degree of success. However, he pulled off an unexpected switch to a back four, using Milan van Ewijk wide of a forward three. The boss has been reluctant to use the Dutchman, especially at first, despite the fact that he has been a clear alternative to step in higher up the pitch. However, it was a great success, as Van Ewijk outmuscled his opponent and scored several well-placed crosses. This bodes well for the rest of the season. With the initial teamsheet suggesting City will remain with a back three and use him and Bidwell as wing-backs, Gary O’Neil will most likely not have been anticipating that.
Similar to this, Robins played Jay Dasilva wide on the left at Leeds in December after Daniel Farke conceded, grudgingly and somewhat harshly, that the “defensive” decision had taken him off guard. Furthermore, Van Ewijk was a dangerous conduit for attacks even if he provided solid support for Joel Latibeaudiere, who was used at right-back.
It’s interesting to note that the game was briefly stopped when Wolves’ man of the match contender Jose Sa fell down hurt early in the first half for no apparent reason. Call me cynical, but while the goalie was getting treatment, the other players hurried to the technical area to grab refreshments, and several of them huddled around an iPad while the manager and his coaches tried to correct them about changing their on-field strategies.
VAR had a role.
A significant number of both biased and impartial observers believed that Nelson Semedo should have been sent off for his high boot challenge on Callum O’Hare, which caused the attacking midfielder for City to need medical attention after taking a brutal blow to the nose. The Wolves midfielder was “lucky” to get away with it, according to ITV pundit Ally McCoist, and the fact that he tried to pull his foot away at the last second might have rescued him from a VAR review.
The brilliant 4,800-strong Sky Blue Army became a little restless when Ellis Simms’ opener was repeatedly and intensely examined from every angle for a possible hand ball. There was even some booing as the game was delayed for more than four minutes before the goal was finally confirmed, with the footage remaining inconclusive. The Sky Blues, of course, are not used to such checks. Even though it was frustrating to have to wait in suspense for so long, the visitors ended up benefiting greatly from the time delay as it helped make up for the nine minutes of overtime that City needed to win in order to pull off their incredible “come from behind” victory.
MOM was minutes away from
Under normal conditions, Ellis Simms, the hero of the Sky Blues, should have won man-of-the-match after two goals and one assist in an exciting 3-2 victory, but he fell short at Molineux. After five of the nine extra minutes had elapsed, the ITV production crew waited to nominate, and understandably, Ally McCoist chose Rayan Ait-Nouri.
The Algerian forward put Wolves ahead 2-1 after setting up Hugo Bueno, a Spanish substitute. Just one minute had passed since McCoist’s official announcement when Simms scored his second goal from close range, and there was still time to set up Hadji Wright’s spectacular victory. José Sá cemented his claim to be Man of the Match with a string of outstanding saves prior to the late frenzy of four goals in 17 minutes, as City amassed 24 scoring efforts, twelve of which were on target. Commentator McCoist said, “The Portuguese keeper has kept Wolves in the game.” Radio Five analyst Leon Osman agreed.
Now that Coventry City has advanced to the FA Cup last four, it is safe to say that the other clubs in the competition are salivating over the possibility of losing to the Sky Blues. All of the teams, including Man City and the winners of Sunday’s other quarterfinal matches between Man United and Liverpool and Chelsea and Leicester, will view Coventry as a free ticket to the championship game.
Mark Robins responded, “You do realize who’s left in it!” when asked if his club could win the Cup and go all the way. Though we only have a slim chance, we must enjoy the semi-final match at Wembley. However, I don’t want to just claim that the statistics are fictitious.
“We have to go and enjoy it even though I know, and I am not stupid, that the levels go up all the time. I am expecting a really, really tough encounter when we get to Wembley.”
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