COVENTRY City got their season off to a solid start with a 1-1 draw away to Sunderland on Sunday, writes William Rogers.
The Sky Blues headed to the newly-promoted Black Cats hoping for a flying start in their promotion push, but were behind early as a fantastic Lynden Gooch cross was met at the back post by Jack Clarke.
The visitors were looking to celebrate Mark Robins’ 300th game in charge with a victory and began to put some pressure onto their hosts in a vociferous atmosphere at the Stadium of Light.
Jonathan Panzo came closest in the first half, firing a ferocious shot in from long range that was tipped onto the crossbar by Anthony Patterson.
After the break chances continued to flow for both sides with Elliott Embleton shooting over for Sunderland, whilst Matty Godden curled wide from the edge of the box for Coventry.
Robins rang in the changes in the dying minutes of the game, but it was star striker Viktor Gyokeres who provided a moment of magic to break 40,000 Mackem hearts.
Having skipped past two Sunderland defenders, he smashed a thunderous effort past Patterson into the bottom corner, leaving the hosts stunned and providing an early goal of the season contender.
After the game, Robins was upbeat about the point and his team’s chances moving forward.
He said: “From our point of view, it’s a good point.
“We tried to break into the game to bring our quality, but we didn’t do that often enough.
“There were too many turnovers of the ball to try and kill any momentum.”
On Gyokeres’ strike, he said: “Great start for him, gives him confidence and he’s like a bull at the moment because he wants to score goals and he’s managed to get one.”
Coventry’s next match is at home to Rotherham United, who drew their opening match 1-1 against Swansea City, on Sunday, before an EFL Cup match against Bristol City at the CBS Arena on Wednesday, August 10.
