Viktor Gyokeres enters double figures as Coventry City end their winless run at home with victory over Stoke

Coventry City went into their game against Stoke City on Tuesday night in need of a win on their own patch. The Sky Blues hadn’t won at the Coventry Building Society Arena in the league since early November having been victorious in each of their first six Championship home games of the season.

Moreover, it was a meeting of two sides outside of the playoffs, but who still both had very realistic chances of ending the campaign in the top-six.

Coventry were tenth, Stoke were ninth with a point separating the two sides; it couldn’t have been much closer going into proceedings in Warwickshire.

The little margin of separation between the two sides was evident from the first minute as neither side managed to create a chance of note in the early stages of the contest.

That was until Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres was gift-wrapped a golden opportunity after a mix-up in the Stoke defence to break the deadlock, but the Swede could only fire down the throat of Potters goalkeeper Jack Bonham.

The 23-year-old once again went close just before half-time as a goalmouth scramble led to the forward getting a shot away with Bonham having to make a point-blank save.

Two excellent opportunities should have been converted to give the hosts a comfortable lead going into the interval, but Gyokeres didn’t give up. He rallied in the second half, continued working hard, and the reward eventually came.

Another mix up at the back from the visitors allowed Coventry to win the ball high up the pitch, as Ben Sheaf found his Swedish teammate who dribbled with ease and tested his luck from 20 yards out, facing very little objection from those in red and white, finding the bottom right corner and giving his side a deserved lead.

The goal was the 23-year-old’s tenth of the season but what is peculiar is the fact that Gyokeres hadn’t found the back of the net since the 2nd October, ending a 14 game goal drought.

In less time (11 games), the forward netted nine goals during a scorchingly hot start to the campaign but has had to wait almost four months to score again.

Chants from the Sky Blues faithful in the South-East corner of: “E-I-E-I-E-I-O, up the Football League we go” and “we’re on our way, to the Premier League, we’re on our way” rang around the CBS Arena, suggesting that they have faith; they have every right to believe.

Mark Robins’ side have now leapfrogged Michael O’Neill’s team with their 1-0 victory into ninth and are just four points off of sixth-placed Huddersfield. Moreover, the Sky Blues have two games in hand on the Terriers – who the Potters face on Friday night.

With 20 games to go, the season could drop on either side of the scales for Coventry, however, the side that were in League Two as recently as 2018, are still very much in the hunt to achieve something truly special.

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