Haji Wright headed a late winner as Coventry made it consecutive wins with a 1-0 victory over Blackburn.
The Sky Blues had hit the crossbar three times on the night, firstly through Matty Godden and Bobby Thomas, before Yasin Ayari’s effort rebounded off the woodwork only for Wright to nod home five minutes from time.
The American’s second Sky Blues goal since his summer arrival from Antalyaspor condemned Rovers to their fourth straight defeat, with Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men having conceded 12 in the process.
Rovers hit the crossbar themselves in the first half through on-loan Bournemouth defender James Hill, while Sammie Szmodics saw an early effort curl wide of Ben Wilson’s goal after good work from Tyrhys Dolan.
Mark Robins’ Sky Blues pipped their visitors to a play-off place by one point last season, but the two came into the clash languishing in 14th and 18th in the league table after slow starts to the campaign.
Hill went closest in a subdued first half when he crashed his thunderous effort against the crossbar, in what would have been a memorable way to mark the 21-year-old’s first league start for Rovers.
Ellis Simms had opened his Sky Blues account with a brace against QPR in a welcome 3-1 win for Coventry at the weekend, but was kept quiet by the Rovers back-line which included former Sky Blue Dominic Hyam.
Injury-plagued Coventry skipper Liam Kelly hobbled off 25 minutes into the contest and was replaced by Brighton loanee Ayari, who could have opened the scoring immediately for the hosts.
He was picked out in acres of space in the box by Jay Dasilva, but scuffed his effort.
Coventry rattled the crossbar for the first time merely 30 seconds after the restart when Sweden international Ayari cut back for Godden, but the Sky Blues’ top scorer could only lift his effort against the woodwork from close range.
Blackburn had the ball in the net shortly after as Brighton loanee Andrew Moran celebrated what would have been his first career goal to a chorus of boos from the home crowd.
However, after consulting his assistant, referee Jeremy Simpson deemed Moran had fouled goalkeeper Wilson by kicking the ball out of his hands and tapping home, keeping things all square.
The goal in front of the traveling support was living a charmed life as Thomas was next to hit the woodwork, latching onto an out-swinging corner and firing his effort against Leopold Wahlstedt’s crossbar.
Substitute Arnor Sigurdsson should have ended Coventry’s unbeaten home record when he found himself through on goal with two for company, but his tame effort was straight at the chest of the Sky Blues stopper.
But on 85 minutes Coventry got the luck they felt they had deserved.
Ayari’s effort rebounded off the crossbar before the Sky Blues’ record signing nodded home to secure Coventry’s second home win of the season.
West Brom 0-0 Southampton: Hawthorns draw sets up intriguing second leg
West Brom and Southampton played out a goalless draw at the Hawthorns on Sunday in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final.
Both teams had plenty of chances, but a combination of poor finishing and impressive goalkeeping from the Saints' Alex McCarthy and the Baggies' Alex Palmer ensured the tie remains finely poised for the return leg at St Mary's Stadium on Friday.
Roared on by a loud Hawthorns, the hosts started well but were unable to capitalise, and it was Southampton who went closest in the first half as Kyle Walker-Peters smashed a deflected effort wide, while Palmer kept out Flynn Downes' shot.
West Brom rallied, though, and had a golden opportunity to take the lead with 33 minutes on the clock as Grady Diangana nodded Tom Fellows' cross goalwards, only for McCarthy to get across and make a brilliant stop.
The tempo slowed somewhat after the interval, but the game burst into life again with just over 10 minutes to play, as McCarthy denied Diangana before substitute Ross Stewart lashed goalwards up the other end, only to see his shot somehow kept out by the wrong-footed Palmer.
Both sides pressed for a precious goal late on, but neither could break the deadlock and it remains all to play for at St Mary's to see who will face either Leeds United or Norwich City at Wembley on May 26.
Data debrief
There was certainly attacking endeavour on display at the Hawthorns, but neither side could find the back of the net despite the teams combining for 1.76 xG (expected goals), split 1.03 for Southampton and 0.73 for the hosts.
With Norwich and Leeds drawing 0-0 in their first leg earlier on Sunday, it is the first time since 2011 that the first leg of both Championship play-off semi-finals have ended goalless.
West Brom 0-0 Southampton: Hawthorns stalemate sets up intriguing second-leg
West Brom and Southampton played out a 0-0 draw at the Hawthorns on Sunday in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final.
Both teams had plenty of chances, but a combination of poor finishing and impressive goalkeeping from the Saints' Alex McCarthy and the Baggies' Alex Palmer ensured the tie remains finely poised for the return leg at St Mary's Stadium on Friday.
Roared on by a loud Hawthorns, the hosts started well but were unable to capitalise, and it was Southampton who went closest in the first half an hour after weathering the early storm as Kyle Walker-Peters smashed a deflected effort wide, while Palmer kept out Flynn Downes' shot.
West Brom rallied, though, and had a golden opportunity to take the lead with 33 minutes on the clock as Grady Diangana nodded Tom Fellows' cross goalwards, only for McCarthy to get across and make a brilliant stop.
The tempo slowed somewhat after the interval, but the game burst into life again with just over 10 minutes to play, as McCarthy denied Diangana before substitute Ross Stewart lashed goalwards up the other end, only to see his shot somehow kept out by the wrong-footed Palmer.
Both sides pressed for a precious goal late on, but neither could break the deadlock and it remains all to play for at St Mary's on Friday to see who will face either Leeds United or Norwich City at Wembley on May 26 in the Championship play-off final.
Data debrief
There was certainly attacking endeavour on display at the Hawthorns, but neither side could find the back of the net despite the teams combining for 1.76 xG (expected goals), split 1.03 for Southampton and 0.73 for the hosts.
With Norwich and Leeds drawing 0-0 in their first leg earlier on Sunday, it is the first time since 2011 that the first leg of both Championship play-off semi-finals have ended goalless.
Farke left fuming after Leeds disallowed goal
Daniel Farke was left fuming after Leeds United had a goal disallowed in their play-off semi-final first leg at Norwich on Sunday.
The game at Carrow Road ultimately ended 0-0, with both sides failing to seriously trouble the opposition goalkeeper as the teams combined for just 0.8 xG (expected goals).
It leaves the tie finely poised ahead of Thursday's second leg at Elland Road, but despite his side heading back to home turf with a clean sheet and level in the tie, Farke was left frustrated by a first-half incident which saw Junior Firpo put the ball in the net following a mix-up between Shane Duffy and Angus Gunn, only for the offside flag to be raised.
Farke believes the goal should have stood and bemoaned decisions that have gone against his side this season, telling reporters: "I can just recommend everyone should have a look on the scouting feed, it's not offside.
"I'm annoyed. I have to make sure I'm not too much in a rage. Small details make a difference, if you go in the lead it changes the picture. In the end, everyone speaks about Wembley, a £100m game. At this level, all the decisions have to be spot on.
"Perhaps [the linesman] was a bit scared the whole stadium is moaning if he doesn’t give offside. No, in doubt you give it in favour to the attacker. It's definitely not offside.
"If you want to be in charge of such a game you have to be spot on. I have 12 letters apologising already this season. We have to make sure we find a way even though this crucial decision went against us."
Despite his annoyance at the disallowed goal, Farke remained content with his side's display as they bounced back from a challenging end to the regular season with a clean sheet.
"When you play a play-off semi-final with two legs, an away draw and a clean sheet at a difficult ground is always a good and solid result," Farke continued.
"The last games in the regular season were not great, we conceded too many goals and in away games especially. We wanted to be rock solid today against the ball.
"Overall I have to say I'm pretty happy. We have a massive game on Thursday evening. It's just half-time."
Though David Wagner's Norwich side now face the daunting task of a trip to Elland Road, the Canaries boss feels his players are capable of overcoming the raucous home atmosphere to reach the final at Wembley.
Wagner is also looking to draw upon his experiences during his time at Huddersfield, where his Terriers team beat Sheffield Wednesday on penalties at Hillsborough before going on to win another shoot-out at Wembley against Reading to clinch Premier League promotion.
"Every single second we are in the game at Elland Road, it is a minute in our favour," Wagner stated at his post-match news conference.
"I said beforehand we are the underdogs. The expectation is on Leeds. We know this.
"I have experienced being the away team in the play-offs."
Norwich captain Kenny McLean echoed his manager's belief that the Canaries can go and win at Elland Road, telling Sky Sports: "We know how good Leeds can be at home and they'll fancy their chances, but we’re a very good team as well."
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