Coventry manager Mark Robins refused to place the blame on Liam Kitching after the defender scored two own goals in his side’s 2-1 defeat against Cardiff.
It was a result that damaged the Sky Blues’ chances of reaching the Championship play-offs as they remained four points behind sixth-placed Norwich, who were beaten at Leicester earlier on Easter Monday.
The FA Cup semi-finalists’ run of three league wins in a row was also brought to a shuddering end as they were unable to build on a strong start and Ellis Simms’ opening goal.
Robins said: “Life gives you opportunities sometimes, you’ve got to do everything you can to try and take them. Today feels like one of those that’s got away.
“It [Kitching’s first own goal] is inexplicable, he looks like he’s trying to clear the crossbar with it, rather than move it to the side of the goal, that’s what it looks like to me.
“Sometimes it happens when you’re under pressure and you feel you’ve got to do something, and in that instance you’ve made the wrong decision and the consequences are there.
“I think, to all intents and purposes, that isn’t why we lose the game.
“We had 20 minutes at the end of sort of sustained pressure on them, where we’re trying to get the equaliser.
“We got the one chalked off for offside, but you’ve still got to have that spell where you’ve got to have some bravery.”
Coventry led after 22 minutes when Simms tapped in Milan van Ewijk’s cross for his 11th goal in seven games but Kitching cancelled this out by slamming into the top corner of his own net following a Joe Ralls corner.
Kitching’s miserable afternoon was complete midway through the second half when Josh Bowler’s cross inadvertently deflected in off him.
Cardiff boss Erol Bulut said: “It’s a great victory, in Coventry to win, to come back from 1-0 [down] and win the game was not easy because we’ve seen in Coventry’s last [few] games they’re pushing for the play-offs.
“For us, it’s a big victory and the most important thing is, after the Sunderland game, we’ve shown a reaction.
“It was a great reaction from our team to come back and show this performance.
“We did it [come from behind] a few weeks ago against Ipswich, but it’s not easy when you’ve lost two games in a row: the Swansea derby when the morale goes down and home against Sunderland when everybody was expecting a win.
“So, that’s why it’s really important to come back against Coventry.
“OK, the first goal was luck, the second one was a bigger luck because it’s a cross where the opponent touches it and it went into the goal.”
Tuchel to make Bayern Munich changes for Stuttgart ahead of Real Madrid clash
Bayern Munich travel to Stuttgart this weekend and are ready to rotate their side with the Champions League semi-final second leg at Real Madrid to come four days later, manager Thomas Tuchel said.
The league title has been secured by Bayer Leverkusen, and with the Bundesliga's top five clubs guaranteed Champions League football next season, Saturday's clash between Bayern in second and third-placed Stuttgart is not crucial.
"We will give a few players the chance to pick up some rhythm," Tuchel said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
"Of course, we will also take a few players out and allow ourselves to adapt the rhythm to Wednesday.
"But that doesn't relieve us of our responsibility, that those who play have to fight and show grit there."
Bayern drew 2-2 at home to Madrid on Tuesday, a game Matthijs de Ligt missed due to injury, and the Dutch defender will also sit out the trip to Stuttgart in the hope of making the return game in Spain.
"Matthijs de Ligt won't be in the squad, as the plan is that he returns to training on Sunday, then we have got three days," Tuchel said.
"Jamal Musiala won't be in the squad. Same procedure there. Dayot Upamecano will try and train [Friday], so we'll see."
Leroy Sane scored in the draw with Madrid, after missing the last four league games through injury. The winger has played three Champions League games in that time and will be in the squad for Stuttgart.
"You always try to have a connection to the players. Leroy's been training with pain for seven or eight weeks, but is always available," Tuchel said.
"He has a high threshold. He deserves the utmost respect there. He's a bit short there at the moment because he can't train properly.
"But he is in training and is coming to Stuttgart."
Bayern have 69 points, five ahead of Stuttgart with three games remaining.
Saudi Pro League: Mahrez and Firmino on target as Al-Ahli tighten grip on third place
Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino were both on target as Al-Ahli tightened their grip on third place in the Saudi Pro League table with a 4-1 win over Damac on Thursday.
Matthias Jaissle's team were four goals up within just 25 minutes as Damac folded, Ziyad Al Johani and Feras Al Brikan netting their first two before Franck Kessie was felled by Dhari Al Anazi for a penalty, converted by Mahrez.
Firmino then tapped home a fourth after being teed up by former Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin on the break, but Al-Ahli took their foot off the gas from there, Domagoj Antolic's second-half consolation rounding off the scoring.
Elsewhere, 10-man Al-Riyadh scored two stoppage-time draws to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw with Al-Fateh in Al-Mubarraz.
Goals from Djaniny and former Columbus Crew star Lucas Zelarayan put Slaven Bilic's hosts on the brink of victory, with Al-Riyadh playing almost half the game a player down after Khalid Al Shuwayyi's 54th-minute red card.
An astonishing collapse denied them, however, with Mohammed Al Shwirekh halving the arrears one minute into stoppage time before Didier Ndong headed in a left-wing cross three minutes later.
Thursday's other game saw Al-Hazm and Al-Akhdoud play out a goalless draw, keeping the hosts bottom of the table while Al-Akhdoud inched two points clear of the relegation zone.
Will Still leaves Reims job with immediate effect
Will Still has left his role as Reims head coach with immediate effect, the Ligue 1 club announced on Thursday.
Still took over as Reims boss – initially on an interim basis – after Oscar Garcia was sacked in October 2022 and went unbeaten through his first 19 league games at the helm.
The 31-year-old was eventually handed the role on a permanent basis and led Reims to an 11th-placed finish in Ligue 1 in 2022-23, with his lack of a UEFA Pro Licence causing the club to be fined €25,000 per match until he began the course.
Reims are currently 11th in Ligue 1 again, though they are winless in their last five games and have lost each of their last three.
In a statement, the club said: "Following a meeting this morning between president Jean-Pierre Caillot, general manager Mathieu Lacour and head coach Will Still, it was mutually agreed that the two parties would not continue the sporting adventure together next season.
"In order to allow Reims to confidently look forward to the next year, it was also decided that Will Still and his deputy Nicolas Still would step down from their respective functions as of today."
Still was linked with the Sunderland job earlier this season and said in February that he would be open to joining an "ambitious" Championship club.
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