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Oct 30, 2020 at 7.45pm UK at Ricoh Arena
Championship | Gameweek 9
Coventry
3 - 2
Reading
Hamer (23'), Godden (76'), McCallum (85')
Skiri Oestigaard (39'), Hamer (42'), Rose (79'), Hyam (83'), Marosi (87')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Joao (66'), Puscas (90+1')

Coventry condemn Reading to first defeat of the season

The win lifted Coventry out of the relegation zone.

A stunning Coventry performance saw league leaders Reading slip to their first game of the season in a 3-2 defeat.

Gustavo Hamer's goal gave Coventry the lead, before Lucas Joao equalised.

But Matty Godden's poacher's finish and Sam McCallum's long-range strike secured the Sky Blues a much-needed three points – a late George Puscas goal was not enough to salvage anything for the previously undefeated Royals.

It was the home side who unexpectedly opened the scoring on 23 minutes through midfielder Hamer.

The goal came when the eventual goal scorer picked up a Max Biamou knock down in the middle of the pitch. Hamer picked out a marauding Ryan Giles who fed a ball into Godden on the edge of the box. The striker laid the ball off for Hamer, who beautifully side-footed his shot past Rafael Cabral and into the bottom corner from 20 yards out.

Being behind was unfamiliar territory for Reading, and they struggled to gain a foothold in the first half, and it was the home side who attacked with the greater intent.

The Royals first real threat since going down midway through the first half didn't come until the 59th minute. Tomas Esteves' whipped free-kick looked dangerous, and though Joao rose above all contenders, his flicked header went wide of the post.

Joao's persistence eventually paid off when he got Reading level on 66 minutes. The forward was fed the ball by Josh Laurent and used his strength to drift in from the right-hand side. His drilled left-footed shot from just outside the box was low and hard enough to beat Marko Marosi and go into the bottom corner for his sixth league goal this season.

Coventry showed their fighting spirit to retake the lead 10 minutes later on 76 minutes through Godden. The goal came from a training ground set-piece after a corner was drilled to Fankaty Dabo on the edge of the box.

The quick corner caught Reading unawares, giving Dabo plenty of space to shoot left footed at Cabral who got well down to save. But Godden's finely tuned striker's instincts meant he was the first to react and he put the ball away to put Coventry ahead.

The match was then put beyond Reading's reach by a stunning goal from substitute McCallum. The Norwich loanee was fed the ball from a deep free-kick which Reading had expected to be lumped into the box. He advanced from the right, cutting into his favoured left foot before firing a vicious effort from 35 yards beyond Cabral.

George Puscas made it 3-2 in stoppage time, his calm finish from a deep cross on 90 minutes setting up a nervy finish for Coventry.

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Veljko Paunovic pictured in March 2019
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Tables
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4Middlesbrough432281382523074
5Coventry CityCoventry4417151255451066
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8West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom421712135445963
9Preston North EndPreston441712154452-863
10Sunderland431614136152962
11Norwich CityNorwich441711165651562
12Swansea CitySwansea441711166461362
13Watford441514155251159
14Bristol City441414165254-256
15Hull City441414165060-1056
16Stoke CityStoke441411195551453
17Birmingham CityBirmingham441411194654-853
18Queens Park RangersQPR441211214369-2647
19Rotherham UnitedRotherham431016174758-1146
20Cardiff CityCardiff431210213852-1446
21Huddersfield TownHuddersfield431111214261-1944
22Reading441310214565-2043
23Blackpool441011234569-2441
24Wigan AthleticWigan441013213764-2740

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