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73 min: Banel, who had his chances to put Derby into the lead, is replaced by Fraulo.
72 min: Onyeka busies himself down the right and wins a corner. Nothing comes of it, but Coventry are well on top now.
70 min: Hats off to Frank Lampard for the supersub. Hats off to Van Ewijk, too, who seconds earlier had wasted a similarly good opportunity to cross from the right. His delivery not for the first time this evening poor. But he didn’t give up, kept coming back, and this time was on the money.
GOAL! Coventry City 2-1 Derby County (Rudoni 68)
Rudoni sends Van Ewijk into space down the right. Van Ewijk reaches the byline and cuts back for Rudoni, who traps but slips. However the slip inadvertently sends the Derby defence the wrong way! Rudoni gets back up, shifts the ball to his left, and whistles a low shot into the bottom right! Derby wrong-footed as one!
67 min: That slew of substitutions has kind of jiggered the flow of the game. It’s like the international break never stopped.
65 min: Since the break, Coventry have made 35 passes in the opposition’s final third to Derby’s four. The visitors have to do something, so they swap out Morris for Agyemang.
63 min: The triple change, then. Mason-Clark, Wright and Rudoni replace Eccles, Simms and Esse.
62 min: Coventry’s tails are up. Derby pinned back. The final ball is lacking, though, so Coventry prepare a triple change. Before it can be made, Derby boss John Eustace is booked for telling it as he sees it.
60 min: Grimes cuts Derby apart with a forensic slide down the inside-right channel. He releases Van Ewijk, whose cutback is no good. But Coventry come again, this time down the left flank. Esse releases Eccles, who sends another one-on-one effort straight at the keeper! Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
58 min: Esse slips Dasilva into space down the left. Dasilva’s low cross is battered clear by Murkin. This is pretty intense.
56 min: … and now Derby get away with a huge one. Ward’s backpass is intercepted by Eccles, who faces down O’Donnell. Eccles opens his body and aims for the bottom right, but telegraphs his intention and the keeper blocks well. The rebound falls to Simms, who hoicks over the bar. Both teams making mistakes, both going unpunished.
55 min: Onyeka nearly gifts possession to Ozoh, 35 yards from his own goal. Coventry have suddenly got a bit sloppy. A better touch from Ozoh and he’d have been away. The hosts getting away with a couple.
53 min: Travis cynically walks into the path of Esse, and it’s a free kick. He’s already been booked, so really wants to watch himself here. You’ve seen referees book folk for less. The bar’s always higher for a second yellow, I guess, even if we all know it shouldn’t be.
52 min: Sakamoto whips a dangerous cross in from the right. Clarke clears yet again, with Simms lurking. Derby counter through Brereton Diaz on the right. He crosses low and hard. Thomas tries to intercept with a slide, but misses the ball. If Banel controls with his first touch, he’s one on one with Rushworth. But his first touch is clunky, and that allows Thomas to spring up and flick clear.
50 min: Sakamoto and Van Ewijk combine well down the right, but when the ball’s cut back for Grimes, the resulting cross goes straight down O’Donnell’s throat. It’s Derby’s fans making the most noise at the moment.
49 min: Sakamoto sprays a right-to-left diagonal in the direction of Esse, but Ward diverts the ball back to O’Donnell with a stooping header. Promising early second-half signs for Coventry, after being on the back foot so much just before the break.
47 min: Coventry are on the front foot immediately. Esse shoots. Blocked. Another wave. Esse crosses. Clarke, who has been excellent tonight, clears.
Coventry get the second half underway. No changes. Yet.
Half-time postbag. “Evening Scott. [Deletes half-written email about how Derby have got little out of the top six this season, probably aren’t yet ready for the play offs, but have maintained appreciable progress for a third year on the trot so that’s OK.] GAME ON!! HAVE THAT, FRANK LAMPARD’S COVENTRY CITY!!!!” – Tom Hopkins
HALF TIME: Coventry City 1-1 Derby County
The whistle goes before Derby can take a corner, and Coventry disappear down the tunnel. Derby have been much the better side. Work for the league leaders to do. Derby’s play-off hopes are real.
45 min +3: They really could! Because Ozoh’s hustle wins possession out on the left. The ball’s shifted to the right for Ward, who crosses to the far post. Morris heads back across goal, but Banel can’t force a header home from six yards. Coventry somehow escape!
45 min +2: Coventry really could do with hearing that whistle all right.
45 min +1: Esse plays a loose backpass straight to Banel, who is suddenly one on one with the keeper! He aims low and hard for the bottom right, but Rushworth makes a crucial stop! Derby should be leading. But what heroics from the Coventry keeper.
45 min: There will be three additional first-half minutes.
43 min: Esse probes down the left and wins a corner off Ward, who he looks to have the beating of. Everyone in sky blue comes up for the set piece … but Eccles hoicks it over everyone’s head and out for a goal kick. The CBS Arena a little bit stunned by the momentum shift. Frank Lampard not looking quite so content now.
41 min: Now Clarke gets back to the day job, stopping Simms as the Coventry striker bustles down the middle of the park. Derby have their tails up, and they counter, Brereton Diaz sending a low cross into the Coventry box. Kitching clears. All of a sudden, Coventry could do with hearing the half-time whistle.
40 min: That was one hell of a cross from Clarke, it really was. And a fine run by the Derby centre-back to get himself into a position to deliver it! Wow.
GOAL! Coventry City 1-1 Derby County (Brereton Diaz 38)
They’ve got some reward now! Clarke channels his inner Beckenbauer to dribble his way down the inside-left channel. He reaches the edge of the box and whips in a stunning cross to the far stick. Brereton Diaz, steaming in from the other side, plants a header across Rushworth and in! A wonderful connection, but the quality of the cross was such that he could hardly miss!
37 min: Derby have enjoyed 58 percent of possession since the Coventry goal. But they’ve not forced Rushworth into any meaningful action.
36 min: There are no recriminations. Simms was within his rights to go for the ball he’d flicked into the Derby box, and he accidentally poked the keeper instead. Thankfully O’Donnell is fine. Hard but fair. We all play on.
35 min: The tempo drops, and for the first time this evening the CBS Arena falls quiet. But suddenly Sakamoto loops a long pass down the right. Simms juggles the ball inside Sanderson and stretches a leg for it. O’Donnell comes off his line to bravely smother, because he takes a clatter from Simms for his trouble.
33 min: A period of Derby possession in Coventry territory. But they don’t apply any serious pressure. On the touchline, Frank Lampard looks calm and content.
