Callum O’Hare scored his first goals since April 2022 as Coventry comfortably beat Birmingham 2-0 at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday night.
On his second start of the season, the 25-year-old – who was sidelined for 10 months until October by a serious knee injury – rifled in his first after half an hour and shuffled across the box to smash in a second to add the gloss with 13 minutes of the 90 to play.
The result marked Birmingham’s eighth straight league defeat on the road and also Wayne Rooney’s sixth defeat in nine games since replacing John Eustace as Blues boss just shy of two months ago.
They drop to 16th as a result, while Coventry climb to 14th, two points off the top half and five points outside the play-off places ahead of the remainder of the weekend’s action.
O’Hare’s double earns Sky Blues deserved victory
It took a while for the game to warm up on a chilly night in CV6. Coventry dominated the ball early on, but struggled for shots, while Birmingham managed efforts on target through Krystian Bielik and Juninho Bacuna, both of which were straight at Brad Collins.
O’Hare was soon right at the heart of everything the Sky Blues created going forward. His cute exchange of passes with Ben Sheaf saw the latter force a strong block from Marc Roberts, before his powerful connection on Milan van Ewijk’s cross stung John Ruddy’s palms.
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Callum O’Hare doubles Coventry’s lead with his second of the evening leathering the ball into the roof of the net!
On the half-hour, he scored his long-awaited first goal when he received the ball from the impressive Tatsuhiro Sakamoto after a quick turnover and powered a shot through a crowd and beyond Ruddy. The relief and jubilation he felt in that moment was made abundantly clear by the celebration that followed.
Less than 10 minutes later, Coventry appealed for a penalty after a loose ball appeared to strike the arm of Koji Miyoshi as he leaned in to attempt to control the ball with his chest. Referee Sam Allison was not interested, however.
Birmingham thought they had a similar case early on in the second half when Siriki Dembele went down in the box, yet he was in fact shown a yellow card for simulation after going down dramatically when Bobby Thomas made a run across his path, despite no contact being made.
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On his second start back after a year out with an ACL injury, Callum O’Hare gives Coventry the lead against Birmingham.
Ruddy was called into action to make three relatively routine saves from Haji Wright, before he tipped over a swirling free-kick hit by Van Ewijk from deep. As Coventry struggled to convert the numerous chances they created, it seemed as though the door was open for a Birmingham equaliser, but there was never enough conviction in the final third.
And so Coventry eventually made sure of the win after 77 minutes, when O’Hare seized control of the ball after a pair of team-mates struggled to connect with Van Ewijk’s cross, made several steps to his right unchallenged and leathered into the roof of the net.
Player of the match – Callum O’Hare
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Callum O’Hare says his grandad who is a Birmingham fan won’t be texting him tonight after his double secured victory for Coventry.
The managers
Coventry’s Mark Robins:
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Coventry manager Mark Robins praised his side for the intent they showed and football they played in their victory against Birmingham.
Birmingham’s Wayne Rooney:
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Birmingham manager Wayne Rooney laments his side for conceding ‘sloppy’ goals in their defeat against Coventry.
What’s next?
Both teams are back in action at 7.45pm on Wednesday December 13, live on Sky Sports Football Red Button.
Coventry host Southampton at the Coventry Building Society Arena, while Birmingham travel to South Wales to take on Cardiff.