A determined Coventry City snatched a 2-2 draw at the Coventry Building Society Arena, thanks to a 100th minute equaliser from Viktor Gyokeres after it looked like Scott Wharton had won it for Blackburn Rovers.

Coventry opened the scoring in bizarre fashion, when Harry Pickering turned into his own net in the opening ten minutes.

Blackburn put on a spirited second-half display though, and looked as though they were going to take all three points.

Bradley Dack's stooping header moments after half-time levelled the scoreline, before Wharton scored with a header of his own to put Rovers ahead with ten minutes to go.

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But as has been so often the story for Coventry this season, there was more late drama.

Fabio Tavares laid the ball back to Fankaty Dabo, who delivered a teasing ball to the back post. And a tease is all it took for Gyokeres, who threw himself at the ball and nodded past Thomas Kaminski to snatch a point.

  • Story of the match

Mark Robins' men started the game the brightest.

Coventry will feel as though they should have been awarded a penalty after just six minutes after Matty Godden went down under a challenge from Jan Paul van Hecke.

However, replays suggested that contact on Godden from van Hecke - if any at all - was minimal.

Though it was not to matter, as Pickering's own goal gave the home side the lead minutes later.

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Callum O'Hare picked up the ball on the edge of the area and tried to take the ball on the defender's inside but the deflection off his boots sent it flying past Kaminski into the bottom left corner.

On the whole, Rovers' first half performance was uninspiring but they could have got themselves level 20 minutes into the game.

Joe Rankin-Costello drove down the right-hand side and found Sam Gallagher in the area, but his first time effort was easily held by Simon Moore in the Coventry goal.

Gustavo Hamer had two great chances to double, if not triple, his side's advantage.

The first opportunity came when he won the ball back on the edge of the Blackburn box and fired a curled effort onto the right-hand post.

The second came minutes later, when Gyokeres won a free-kick for City in a similar position. Hamer took it and curled it inside the post, but not past Kaminski who was equal to it.

Moments after half-time though, all Coventry's good work in the first half was undone.

Dack, on as a substitute for a number of seconds, got on the end of John  Buckley's low cross and levelled the scoreline with his first goal since March 2021, as he continues his recovery from persistent knee injuries.

Tony Mowbray's men went in search of more.

Ben Brereton-Diaz, also on as a substitute, turned on the halfway line and drove towards the Coventry defence but his shot from the edge of the area whistled wide of the left post.

However, Rovers' pressure would eventually pay and they would get their winner ten minutes from time.

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Joe Rothwell's corner was met by Wharton, who was left unmarked in the Coventry penalty area, and his header crashed past Moore into the Sky Blues' net.

The Sky Blues were not done there, though. They only needed one chance.

And one chance they got. Tavares worked his way down the right-hand side and laid the ball back to Dabo.

He found Gyokeres at the back post and the Sky Blues' top scorer grabbed his 14th of the season to break Rovers' hearts on Mowbray's first league return to the CBS Arena since leaving City in 2017.

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  • Robins time strikes again

Coventry City have become synonymous with the art of the late goal in this season's Championship, and Gyokeres' late equaliser against Blackburn was just another example of that.

As per SoccerStats.com, City have scored 16 goals this season after the 80 minute mark.

This is second only to a resurgent Nottingham Forest who are in the hunt for a play-off spot.

Whilst the late drama has not particularly aided the Sky Blues in fulfilling their early-season play-off ambitions, it has provided endless entertainment for Coventry fans, including the 19,000+ in attendance against Blackburn to see the latest iteration of City's 'Late Late Show.'

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