FootyChatter.com

Bobby Thomas won the game for Coventry with his third goal of the season Bobby Thomas' stoppage time header boosted Coventry's hopes of gatecrashing the Championship play-off race with a win over QPR, on a night when goalkeepers were on top at the CBS Arena. Defender Thomas rose to head home his third goal of the season from Jack Rudoni's 95th minute corner with QPR barely having time to restart the game before the final whistle sounded. Visiting goalkeeper Paul Nardi had kept the visitors in the game with a string of saves, including a superb double effort to deny Matt Grimes and Ellis Simms inside the opening 10 minutes. At the other end Coventry's Oliver Dovin saved from Paul Smyth and kept out Michael Frey from close-range, as the game appeared to be heading towards a stalemate until Thomas produced his decisive moment. Championship: Leeds thrash Watford; Pompey, Coventry and Preston win With both sides starting the evening four points outside the division's top six there was an opportunity for them to close the gap, but the respective goalkeepers were in top form. Koki Saito fired an early shot over the Coventry bar before Nardi pulled off the first of his heroics. Matt Grimes - making his first league start for the home side since moving from Swansea in January - lined-up a shot from just outside the box which the Rangers custodian saved at full-stretch, before scrambling to block Ellis Simms' follow-up. The Frenchman then saved from Jack Rudoni after he had been picked out by Victor Torp's cut-back, before Dovin was forced to save from Paul Smyth at full-stretch at the other end. Michael Frey should have given QPR the lead seven minutes into the second period as Kenneth Paal's pass found him with only Dovin to beat from six-yards, but he could not find his way past the Swede. Nardi then did well to readjust his feet and save after Luis Binks deflected Torp's shot towards the bottom corner. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto did have the ball in the net for Coventry only for the effort to be ruled out for offside, before both sides had late appeals for penalties turned down by referee Will Finnie. Thomas ended-up having his shirt pulled off him by visiting captain Steve Cook and then Alfie Lloyd went down under a challenge from Binks with the official unmoved on both occasions. In a frantic finish Nardi had to save at the feet of substitute Ephron Mason-Clark. But he was finally beaten as he was left stranded by a deep Rudoni corner to the far post where Thomas was left to climb above everyone and head into an empty net. Coventry move up to eighth place in the table and are now just one point outside the play-off places. This video can not be played Frank Lampard post-Queens Park Rangers win Coventry head coach Frank Lampard told BBC CWR: "It was a great feeling for everybody in the stadium - it was a tough night and looked like it was going to be 0-0. "It's been a challenging week with the tough games we've had but we kept going and we got a win I think we deserved, not necessarily on the play because it was a close enough game. "But in terms of the week we've been through it would have been easy to lose momentum tonight but we've been able to keep hold of it to a degree with the late winner. " QPR boss Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio London: "We have been on the other side celebrating late goals but today is the opposite and we have to learn from it and move on. "The whole changing room was angry and disappointed which is how I want to see my players when we lose a game like this. Most importantly, good teams react strongly after defeats and understand what is needed to change the dynamic. "We are a young team as you can see from the players we had on at the end and usually you grow a lot through pain and it's something we'll learn quite well this season. " Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 11th February 2025 at 21: 58 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Martí Cifuentes Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Martí Cifuentes Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Coventry City have won three of their last five league games against QPR (D1 L1), scoring 2+ goals in each of those victories. QPR are looking to win consecutive league visits to Coventry for the first time since winning three in a row between 1992 and 1995. Coventry’s four consecutive league wins were halted by a 2-0 loss to Leeds United last time out. The Sky Blues haven’t lost back-to-back Championship games since October under Mark Robins. Since the start of December, only Leeds United (9) have won more Championship games than Queens Park Rangers (8), with the Hoops picking up 63% of their points for the season across those 13 games (26/41 – W8 D2 L3). Ilias Chair has five assists in his last 10 Championship appearances for QPR, only one fewer than in his previous 46 combined (6). He also scored in a 2-1 away victory over Coventry on the final day of last season. Match ends, Coventry City 1, Queens Park Rangers 0. Second Half ends, Coventry City 1, Queens Park Rangers 0. Goal! Coventry City 1, Queens Park Rangers 0. Bobby Thomas (Coventry City) header from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jack Rudoni with a cross following a corner. Corner, Coventry City. Conceded by Ronnie Edwards. Corner, Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Matt Grimes. Corner, Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Luis Binks. Attempt blocked. Ronnie Edwards (Queens Park Rangers) header from the right side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Kenneth Paal with a cross. Jimmy Dunne (Queens Park Rangers) is shown the yellow card. Ephron Mason-Clark (Coventry City) is shown the yellow card. Corner, Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Luis Binks. Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time. Offside, Coventry City. Ephron Mason-Clark is caught offside. Corner, Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Luis Binks. Corner, Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Luis Binks. Attempt blocked. Jimmy Dunne (Queens Park Rangers) header from the right side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Ilias Chair with a cross. Foul by Milan van Ewijk (Coventry City). Kieran Morgan (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt saved. Ephron Mason-Clark (Coventry City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Tatsuhiro Sakamoto with a through ball. Offside, Coventry City. Brandon Thomas-Asante is caught offside. Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Kieran Morgan replaces Koki Saito. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.