Mark Robins admitted his disappointment as Coventry salvaged a point against Norwich with a 1-1 draw at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Ben Gibson’s 88th-minute own goal handed the Sky Blues a point and maintained their unbeaten home start to the season after Jonathan Rowe poked in his sixth of the season before half time.
The Sky Blues had chances to take all three points after Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had chances to steal all three points in added time.
Robins explained: “We deserved a point very much so, but I think we can be a little bit disappointed that we didn’t go on and win it.
“During the game that’s the first time we feel that we’ve been able to have any sort of meaningful possession, and even though we went behind we knew we were in the game.
“We got in at half-time at 1-0 and we knew we were in the game, well in it. The fact that we were shows that there’s been a significant step forward been taken.
“The fact that we ended up pinning them in for large parts of the second half and especially at the end, when I made the changes, I think that had a benefit because it re-energised us, which was really important.
“The ball into the penalty area for the own goal, the quality on the ball meant that Gibson had to head it and thankfully it hit the back of the net.
“It keeps our unbeaten record at home intact and that’s huge. This point is a big point on the back of the two previous wins, so seven points from three games is really good and we can look forward to building, and hopefully we can start to get a few players back now and hopefully things will start to look a little bit better after the international break.”
Norwich manager David Wagner rued the missed chances that could have seen his side double their lead in the second half as he reflected on a hard-fought point on the road following three consecutive away defeats.
“The result is because we conceded so late, even if I can say I think it was a fair result.” said the former Huddersfield boss. “I was very pleased with how the players execute our idea, to give Coventry a little bit possession, make sure we defend from a low block and be a threat on the transition.
“I think it worked, they put in a real shift. Obviously, you have to defend your crosses and you have to have some blocks but there were no real big chances which I’ve seen over a long period.
“We scored a great counter press goal and had two further golden opportunities from Adam Idah and Liam Gibbs where we have to kill the game, especially in the second half where we had this period of 25-30 minutes where we were very comfortable on the ball, there we have to kill the game and this is unfortunately what we haven’t done.
“If you defend crosses then always a mistake can happen what happened and then you concede a goal and obviously the feeling is totally different even if you have done exactly the same game, exactly the same performance because the outcome is different, but I was pleased with the effort, with the togetherness, with the commitment, it was a hard fought point which they deserved.”
Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one season
Mauricio Pochettino will leave Chelsea by mutual consent after one season in charge, the club announced on Tuesday.
Despite a poor start to the season, Pochettino led Chelsea to a sixth-place finish, confirming a European place - an improvement on their 12th-place finish in 2022-23.
He also led them to the EFL Cup final and the semi-final of the FA Cup.
Speculation surrounded Pochettino's position during the latter stages of the Premier League campaign, though he remained tight-lipped about his future.
The Argentinian had one year left on his contract but now leaves the club with immediate effect.
In a club statement, Pochettino said: "Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and Sporting Directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club's history.
"The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."
Sporting Directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: "On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season.
"He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time, and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career."
Alonso wants to write more history with Leverkusen in Europa League final
Xabi Alonso is hopeful that his Bayer Leverkusen side can make more history in their Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday.
Leverkusen became the first side in Bundesliga history to go unbeaten in a single season on their way to the top-flight title, and across all competitions, they have not lost any of their last 51 matches.
Now, they have the opportunity to complete an unbeaten treble if they can get past Atalanta before taking on Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.
Only three sides have previously won the competition without losing a game – Chelsea in 2018-19, Villarreal in 2020-21 and Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021-22, with Leverkusen looking to be added to that list.
Alonso is taking charge of his first European final as a manager and highlights the ambition the club have to do something significant.
"It would mean a lot, a lot to me [to win a European trophy]," he told UEFA. "To be able to share it with the people from the club, with the fans.
"You see what it meant when we won the Bundesliga. To be able to win a European title after so many years since we won [the UEFA Cup in 1988] would be historic, and we want to do that, to have a historic season.
"It would be something written in golden letters, not only in the history of our club but probably all European football. I hope we can."
Like his counterpart, Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini is also taking charge of a European final for the first time in his career.
The Italian side clinched a top-five finish in Serie A with their win over Lecce on Saturday and are looking to win their first major trophy in 61 years.
Looking back on the season, Gasperini says he is proud of the work his side have done to make it through to the club's first European final.
"It feels good," Gasperini said. "It's a great achievement and source of satisfaction, achieved with a really good season from this whole team.
"Is it the highest point of my career? Yes, in terms of accomplishment and prestige, absolutely. In terms of gratification, fortunately, I've had quite a few, although perhaps not on the same level.
"This team always wanted it. Sometimes, you get teams who are good technically but lacking in determination and hunger.
"From the start, from the group stage, since we played in Lisbon, in a group where we were not the favourites – Sporting [CP] were the favourites – we played great matches against strong opponents. Of course, winning at Anfield boosted our confidence even more."
Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate believes Phil Foden's starting position is less important than the spaces he is allowed to attack, pledging to find a way of letting him operate centrally at Euro 2024.
Foden was included in England's 33-man preliminary squad on Tuesday, and he is expected to be among the first names on the teamsheet after enjoying a fine campaign.
Foden was named Premier League Player of the Season as he helped Manchester City win an unprecedented fourth straight title, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists.
Only three players in the league bettered Foden's goal tally, while he also ranked seventh in the division for chances created (73) and fourth for possession won in the final third (35 times).
Foden scored two excellent goals as City clinched the title with a 3-1 final-day win over West Ham, drifting infield from the right to find space between the lines and in the penalty area.
While the presence of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has led many to conclude Foden will be stationed on the left in Germany, Southgate is aware of the need to grant him positional freedom.
"Phil has played off the right, off the left, the key is where he ends up, not his starting position," Southgate said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"He plays on the left with City, sometimes he stays wide, but he's allowed to drift, and it has always been the same with us. He's allowed to drift.
"Then there's where a player has to defend. Jude has played as a 10 all season, and sometimes he has defended on the left for Real Madrid.
"It's about where these players arrive and where you allow them to drift, that's the key. I think if you spoke to all of our players, we never pin them to a touchline, that's not how we work so there is that freedom."
Foden produced a series of talismanic displays for City in the run-in, scoring match-winning hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and masterminding a vital comeback against Manchester United with two goals in March.
The 23-year-old stepped up while players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury, and Southgate has been impressed by his ability to shoulder that responsibility.
"It's obvious the brilliant season Phil has had, how he stepped up in big games not only when big players have been out but when he's been playing alongside them as well," Southgate added.
"You want him in central areas as you do one or two others, so we have to find the best way of making that happen."
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