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.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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