Centre-back Rob Dickie was Bristol City’s match-winner in a 1-0 Sky Bet Championship victory over Coventry at Ashton Gate.
Having survived incessant pressure, the home side took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Dickie rose to net with a downward header from Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s free-kick.
Coventry had squandered several chances and were not the same force after the break as their opponents leapfrogged them in the table with a dogged display.
Both managers made four changes, injury-hit Bristol bringing in Haydon Roberts, Andy King, Andreas Weimann and Tommy Conway, with five academy players on the bench, while Coventry named Ben Sheaf, Luis Binks, Milan van Ewijk and Matty Godden in their starting line-up.
The half-time score was completely against the run of play. Cheered on by one of the loudest contingents of travelling fans at Ashton Gate this season, Coventry dominated from the opening whistle without finding a finish to match impressive approach play.
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had a fourth-minute shot palmed over by Max O’Leary and three minutes later Sheaf clipped the crossbar.
City, with experienced midfielder King operating in the middle of a back-three, looked all over the place as their former player Jay Dasilva revelled in yards of space on Coventry’s left flank.
Sakamoto went close again and Ellis Simms fired narrowly wide before the visitors hit the bar again through Godden’s drive.
A head injury to midfielder Matty James after 20 minutes allowed Bristol time to regroup. He continued swathed in a bandage, but still Coventry piled forward and Godden shot wide after being set up by Simms.
The hosts at last featured as an attacking force after 34 minutes when a crunching tackle by James led to Weimann cutting in from the right to force a diving save from Ben Wilson.
Even so, by the 38th minute City manager Nigel Pearson had seen enough and sent on Jason Knight for youngster Roberts, switching to a back-four, with Mark Sykes dropping to right-back. His team improved, but Dickie’s goal just before the break still came out of the blue.
The hosts looked better-balanced at the start of the second half and Cameron Pring had a 53rd-minute shot blocked. Nine minutes later Knight’s powerful long-range effort was held by Wilson.
Sakamoto fired wide, but Coventry were struggling to re-establish their first-half superiority.
Chances were few and far between after the break, substitute Haji Wright shooting wide of the near post for the Sky Blues after 79 minutes.
The home side were better organised and more tenacious, Sykes nullifying the threat of Dasilva and Dickie producing a goal-saving challenge in injury time to complete what for 45 minutes looked an unlikely success.
Mitrovic clinches last-gasp success for Saudi Pro League champions Al-Hilal
Aleksandar Mitrovic produced a last-gasp winner for Al-Hilal as the Saudi Pro League champions signed off with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Al-Wedha on Monday.
Jorge Jesus' side finished the league campaign unbeaten across the 34-game season, though needed late heroics from top scorer Mitrovic to snatch all three points.
Mohamed Kanno opened the scoring for the visiting champions in the first half but Yahya Naji's second-half leveller pegged Al-Hilal back at King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium.
Yet Mitrovic provided the decisive moment in the 92nd minute, converting a Mohammed Al Burayk assist for his 28th league goal of the season.
The Serbia international ranks only behind Cristiano Ronaldo in this campaign's scoring charts, after the Al-Nassr forward claimed a piece of Saudi League history in a 4-2 victory over Al-Ittihad.
Ronaldo moved past Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – after his deadly double took him to 35 strikes and broke the single-season scoring record in the competition.
Victory for Al-Nassr means they finish second behind the impressive Al-Hilal, while Al-Ahli had already secured third in the standings before their 1-0 victory over Al-Fayha.
Roberto Firmino scored the only goal of the game in that narrow triumph, finding the net after 85 minutes at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium.
At the other end of the table, Abha Club – who had Marcel Tisserand sent off late on – suffered heartbreak on the final day after losing 2-1 to bottom-placed Al-Hazem to seal their relegation.
Ahmed Abdu opened the scoring to boost Abha's survival hopes but second-half goals from Muhammed Badamosi and Mohammed Al Thani proved their undoing.
Al-Akhoud beat the drop after overcoming Al-Tai, who went down with Abha and Al-Hazem, 2-0 thanks to goals from Saviour Godwin and Leandre Tawamba at Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium.
Al-Nassr 4-2 Al-Ittihad: Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record in final-day win
Cristiano Ronaldo claimed a piece of Saudi Pro League history after scoring twice in Al-Nassr's 4-2 final-day victory over 10-man Al-Ittihad on Monday.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was on target in either half at Al Awal Park, moving to 35 goals across the 2023-24 league campaign in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time after receiving a long ball from Mohammed Al-Fatil, before doubling his tally – and Al-Nassr's lead – with a header from Marcelo Brozovic's corner.
That second finish after Suwailem Al Manhali was dismissed for the visitors saw Ronaldo eclipse Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – for the most strikes in a single campaign.
Abdulrahman Ghareeb then added another from the penalty spot before Meshari Al Nemer made sure of three points after late goals from Farhah Al Shamrani and Fabinho had pulled Al-Ittihad back into contention.
Having already been unable to stop Al-Hilal secure the title, Al-Nassr finish second in the table – ending on 82 points after 26 wins from the 34-match campaign.
Data Debrief: Al-Nassr dominance pays off
Much will be made of the record-breaking Ronaldo, who has scored 50 goals in as many games across all competitions this season.
Yet Al-Nassr were dominant from the off in this one, mustering nine shots on target to Al-Ittihad's three, while accumulating 2.73 expected goals (xG) – far superior to the visitors' 1.43 xG.
Perez and Magnussen play blame game after huge Monaco Grand Prix crash
Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen both blame each other for the huge crash that forced a restart in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The pair came together during the opening lap of the race as Magnussen attempted to squeeze through a tight gap on the inside of Perez on the exit of Turn One.
The Red Bull was destroyed during the incident, while the Dane’s Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg also got caught in the chaos.
All three drivers were unharmed, though were ultimately forced out of the race when it restarted.
Perez was adamant following the race that the blame should be placed firmly on Magnussen’s shoulders.
He said: "It was an immense crash, one I'm disappointed about. I think it was totally unnecessary at that point of the race and there was no need for that.
"At some point, you have two options: Lift or have a contact, and I think it was too unnecessary with the speeds we were doing, and it was a massive contact.
"It was important to take things a little bit calmer."
The incident compounded a disappointing weekend for both teams, in particularly Haas after both drivers were disqualified from qualifying and sent to the back of the grid due to a technical infringement.
However, Magnussen stood by his belief he had every right to go for the gap and was forced into the barrier by the Mexican.
"From my point of view, I had a good part of my front on Perez's rear and when he went to the wall I got pushed to the wall and made contact with him," Magnussen said.
"I trusted he was going to leave space for me since I was there. It's not a corner where you're braking into it, it's a bend on the straight, so you have to have a car otherwise you leave the other guy no option.
"From my point of view, I was there, and I got squeezed to the wall."
Ultimately, neither driver was punished for the incident as the stewards deemed it a racing incident which needed no further investigation.
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