Coventry manager Mark Robins was left fuming with the decision to send off Liam Kitching, which took some of the shine off his side’s 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
Kitching was shown a red card after the final whistle at the Coventry Building Society Arena after referee Oliver Langford judged him to have retaliated to being pushed by Wednesday’s Bambo Diaby, who was also sent off.
That controversial incident came after two goals from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had guided the Sky Blues to their second straight win in the festive period.
Robins said: “I didn’t see what had happened, but I’ve seen it back now and I’m appealing that.
“There’s no way he can be sent off for that, no way.
“The kid’s come from behind him and it’s assault; he’s pushed him in his face, so where does he go?
“He can’t go anywhere because he’s come into his space, so he (Diaby) has pushed him, he’s then stuck his head on his head and Kitch hasn’t reacted.
“Whether he’s put his hands up to stop it, I don’t know, but it’s an attack, it’s ridiculous and then he’s come back for seconds, so 100 per cent I’m appealing it. I’m furious.
“What happened at the end can sort of detract from a performance that was actually pretty good.
“Two brilliant goals, well worked and well finished and Tatsu’s been doing that, he’s been growing in confidence, he’s taking shots now.”
It was a slightly scuffed finish with which Sakamoto gave Coventry the lead after 20 minutes when he was picked out by Haji Wright’s cut-back.
The Japan international sealed the points in the 89th minute with a fine finish past Cameron Dawson, not long before tempers boiled over following the end of the game.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl said: “I think it was a fair-play game, there were not bad fouls or anything like this.
“It’s a hard decision, for both a red card after the game, but it’s the decision from the ref and we can’t change it.
“This is football but it’s not helpful for us at the moment because we’ve now got Callum (Paterson) out for the next games and Bambo out for the next games.
“I tried everything to bring some fresh legs in, but this is what our situation is at the moment, this is what we’ve been handed and it’s about preparing for our next game (at Preston), recovery and then going again.”
On his side’s performance, Rohl added: “I think you saw two different halves.
“First half, Coventry was the better team. We were not clinical in our transition in the first half, but in the second half I think we dominated the game.”
Reggae Girlz suffer 3-0 defeat to France in international friendly
Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz fell 3-0 to powerhouse France in an international friendly contest that demonstrated their tenacity as much as it did the defensive lapses at the Stade Auguste-Bonal on Friday.
Facing a French team ranked 10th in the world, the Reggae Girlz showed early cohesion and confidence that hinted at the prospect of another brave performance similar to when they held the same opponents to goalless stalemate at last year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup.
But as the game wore on, France’s unrelenting pressure found cracks in Jamaica’s defence, resulting in two costly errors in the first half that set the tone for a challenging evening.
Clara Mateo (22nd), captain Wendie Renard (39th) and Sandy Baltimore (48th) got on the scoresheet for France, who in all honesty, could have won by a much wider margin.
Despite the result, Reggae Girlz Head coach Hubert Busby emphasized the value of facing elite teams like France.
“Coming up against a really good French team in a really competitive environment was always going to be tough, but I thought overall, as the game went on, the team got better. Again, I think these are the games that we want to play and we have to just keep on building on what we want to do as we head into the next window,” Busby said in a post-game interview.
“When you bring in new players into the group, you can see that they are a little bit disjointed, so the more that we can continue to be together and keep building as a group, the better we'll be. So as of right now, we kind of turn the page and get ready for the next window in Jamaica when we host South Africa. And then we look to build on the, the principles that we've laid this week and look to correct some of the things that we didn't do as well in tonight's match,” he added.
The Girlz showed no signs of being intimidated in the opening minutes, as they moved the ball effectively and kept France’s backline engaged at times.
But as France settled and pressed deeper into Jamaica’s territory, the Girlz’s defence began to struggle under the mounting pressure. The French breakthrough came when Chantelle Swaby attempted to clear, but the ball went astray and into the path of Mateo, who swiftly fired past Rebecca Spencer in goal for Jamaica.
France continued to apply pressure and consistently found gaps in Jamaica’s defence as they created numerous chances which required Spencer to be on her toes. On one of those occasions, the Tottenham Hotspur goaltender got down well in time to parry an effort from Kenza Dali.
However, minutes later Renard eluded Allyson Swaby and Vyan Sampson deep in Jamaica’s 18-yard box and used the full length of her lanky figure to soar high head home Mateo’s weighted corner kick to put France 2-0 up at the break.
Busby, seeing the need for adjustments, made tactical changes in the second half, particularly in the middle of the park, with hopes of getting in behind France’s high defensive line.
Still, the Girlz struggled to contain the French attackers and another defensive mishap saw them fall further behind. This, as Baltimore rifled a left-footer past Spencer after Delphine Cascarino’s cross eluded Tiffany Cameron, who attempted to head clear.
Though three goals down, the Girlz tried to play their game and Jody Brown skipped a defender on a break in the 63rd minute, but her shot was charged down by a second defender.
Five minutes later Kayla McKenna had a grand opportunity to pull one back for the Girlz, but her first touch to get around France’s goalkeeper Constance Picaud in a one-on-one situation was too heavy and the opportunity went begging.
France thought they had another when Renard again headed home from close range, but the goal was called back by VAR for an offside in the build up play.
Mousinho laments 'disappointing' Sheffield Wednesday defeat
John Mousinho was left upset and disappointed by his Portsmouth side as they remained bottom of the Championship following a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday.
Connor Ogilvie handed Portsmouth a deserved lead a minute before half-time after a corner kick found the defender unmarked at the back post to fire home.
But Wednesday responded strongly after the break, levelling through Josh Windass who finished from close range after Michael Smith's clever knock-down.
Smith then sealed the win in stunning fashion in the 70th minute, rifling a sweet first-time strike from outside the box into the top corner against his former club.
Portsmouth are still without a win at Fratton Park since their return to the Championship, and have now lost 12 points from winning positions in the second tier this season, more than any other team.
"I’m disappointed, especially with the nature of losing after going a goal up into half-time," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.
"It was a contrasting performance, from Tuesday night at Cardiff, but ultimately, we haven’t done enough to win the game and weren’t quite good enough to do it.
"I’m still really upset with the fact we lost it, but there was a very different message to the players in the dressing room compared to Tuesday.
"That being said, we still have to be a lot better."
But for Sheffield Wednesday and Danny Rohl, they are now unbeaten in their last three away games, and moved into the top half of the table ahead of this weekend's action.
The Owls face Premier League side Brentford in the last 16 of the EFL Cup next Tuesday, and Rohl believes the comeback win can only be a positive moving forward.
"It was a strong comeback after being 1-0 down," Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"First half we were okay but we changed things at half-time. Coming from behind at Coventry and now here shows a step forward in our development.
"It's just three points, we climb the table eight places with a win but if you lose you drop down.
"But for me it's more important to improve and there is still room for that."
Wood not aiming to rival 'formidable' Haaland for Golden Boot
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood is not aiming to rival the "formidable" Erling Haaland for the Premier League's Golden Boot after netting a brace against Leicester City.
Wood took his tally to seven for the season with two second-half goals in Forest's 3-1 win over rivals Leicester, after Ryan Yates saw his opener cancelled out by Jamie Vardy.
The 32-year-old's double saw him move level with Stan Collymore on 22 Premier League goals for Forest, with only Bryan Roy (24) scoring more for the club in the competition.
Only Manchester City's Haaland (10) has scored more times than Wood this term, though the New Zealander was not getting carried away with his fine start to the campaign.
"I just want to keep scoring as many as I can. He's [Haaland] a very formidable man, and he's probably going to score 30 goals this season," Wood said.
"He's a very formidable man to chase. He's {Nuno Espirito Santo] come in and put an emphasis on putting the ball in the box. He's worked on that in the training pitch."
It's been a remarkable turnaround for Wood, who has flourished under Nuno Espirito Santo since his arrival at the City Ground.
Since Nuno's first game in charge of Forest in December 2023, only Haaland (18) has scored more non-penalty goals in the Premier League than Wood (17).
"It's consistency with what Nuno's been working on. We got better and better last season but we also conceded poor goals at times," Wood continued.
"I think consistency is the biggest thing. I wouldn't say it fuelled us, we conceded a lot of set-piece goals and we worked at that and we've got to keep going."
Nuno also sung the praises of his in-form forward, saying Wood deserves all the praise he is receiving at the moment.
"He's done an amazing job. He's very honest and he gives everything on the pitch for us. We are delighted and we want to continue. Chris deserves his plaudits," Nuno said.
For Leicester, meanwhile, it marked a tough encounter for Steve Cooper, who was facing his former side for the first time since leaving the club almost a year ago.
Coming into the game on the back of consecutive wins, the Foxes' defensive lapses were ruthlessly punished by Forest.
James Justin's poor clearance allowed Yates to open the scoring, before Harry Winks' poor pass and Wout Faes' mistimed header were gobbled up by Wood.
“It's self-inflicted, no doubt about that, and it's on us. We all have to take responsibility for how the game panned out," Cooper said.
"We made poor mistakes for the goals, no doubt about it, and we were punished for it but I just think conceding so early on in the second half was obviously not a good thing.
"We have to take responsibility for it. It's a setback after winning a few games coming into this.
"We have to accept it, completely on us and me and we’ve got punished for the poor giveaways on the goals."
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