The football season is almost over and the Sky Blues have only one match (away at Stoke) after today's final home game with Huddersfield Town. Fulham are now virtually assured of the Championship title with the other automatic place still undecided and the play-offs to come. Bearing in mind City's outstanding 'double' over Fulham, Marshall Stewart asked me if the Sky Blues have ever done the double over the champions of their division or a promoted side before.
Prior to this season the double has only once been achieved against the champions of a division once - in 2012-13 in League One when champions Doncaster Rovers were beaten 1-0 at home and 4-1 away from home. Mark Robins was in charge for the impressive away win just before Christmas and the goals came from Frank Moussa, David McGoldrick (2) and Adam Barton. By the time of the return in March Robins had decamped to Huddersfield and Steven Pressley was in charge and an early goal from Cyrus Christie earned the points. That season the Sky Blues also beat second-placed Bournemouth home and away with McGoldrick netting the only goal at home and Leon Clarke and a Carl Baker penalty earning City a 2-0 win on the South Coast during Lee Carsley's brief period in charge of the team following Robins's departure. Strange that City could earn 12 points of the top two that season but lose home and away to teams like Crewe and Shrewsbury.
There have been a handful of occasions when the Sky Blues have done the double over promoted sides. The first was in their 34th season as a Football League side, in 1959-60, when the team finished fifth in Division Three but defeated the runners up Norwich City home and away. Then in 1966-67 City were promoted from Division Two as champions and did the double over runners up Wolves. In the 34 seasons in the top flight the Sky Blues never once did the double over the champions and their only double over a promoted side in the Championship years between 2001-12 was in 2008-09 over Birmingham City. A Clinton Morrison goal gave City a 1-0 win at St Andrew's and in the return Scott Dann's second minute goal was enough to clinch the double. Birmingham finished runners up that season and won automatic promotion.
In City's 2017-18 League Two campaign they managed to do the double over fellow promoted club Wycombe Wanderers, winning 3-2 at home and 1-0 at Adams Park. Then the following season in League One they beat promoted Charlton Athletic home and away with both games ending 2-1.
Ben Wilson was the hero last weekend at the Hawthorns with his added-time penalty save after a harsh refereeing decision handed the Baggies an undeserved chance to take all three points. Ben's save was the first by a Coventry City goalkeeper in a league game since April 2017 when Lee Burge saved Peterborough's Craig Mackail-Smith's penalty at the Ricoh Arena in a game won 1-0 by the Sky Blues.
In the intervening five years the Sky Blues have conceded 25 league penalties and none have been stopped – a pretty miserable record and a long way from the 2013-14 season when Joe Murphy saved five out of the 11 penalties conceded by the team.
Marko Marosi did save one in a League Cup game at MK Dons last season. You have to go back to an away game at Tranmere in January 2020 for the last penalty miss by the opposition when Rovers' Morgan Ferrier blasted his spot kick over the bar in City's 4-1 away win.
For the record City have been given four penalties this season. Three have been scored (all by Matty Godden) and one missed by Viktor Gyokeres. They have now conceded four with three scored and one saved.
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