Coventry City 0-2 Brentford
Brentford inflicted Coventry’s first home defeat of the season with an emphatic win courtesy of strikes from Clayton Donaldson and Martin Taylor.
After an even first 20 minutes in which the Sky Blues pressed and probed, the Bees slowly took control of the game to dominate for long spells.
After the break it was all Brentford and the only negative Bees boss Uwe Rosler might be able to find was the lack of a cutting edge in the box.
If Brentford had returned to west London with five or six goals under their belt, it would not have flattered them.
Only Coventry keeper Joe Murphy kept the score down, racing out to deny Farid El Alagui, Martin Fillo and Donaldson with point blank saves as the Bees pressed.
Big plus points were the performances of Adam Forshaw and substitute Sam Saunders, who brought touches of real class to a solid performance.
Donaldson broke the deadlock on 22 minutes, getting behind a square home defence to latch onto Fillo’s right wing cross to fire home from 12 yards.
Will Grigg, who pressed the home defence with striker partner Donaldson throughout, dribbled a shot just wide of the upright in a half of few clear cut chances.
But it was a different story after the break as Uwe Rosler’s side overcame the eerily quiet atmosphere inside the boycotted Sixfields stadium at Northampton, to seize control.
Alan McCormack fired a set piece wide when he should have done better, before Leon Clarke reminded Brentford of his quality with an angled drive which Richard Lee parried to safety.
That jolted the Bees and Donaldson beat the offside trap on 53 minutes but Grigg somehow contrived to head his pinpoint cross over from almost under the bar.
Donaldson saw a rasping drive blocked by keeper Murphy and the ball fell to Fillo unmarked in front of goal, but he miskicked and the chance was gone.
Seconds later Fillo had another chance to settle things but again fired straight at the increasingly overworked Murphy.
Coventry were always in it on the break, but Brentford’s defence – marshalled by the giant Taylor – grew in confidence as the game wore on.
Callum Wilson tested Lee at the foot of his near post just after the hour, but that was to be the last effort of note for the hosts.
Adam Forshaw, who pulled the strings superbly from the heart of midfield, forced a full length save with a 30-yard screamer, but it was only a temporary respite for Steven Pressley’s side.
Saunders, who played like he had a point to prove to his manager, whipped in a curling cross from the left and Taylor got ahead of his man to glance home an unstoppable header from close range.
The winger repeatedly opened up the Sky Blues rearguard with some quality passes and appeared to be back to his aggressive best after his omission from the Orient squad.
The second killer goal sapped the confidence from Coventry, who had scored in every league game this season and the result rarely looked in doubt from then on in.
But a stronger, more inventive side than Coventry might have grown in belief after surviving that flurry of second half lets offs, and if Brentford are to maintain their climb up the table they will need to be more clinical in the final third.
