Nottingham Forest 0-1 Coventry City: result and report

Report

Coventry City won 1-0 away at Nottingham Forest, even though Forest had more of the ball and built the better chances. One goal decided it, and Forest could not find a reply.

The only goal came on 55 minutes. Jay Dasilva scored it, and goalkeeper Carl Rushworth was credited with the assist. Because nothing else went in at either end, that single moment settled the afternoon.

Coventry did not need much of the ball to make it count. They had 38% of possession and just 38 dangerous attacks, yet they still matched Forest's three shots on target.

Forest did most of the attacking. They had 62% of possession, 77 dangerous attacks to 38 and 19 key passes to Coventry's eight. Their xG of 1.41 was more than double Coventry's 0.56, so the better openings were mostly theirs.

They also missed a big chance, while Coventry did not miss theirs. Morgan Gibbs-White was rated the best player on the pitch, though he finished without a goal or an assist.

Why the gap was smaller than it looked

There is one important qualification. Despite all that territory, Forest finished with eight shots, the same as Coventry. Each side had three on target and one big chance.

That suggests Forest's pressure produced plenty of promising positions but not many more clear shots than their opponents managed. Coventry's attacks were fewer, but they asked enough questions to make one of them count.