Post Match Reaction - Coventry City vs Fulham

City produced probably their worst performance of the season in a disappointing afternoon at the CBS.

In a game of little goalmouth action but plenty of rain, City went down in a similar fashion to Hull, conceding with 10 minutes to go.

Here's your post match links including The LAST Word, MOTM vote, highlights, reaction, stats and vlogs.

MOTM Vote

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Man of the Match for Fulham (h)

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The LAST Word

LAST finally got a team line-up right by predicting SFL would change nothing. There was some debate when the team was announced as to whether it would line up in a 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

City seemed to line up more in a 4-4-2, but in the end it mattered little. City were poor, Fulham weren't much better, it chucked it down for the entire game, there was very little goalmouth action and we ended up with nothing.

City started with some purpose, but Fulham soon got back into the game. King hit the corner of the woodwork on 17 minutes in the closest anyone came to a goal in the first half. City were passive and seemed to lack any sense of urgency, without which they, frankly, look awful and toothless.

There was a possible penalty for Fulham in the last minute of the first half when BTA pulled Bassey's shirt inside the box, but VAR decided that BTA had been fouled first. That was that.

The second half, if anything, was worse. The rain continued to lash down. MVE's long throws were completely ineffective with a wet ball (towels have now been banned, remember), some of them only just reaching the edge of the box. Quite why City persisted with them, I'm not sure.

Things got worse on 60 minutes when Bobby Thomas, who had already been off the pitch with what looked like an Achilles or calf problem, limped off to be replaced by Mfuni. SFL desperately looked for something to spark City into life and sent on Onyeka, EMC and Awoniyi, but it was to no avail.

The sucker punch came on 80 minutes when Bobb found himself in the City box up against Rudoni. A couple of jinks later, he got the ball onto his left foot and curled it past the oncoming MVE and into the far corner. Hamer was introduced with four minutes to go, but it was too little, too late, and Fulham leapt above City, inflicting their sixth defeat in eight games.

This is a real body blow to City, not just the result but the manner in which it came. If City aren't full of running, pressing and 100% on it, they will struggle against anyone in this league.

Fulham are an established Premier League club, having more touches in the box than any other team. Equally, City have had two good performances and a decent one out of the last three and should have come into the game with the intention of having a real go. The fact that they didn't leaves everyone with a real sense of disappointment and another chance for points missed. SFL going straight down the tunnel at the end had as much to do with that as trying to get inside to dry off.

Losing Bobby Thomas is a real blow. Let's hope he's not out for long, but at least we have some cover in Mfuni. What City are lacking though is someone to drive them forward, instil urgency and basically run the game. Yirenkyi has shown glimpses of it, in the goal at Spurs, for instance, but it's a big ask for a 20-year-old.

Tats did well on the right and played the 86 minutes, BTA was full of running as usual but with little end product, and Pinnock was his usual dependable self. I'm struggling past that though.

With Sunderland, currently the only team below City, coming next week, it's going to be a week where SFL and his coaching staff earn their money. They need to pick the players up and select a team that will be more aggressive and less passive against Sunderland.

We keep saying it, and we keep losing them, but Sunderland at home is another must-win.

What do you think? Add your thoughts in the comments below or at The LAST Post.

Highlights:

MOTD Highlights (UK only)

Official Highlights

Reaction:

Official reaction from SFL, JDS and Pinnock.