Coventry City player ratings vs Huddersfield: Sky Blues throw away full three points at the death

Coventry City player ratings from CoventryLive as the Sky Blues fail to see out what should have been a win at the CBS Arena

Coventry City threw away the full three points against Huddersfield Town in stoppage time at the CBS Arena.

Huddersfield Town's Matty Pearson and Coventry City's Ellis Simms battle for the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry

In a dominant first half, Ellis Simms intercepted the ball between two centre-backs before hitting a thunderous shot that Lee Nicholls tipped onto the crossbar, with Yasin Ayari on hand to bundle in the rebound amid off-side and handball appeals. However, replays revealed that the adolescent was on-side when Simms launched his shot, and the ball struck him in the crotch, rather than the hand, to aid it over the line.

After the half, the Terriers tried a comeback, putting goalkeeper Ben Wilson to the test for the first time on the hour as Coventry headed and blocked their way out of danger amid building pressure from the visitors. The double substitution of Haji Wright and Jamie Allen, though, helped take the sting out of Town as City began to ask questions at the other end again, albeit with a small advantage.

And that was the case when Town’s final assault of the game, in the 95th minute, saw centre-back Michel Helik score from six yards out to upset what should have been a brilliant night.

Huddersfield failed to hit a single shot on target in the first half, therefore he was never called upon to make a stop. He was wary of danger and had good control of his box. On the hour, made a good save to deny Burgzorg as Huddersfield attempted to claw their way back into the contest. Fantastic save to deny Thomas a free kick.

6.5 for BOBBY THOMAS

Made a welcome return to defense, as he helped keep things tight behind Sakamoto, who is still figuring out his defensive style. It was unfortunate not to score late on. When Town scored, the defense failed to clear.

7 KYLE McFADZEAN

As usual, he was strong and organized at the heart of the back three, where he read the game well and made a couple of key tackles in the first half. Accepts joint responsibility for the late goal.

7 LUIS BINKS

In a consistent and good performance, he won a lot of headers and looked collected on the left side of the back three. Corner defense was especially strong.

6 TATSUHIRO SAKAMOTO

He caught the eye moving forward, where he was deceptive in possession, twisting and turning his marker inside out to get crosses into the box. Still believe the summer signing will result in a better final product or delivery.

6 JOSH ECCLES

Took set-piece responsibility and won many of tackles in the centre of the park, but gave away a number of free-kicks a little too close to City’s goal for comfort, inviting pressure at a time when Town were developing momentum.

6 LIAM KELLY

Coventry City defender (on loan from Bologna) Luis Binks (2) heads the ball under pressure from Huddersfield Town defender Matty Pearson (4) during the EFL Sky Bet Championship match between Coventry City and Huddersfield Town at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry

In a busy and efficient first half effort, made a goal-saving stop to thwart Koroma from handing the visitors a 15th-minute lead and aided City forward on the counter-attack. In the build-up to the equalizer, failed to win a late header.

JAY DASILVA: 6.5

Excellent in possession, making good use of the ball and reading the game well while providing a decent outlet down the left flank.

YASIN AYARI: 7

Looked to rise to the responsibility with plenty of hard work and chasing early on and was in the right place at the right time to give City the lead from Simms’ shot off the bar which he bundled over the line. Tired a bit and less effective as the game went on.

MATTY GODDEN: 6

Deployed a little deeper than usual to start with and put in his usual hard-working shift throughout, chasing and pressing in a bid to force mistakes.

ELLIS SIMMS: 7.5

Stretched the play with some decent runs onto long balls early on in the game as he led the line well. Created the opening goal when he intercepted the ball in between two defenders and shifted onto his right foot to unleash a powerful shot that rattled the bar and bounced out for Ayari to score. Best performance yet for the Sky Blues. Earned a nice round of applause when he left the field for Wright.

SUBSTITUTES:

Huddersfield Town's Michal Helik (left) and Coventry City's Matthew Godden battle for the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry.

6 HAJI WRIGHT (70 minutes, for Simms)

Added fresh legs to Town’s fightback, going forward smartly and posing new problems for the visitors’ defense.

JAMIE ALLEN (for Ayari, 70 minutes): 6

Bursts of energy were used to get in Town’s faces and hold possession. Excellent cameo to alleviate some of Town’s stress.

JAKE BIDWELL (for Dasilva, 88 minutes):

JOEL LATIBEAUDIERE (88 minutes, in place of Sakamoto):

Brad Collins (GK), Liam Kitching, Marcus Rus, Bradley Stretton, and Justin Obikwu were the substitutes who did not play.

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (3-5-2): Lee Nicholls; Matty Pearson, Michal Helik, Yuta Nakayama; Ben Jackson, Jack Rudoni, Jonathan Hogg, Ben Wiles (84 minutes, for Kyle Hudlin), Jaheim Headley (64 minutes, for Sorba Thomas); Delano Burgzorg, Josh Koroma (78 minutes, for Sorba Thomas); Delano Burgzorg, Josh Koroma (78 minutes,

Huddersfield Town's Matty Pearson and Coventry City's Ellis Simms battle for the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry