The last time these two teams met, on 25 November, Coventry were on an 18-match run that delivered 13 wins, 50 goals and a 10-point lead at the top of the Championship. Middlesbrough, by contrast, entered the game without a head coach. Rob Edwards had taken the Wolves job and his replacement, Kim Hellberg, watched from the stands as the team conceded two late goals to lose 4-2. Boro were still second in the table but were staring up at what looked like an unbridgeable gap to the leaders.
And yet, as these two sides prepare to meet again a little more than two months later, the table tells a different story. Middlesbrough’s 2-1 win against Sheffield United was not just their sixth in a row, but it also took them above Coventry at the top.
Before December, automatic promotion did not just appear a likelihood for Coventry; it seemed nailed on. Only one team in the second tier has amassed 43 points or more after 18 games and failed to finish in the top two – and that was Manchester United 120 years ago. Coventry were scoring 2.83 goals per game, which put them on track to beat the all-time record for a club in the second tier. Funnily enough, that record of 122 goals was set by Middlesbrough in the 1926-27 season. Frank Lampard’s side were at their free-flowing, fearless best and the defence was also doing its bit, conceding just 18 goals in those 18 games.
But as winter arrived their momentum froze. A 3-0 defeat at Ipswich on 6 December did more than end a run of dominance; it introduced doubt. “I don’t like losing and the reaction is the only important thing,” said Lampard. But the reaction he wanted never materialised and the defeats kept coming, the goals dried up and the defensive assurance wobbled. In their last 13 games they have been beaten six times, picked up just 16 points and scored 13 goals. With each passing week, the team that dismantled QPR 7-1 earlier in the season – pressing relentlessly, tormenting sides in their own half, and moving with ruthless transitional fluency – seems further and further away.
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough are playing like a perfectly oiled machine. “You’ve got people overlapping, underlapping, full-backs coming into the middle of the pitch. They are the best team I’ve seen this season,” said the Millwall midfielder Massimo Luongo last week. Their performance in the first half against Sheffield United last week summed up their run of form: they had 15 shots (eight on target), 65.5% possession and scored two goals while playing with swagger and the confidence of a team who know they will win. “Middlesbrough are the best team we’ve played by a long way,” said Chris Wilder – a striking comment given that Coventry had dismantled his team earlier in the season.
Middlesbrough have been haunted by the “nearly men” tag after a series of top-half finishes in the Championship. The club decided enough was enough in the summer and acted decisively, bringing in the former Luton boss Edwards to replace Michael Carrick. It was a controversial move but the criticism evaporated almost instantly. Five wins and a draw in their first six matches – the best start in the club’s 149-year history – turned doubt into conviction and the “nearly men” into genuine contenders.
But then Edwards was lured away by Wolves (a club Boro may replace in the top flight next season) and Hellberg – a relatively unknown manager who had been in charge of Hammarby in the Swedish top flight – emerged as frontrunner for the job above names such as Gareth Southgate, Steven Gerrard, Gary O’Neil and Carlos Corberán. But, if Boro fans have learned one thing this season, it is to trust the board.
And what a vindication it has been. In Hellberg’s 14 games in charge, Boro have picked up more points than any other club (31), conceded the fewest goals (12), and scored the second-most (27). The team has improved compared to Edwards’ time, registering more goals (1.92 v 1.27), shots (16.5 v 12.3), big chances (2.3 v 1.8), possession (62.2% v 52.4%), and touches in the opposition box (26.8 v 24.6).
Their fast, expansive and expressive style has left opponents scrambling: “At times it is controlled chaos, but there is definitely a method to it,” said midfielder Riley McGree after he scored one goal and set up the other in the 2-1 win against Sheffield United last week. A win against Coventry on Monday would make this their longest winning streak in the league since May 1987.
But it is more than just history on the line. The last time Coventry faced Middlesbrough, their new manager was in the stands, appointed the day before and powerless as Lampard’s side surged 10 points clear. On Monday, he returns armed with momentum and the desire to establish a five-point lead at the top of the table.
Coventry, meanwhile, find themselves teetering on the edge of a season that could slide into disappointment. Monday offers Lampard a chance to hit the reset button. A win would reclaim their spot at the top and send a message to the rest of the league: the side that was ticking off historic achievements like a checklist earlier in the season are still a force to be reckoned with.
This is an article by WhoScored
