Coventry City and Birmingham City were kept goalless at St Andrew’s as the tenants v landlords derby ended in a 0-0 draw for the second time in 2020.
Birmingham striker Lukas Jutkiewicz came closest for the ‘visitors’ but a combination of goalkeeper Marko Marosi and the crossbar kept out his header.
Aitor Karanka’s side climb three places to 14th, while the Sky Blues stay 21st.
This was actually the third draw between the two sides over 90 minutes this year, Blues having been held 2-2 by Coventry in the FA Cup replay in January, before winning on penalties.
But, in the end, the biggest cause of celebration from a well-contested but unexciting game was Coventry earning a first home clean sheet this season.
It was only the second clean sheet in total for Mark Robins’ side since returning to English football’s second tier for the first time in eight years as League One champions in June.
But, having conceded a league-high 23 goals in the Sky Blues’ previous 11 games, this deserved draw halted a sequence of two successive defeats for each side prior to the international break.
Birmingham are back in action on Tuesday with a trip to Luton, while Coventry play the following night, a home game against Cardiff City.
Coventry boss Mark Robins told BBC CWR:
“It was difficult, but we have to take the positives. And we got a clean sheet. Only our second this season and our first at home.
“It was a scrappy second half. We made some changes. And we’ve got to take the point, it’s a building block.
“Marko made a brilliant save to get us a point and obviously we’re missing Matty Godden, who is talismanic for us, but their keeper has made a couple of saves too.”
Birmingham manager Aitor Karanka told BBC WM:
“We are not disappointed. We are not upset. But we have a bad taste in the mouth as we had two or three chances to win this game.
“At least we have that point and we have not conceded goals.
“Most of the teams who have played against us have changed their shape which means that they respect us. It is all part of the onward journey.”
Line-ups
Coventry
- 1Marosi
- 23DaboSubstituted forGilesat 76′minutes
- 5McFadzean
- 15Hyam
- 21McCallum
- 14SheafBooked at 53minsSubstituted forØstigardat 68′minutes
- 6Kelly
- 38Hamer
- 11O’Hare
- 26ShipleySubstituted forBiamouat 68′minutes
- 19Walker
Substitutes
- 2Østigard
- 8Allen
- 9Biamou
- 10Jobello
- 13Wilson
- 18Giles
- 20Bakayoko
- 27Thompson
- 41Bapaga
Birmingham
- 30Etheridge
- 2Colin
- 4Roberts
- 12Dean
- 5Friend
- 19San José
- 34Sunjic
- 17Sánchez
- 18McGreeSubstituted forToralat 59′minutes
- 11Bela
- 10Jutkiewicz
Substitutes
- 1Prieto
- 3Pedersen
- 6Kieftenbeld
- 7Crowley
- 9Hogan
- 14Leko
- 20Gardner
- 23Toral
- 25Dacres-Cogley
- Referee:
- Oliver Langford
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Coventry City 0, Birmingham City 0.
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Second Half ends, Coventry City 0, Birmingham City 0.
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Sam McCallum (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Harlee Dean (Birmingham City).
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Offside, Coventry City. Leo Østigard tries a through ball, but Tyler Walker is caught offside.
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Foul by Leo Østigard (Coventry City).
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Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Attempt missed. Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Iván Sánchez with a cross.
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Offside, Birmingham City. Marc Roberts tries a through ball, but Lukas Jutkiewicz is caught offside.
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Attempt saved. Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) header from very close range is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Maxime Colin with a cross.
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Foul by Sam McCallum (Coventry City).
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Jérémie Bela (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Attempt blocked. Maxime Biamou (Coventry City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Leo Østigard.
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Attempt blocked. Kyle McFadzean (Coventry City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Corner, Coventry City. Conceded by Harlee Dean.
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Substitution, Coventry City. Ryan Giles replaces Fankaty Dabo.
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Gustavo Hamer (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ivan Sunjic (Birmingham City).
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Attempt saved. Mikel San José (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
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Attempt missed. Jon Toral (Birmingham City) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Jérémie Bela with a cross following a corner.
