Pre-Season Preparation Continues – Good Signs Despite 2-2 Draw
Coventry City brought to an end their 2025/26 pre-season campaign with a two-all draw on home soil against Bundesliga outfit St. Pauli at the CBS Arena.
Frank Lampard’s side have found wins difficult to come by in pre-season thus far, winning just one of their six matches and will head into their Championship opener off the back of another winless outing.
Meanwhile, St. Pauli strive ahead with their preparations for the upcoming Bundesliga campaign, hoping to improve on their 14th-placed finish during the previous season.
A crowd of just under 9,000 arrived at the CBS Arena for the contest, with over 400 supporters from St. Pauli making the long trip from Germany in what was a sunny afternoon in the Midlands.
Starting XI’s:
Goalkeeper Carl Rushworth made his home debut after arriving on loan from Brighton Hove Albion, whilst fellow summer recruit Kaine Kesler-Hayden started ahead of Milan Van Ewijk.
Elsewhere, Victor Torp started in midfield due to Coventry’s Player of the Year Jack Rudoni missing out through injury.
As for the visitors, former-Australian captain Jackson Irvine missed out through injury, whilst former Solihull Moors winger Dapo Afolayan started out wide.
St. Pauli also had familiar faces on the bench, with former Norwich City playmaker Daniel Sinani, former Crystal Palace winger Scott Banks and former Brentford defender Fin Stevens all returning to England for the game.
First half:
Coventry’s Victor Torp went close inside the opening 15 minutes, when he picked up a loose ball before curling an effort narrowly wide of the far corner.
The Sky Blues did however open the scoring after 17 minutes, when a free-kick from Matt Grimes caused a goalmouth scramble, leading to Brandon Thomas-Asante poking home from close range.
Thomas-Asante went close again just before the break when he burst through on goal but saw his effort cannon off the post and go behind for a goal-kick.
There was an injury concern for Frank Lampard’s side when Kaine Kesler-Hayden appeared to hurt himself whilst blocking a cross. After trying to run it off, he was withdrawn and replaced by Milan Van Ewijk shortly before the interval.
However, just as Coventry appeared to be heading into a half-time lead, a mistake from loan signing Carl Rushworth allowed Andreas Hountondji to convert into an empty net to bring the scores level.
Half time: Coventry City 1-1 St. Pauli
The second half failed to follow a similar pattern, with both sides making numerous changes to freshen up their respective sides and give players minutes ahead of their season openers.
Despite the series of changes from both sides, efforts were few and far between, with the new arrivals all taking time to grow into the contest at the CBS Arena.
One of those saw the introduction of winger Raphael Borges Rodrigues for the Sky Blues and he immediately hit the ground running, creating several opportunities for Frank Lampard’s side.
Speaking of Raphael, he won his side a free-kick which was taken quickly by Grimes. After some good work from the winger, his right-wing cross was met by the head of substitute Ellis Simms, flying past a full-stretched Nikola Vasilj and into the far corner.
For all of Coventry’s efforts, their lead lasted for just six minutes before St. Pauli drew level for a second time. A series of individual errors from the Sky Blues allowed substitute Daniel Sinani to break through on goal, and he slotted past an outstretched Rushworth to make it two-all.
Both sides had a series of half-chances after that but neither came close enough and the game fizzled out and ended on level terms.
