FABIO TAVARES scored a dramatic 98th minute equaliser to bag his first Sky Blues goal as Coventry City rescued a point to draw 1-1 with Preston North End.
Tavares came off the bench to score a sensational leveller with virtually the last kick of the game after Daniel Johnson’s 89th minute penalty looked to have won the points for Preston at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
That came after the visitors were reduced to 10-men on 84 minutes when Liam Lindsay was shown a second yellow card before Fankaty Dabo received a straight red card for a trip on Emil Riis Jakobsen in the box.
The result leaves Coventry in 10th place in the Sky Bet Championship table, just three points outside of the play-off places.
And City created the first chance of the game when Todd Kane’s cross from the right was headed over the bar by in-form striker Viktor Gyokeres.
Preston were then denied at the other end when Simon Moore tipped Ched Evans’ shot away from goal after he was played through by Johnson.
And North End came close to the opening goal after the break when Evans headed tamely against the post from six-yards out with the ball rebounding onto Moore’s legs before being cleared to safety.
However, the visitors were reduced to 10-men with six minutes left to play when Lindsay received a second yellow card for a needless foul on Gyokeres as the pair competed for a ball near the touchline.
Despite being a man down, North End won a penalty soon after when Riis Jakobsen was tripped by substitute Dabo as he burst into the box with the latter sent off to leave both teams with 10-men on the field.
Johnson duly converted the resulting spot kick, coolly finding the bottom right corner to send Moore the wrong way and leave City on the verge of defeat.
However, 21-year-old striker Tavares came to City’s rescue just four minutes after coming off the bench when he produced a sublime shot into the top-right corner from the left-hand side of the penalty area to spark wild scenes of celebration.
The Matosinhos born youngster was making just his second senior appearance for the club, having signed from Rochdale in February 2021, and his contribution could prove significant come the end of the campaign.
Coventry are next in action away at Swansea City on Saturday, March 5 with kick-off at 3pm at the Swansea.com Stadium.