The Sky Blues beat Norwich by a Jay Tabb goal to nil although the scoreline gives no indication of City's total domination of a tie which saw Norwich finish with nine men on the pitch.

Chris Coleman stuck with the same starting line-up that drew 0-0 against QPR in midweek and as in that game the Sky Blues got off to a flyer, the only difference being that they took the lead with a beautifully worked goal in the sixth minute.

Michael Doyle received the ball in the centre of the pitch and drilled a delightful 40-yard cross field ball into Tabb's path. The midfielder cut inside the full-back and fired a crisp low shot past Canaries keeper David Marshall.

The visitors were indebted to him moments later when the Sky Blues broke at pace again and he produced a top notch save from Leon Best to stop City racing into a two-goal lead.

Best then wasted a glorious opportunity laid on by Tabb before the irrepressible Kevin Thornton clipped the outside of a post with a beautifully executed curler from the edge of the box.

City's electric start forced Norwich manager Glenn Roeder into two substitutions before the half hour mark, one of which saw the Canaries'  top scorer Jamie Cureton enter the fray in place of defender Mo Camara.

While the action slowed up somewhat after a frenetic opening, City still maintained control of the game with Andy Marshall completely redundant in the Sky Blues goal for the vast majority of the opening period.

Norwich had to improve after the break and City's Marshall produced his first genuine save of the match from a powerful Cureton shot after the Canaries were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box.

The City shot stopper did well to get down to it and even better to hold on to the ball. City then broke upfield and nearly doubled their advantage when Thornton went clean through but poked the ball just wide of the upright.

Norwich's task of getting back into the match was made even harder eight minutes after the restart when Gary Doherty was sent-off for his second bookable offence after he crudely up-ended the superb Jay Tabb.

Coventry were hungry for a second goal and Stephen Hughes went close to making it 2-0 with a 25-yard thunderbolt which unfortunately soared over the crossbar. The City skipper was then denied thanks to a superb point-blank range block from Mark Fotheringham.

City were bombarding the Norwich goal and Elliott Ward was denied by a brilliant Marshall save. The centre-back drifted off the far post and caught Fox's floated free kick on the turn only for Marshall to react and tip the effort wide.

Marshall was solely responded for keeping the visitors in the tie and he produced another top notch save from Hughes, who stung his palms with another fearsome 25-yarder. A couple of minutes later he produced an event better save from Michael Mifsud who raced through on goal but saw his powerful shot repelled by the in-form custodian.

How City weren't more than one goal ahead was anybody's guess, although the intense pressure they were placing Norwich under was taking its toll and the visitors were reduced to nine men with five minutes to go when Darel Russell received his marching orders for a second bookable offence.

There were more chances for the Sky Blues to extend their lead and Andy Marshall produced one great save from Cureton to ensure City took the three points they thoroughly deserved.

Coventry: Marshall; Fox; Ward; Hughes (c); Doyle; Osbourne; Mifsud; Tabb; Best (Simpson 87); Dann; Thornton. Subs (not used): Ireland; Hall; Andrews; Gray

Booked: Fox (47); Dann (72)

Norwich City: Marshall; Shackell; Croft (Evans 61); Dublin; Velasco (Pearce 22); Fotheringham; Camara (Cureton 28); Russell; Bertrand; Pattison; Doherty. Subs (not used): Gilks; Gibbs;

Sent-off: Doherty (53); Russell (85);

Booked: Bertrand; Fotheringham (60)

Attendance: 18,108 (1,787 Norwich fans)