A last-gasp goal from Leon Best salvaged a point for the Sky Blues to make it 1-1 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Stuart Green's goal looked to have given the home side the win, only for the substitute to net from 12 yards in the 87th minute to give Coventry a share of the spoils.
The goal was well-struck by Best and well-celebrated by the team, who sprinted over to manager Iain Dowie and his coaching staff.
Dowie kept with the same side which lost 3-0 to Bristol City on Saturday.
That meant Marcus Hall continued at right-back, with Arjan de Zeeuw in the heart of the defence alongside Elliott Ward. Gary Borrowdale - who joined the Sky Blues from his boyhood club Palace in the summer - started at left-back. Borrowdale's fee will be set by a tribunal in the near future.
Ellery Cairo started on the right hand side of midfield, with Jay Tabb on the left and Michael Doyle partnering Stephen Hughes in the engine room.
Leon McKenzie - who is on 99 career goals - was up front alongside Dele Adebola. Dimi Konstantopoulos kept his place in goal.
Dowie, who returned to the club he took to the Premiership in 2004, named four former Palace players in his starting line-up. He enjoyed a mixed reception on his return to Selhurst Park, although a number of fans rightly recognised his achievements at the South London club.
Colin Hawkins, Leon Best and Kevin Thornton all returned to the squad of 16 after injury.
For the home side, former City forward James Scowcroft started up front for Peter Taylor's men alongside Dougie Freedman.
Palace had the best early opportunity when Konstantopoulos saved at the feet of Scowcroft after five minutes, before Hughes saw his shot deflected wide for a corner moments later.
With 12 minutes on the clock, Coventry had a better opportunity to score. Cairo's header evaded the Palace offside trap and found McKenzie, who saw his header turned around the post by Speroni, although the resulting corner came to nothing.
The Sky Blues threatened again with 20 minutes on the clock - this time as McKenzie pulled his shot wide from Doyle's cross.
At the other end, the home side were themselves threatening and when Freedman found himself one-on-one with the big Greek he looked certain to score, only to pull his shot wide.
But the home side did make the breakthrough on 27 minutes when Freedman's centre across the face of goal found Stuart Green - the former Hull City man finishing into the bottom corner.
There was further misery on the half hour when de Zeeuw went into the book for the second game in succession for a foul on Freedman.
Speroni got his fingers to McKenzie's shot with 35 gone, before Ward went into the book - contentiously - six minutes before the break for an alleged foul when he appeared to cleanly win the ball.
Doyle became the third player to go into the book on 44 minutes.
Dowie's men started the second half brightly and moments after the restart, Adebola found McKenzie, who hooked his shot wide of the target, albeit from an awkward angle.
Adebola headed wide from Tabb's cross on 57 minutes, before Cairo became the fourth player to go into the book for the Sky Blues on the hour.
Dowie made his first substitution two minutes later, with Best, who has been out for three weeks with a hamstring strain, coming on for Adebola.
Hudson headed wide on 65 minutes from a Green corner, before Hughes blocked a rasping shot from the midfielder moments later.
Thornton replaced Cairo after 70 minutes, while Simpson came on for McKenzie two minutes later.
As he visitors' woes deepened, Hall became the fifth player to go into the book on 73 minutes.
But Coventry had the last laugh when Leon Best finished into the back of the net with 87 on the clock to give the Sky Blues the draw.
Crystal Palace: Speroni; Craig; Hudson; Cort; Fletcher; Scowcroft; Freedman; Watson; Soares; Butterfield; Green.
Subs: Flinders; Lawrence; Idrizaj; Martin; Dickov
Coventry City: Konstantopoulos; de Zeeuw; Hall; Ward; Hughes; Doyle; Adebola (Best, 62); Cairo (Thornton, 70); McKenzie (Simpson, 72); Tabb; Borrowdale
Subs: Marshall; Hawkins;
Referee: A Woolmer
Attendance: 14,455 (773 Coventry City fans)
Bookings: De Zeeuw 30; Ward 40; Doyle 44; Cairo 60; Hall 73; Craig 74
