Coventry City missed the opportunity to take the lead from the penalty spot before battling back three times to take a share of the points in a six goal thriller at the CBS Arena.

Danish striker Mileta Rajovic put the Hornets ahead 15 minutes inAto his debut after Daniel Bachmann had saved Matty Godden’s penalty for the Sky Blues at the other end.

Milan van Ewijk levelled before half-time with a superb free-kick, but Udinese loanee Matheus Martins restored the visitors’ advantage.

Bachmann’s error then led to a bizarre Wesley Hoedt own goal that made it 2-2, but Rajovic scored his second – only for Godden to equalise again for Coventry three minutes from time in a match that wasn’t without incident and controversy.

Here are five things we learned from the 3-3 draw which leaves City in 14th place in the Championship, having taken six points from their opening five games of the season.

Off the cuff Haji

Restored to the starting line-up in a straight swap for Ellis Simms, Haji Wright wasted no time at all in showing why he should be the current man in possession of the second striking berth alongside Matty Godden – the latter of whom Robins says, “binds everything together” at this moment in time. The USA international is such an exciting centre-forward to watch, possessing blistering pace and terrorising centre-back pairing Wesley Hoedt and Ryan Porteous.

The way he glided past Hoedt and twisted and turned Porteous inside out in the box had the fans on the edge of their seats. He’s not the finished article, as he showed late on when he wriggled free of his marker with Simms making what the manager called a “brilliant” run and Godden pulling away, only to opt to shoot rather than take the more effective option. Robins calls him “off the cuff,” a striker who is unpredictable and able to improvise – something he doesn’t want to knock out of him, but merely “fine tune” a little.

Porteous punch claim

Valerien Ismael made a surprising post-match claim when he accused Haji Wright of punching Porteous in the face as he left the Scotland international trailing in his wake as he raced to the by-line before pulling the ball back for Godden’s late equaliser. The Watford boss is a charismatic figure who speaks really well in interview and, being a former rugged centre-half himself, admitted nevertheless that his player should really have stayed strong and kept on his feet. The fact of the matter is that the 24-year-old dropped to the deck clutching his face in a pathetic vain attempt to get a foul – the tell-tale sign of play-acting always being when the so-called ‘victim’ takes a sneaky peep up from his perceived agony to check out what’s happened in the passage of play after his pleas have been ignored by the referee.

Match official David Webb’s decision, meanwhile, came as no surprise at all given that Porteous had earlier made a meal of a fully committed 50/50 block tackle with Kasey Palmer on the halfway line in the opening minutes when he, again, went down like he’d been shot, holding his face in his hands. Legendary Scotland boss Jock Stein would be turning in his grave at such behaviour!

Defensive dip

It wasn’t only Watford who were really poor at the back on the day. City’s defensive unit had started the season in encouraging form but struggled to cope with the visitors’ pace and movement on the counter attack. Ismael revealed afterwards that part of his game plan was to exploit the “big gaps” the Sky Blues leave between the wing-backs, who like to play high up the pitch, and the wider centre-backs of the back three. And that’s exactly how the Hornets scored their second goal when Mattheus Martins was given the freedom of the CBS Arena down the left. Bobby Thomas, meanwhile, dipped below his impressive early season form when he under hit a backpass to Ben Wilson, whom Robins claimed was out of position to receive the ball for the visitors’ third goal.

Dead ball options

A week on from revealing his long throw threat, Milan van Ewijk showed that he has yet another string to his bow with a superb 30-yard free-kick that got City back on level terms and back in the game in the first half. It’s a skill that the Dutch Under-21 international practises on a regular basis, says Robins, who also revealed afterwards that he’s not the only one with an eye for a dead ball goal, with Kasey Palmer, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Yasin Ayari all impressive free-kick takers in the squad. That has to bode well for the season ahead.

Polishing a diamond

Yasin Ayari impressed for a second week running when introduced from the bench but is clearly still very much a work-in-progress as far as Robins is concerned. The Brighton loan player had a hand City’s third goal when he played the ball to Wright who, in turn, teed up Godden for his goal. But the manager criticised the fact that the 19-year-old had earlier put his side at risk by trying to thread a pass through against a team that counter with such speed. However, the fact remains that the teenager has stacks of talent and is a player who looks like he’s just going to get better and better as the weeks go on, as he gets up to speed with the Championship and the discipline Robins demands from his players, both in and out of possession.