Goals in either half from Michael Rose and Matty Godden handed the Sky Blues a fifth successive win in Sky Bet League One as they claimed all three points at Rochdale on Saturday afternoon.
Rose opened the scoring after just four minutes when he headed home from close range to put City in front at half time.
Godden doubled the lead when he found the bottom left corner with a tidy finish before Aaron Wilbraham pulled a goal back for the hosts from the restart.
The Sky Blues held on to claim an excellent away win and extended their unbeaten run to 11 league matches in the process.
Mark Robins made two changes to the side that was victorious at Southend United last weekend with Jamie Allen and Callum O’Hare coming in for Zain Westbrooke and Jordan Shipley respectively.
It took City just four minutes to break the deadlock when a short corner on the right was played into Liam Walsh who delivered a perfect cross for Rose to head home into an empty net after Robert Sanchez had misjudged the cross.
The hosts responded with a chance of their own when Kwadwo Baah crossed for Ian Henderson, but the veteran striker could only head his effort well over the bar.
The Sky Blues came close to doubling their lead when a superb challenge from Rose, on the edge of his own penalty area, started a quickfire counter attack which ended in Allen striking an effort inches wide of the left-hand post.
Just moments later, Rochdale carved out their first chance of the match when Baah was put through on goal only to be denied by an excellent save from Marko Marosi low down to his right.
The home side tested Marosi again shortly after when a cross from the left was headed towards goal by Henderson only for Marosi to produce a stunning save, scooping the ball away at his near post.
However, City continued to create chances of their own and only a superb block from a Rochdale defender denied Godden from close range after being teed up by an outrageous backheel from O’Hare.
Another excellent move moments later saw McCallum pick out Walsh on the edge of the penalty area with the midfielder’s powerful strike on the turn well-held by Sanchez.
Minutes before half time, captain Liam Kelly had a go from distance but could only send his effort well over the bar.
City continued to dominate proceedings as the first half drew to a close with Allen floating an enticing cross into the box from the right which was headed agonisingly wide of the left-hand post by Dom Hyam.
HALF-TIME: ROCHDALE 0-1 SKY BLUES
The Sky Blues picked up where they left off in the early exchanges of the second half with McCallum’s cross from the left headed just wide by the leaping Allen.
After a quiet period of play, McCallum’s ball into the box was flicked on by Kyle McFadzean into the path of Godden who was denied by Sanchez from close range.
City doubled their lead on 72 minutes when Godden was slipped through by Allen before finishing into the bottom left corner.
From the restart however, a long ball over the top fell into the path of Wilbraham who coolly finished under Marosi to halve the deficit.
Having set-up Godden for City’s second, Allen came closing to getting on the scoresheet himself when he took a touch before smashing an effort wide of the target.
With the pressure building, Robins made a double change with five minutes left to play, as Shipley and Max Biamou replaced Allen and Godden respectively.
Those changes settled the game down and the Sky Blues held on to claim all three points to claim a fifth successive win in the league.
FULL-TIME: ROCHDALE 1-2 SKY BLUES
Goals: Rose 4’, Godden 72‘, Wilbraham 73’
Yellows: McCallum 21’, Matheson 41’, McShane 50’, Henderson 78’
Attendance: 4,356 (1,856 away)
Rochdale XI: Robert Sanchez (GK), Luke Matheson, Eoghan O’Connell (McNulty 46’), Paul McShane, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Kwadwo Baah (Done 39’), Matthew Lund, Jimmy Ryan, Stephen Dooley (Wilbraham 63’), Callum Camps, Ian Henderson (C)
Unused Subs: Jay Lynch (GK), MJ Williams, Jimmy Keohane, Tyler Smith
Sky Blues XI: Marko Marosi (GK), Fankaty Dabo, Dom Hyam, Kyle McFadzean, Michael Rose, Sam McCallum, Jamie Allen (Shipley 85’), Liam Kelly (C), Liam Walsh, Callum O’Hare, Matty Godden (Biamou 85’)
Unused Subs: Ben Wilson (GK), Josh Pask, Zain Westbrooke, Ryan Giles, Amadou Bakayoko