Coventry City climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 4-1 win over Newcastle United at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Monday 12 October, their first home win of the season. Jack Rudoni, Sidiki Cherif, Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni scored for Frank Lampard’s side, with Sven Botman replying for Newcastle. The match kicked off at 3am on Tuesday, Singapore time.
Rudoni’s sixth-minute penalty was Coventry’s first Premier League goal on home soil in more than 25 years. Newcastle had arrived needing a win to go fourth. They left 11th, with Matthias Jaissle’s side beaten for the second time in six league games.
A gift in the sixth minute
Newcastle handed Coventry the lead. Lukas Hornicek failed to gather a loose ball into his area, scrambled to recover it and brought down Cherif, the teenager making his first Premier League start. Rudoni sent the Czech goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.
The visitors had most of what followed in the first half. Harvey Barnes had a low drive blocked by Bobby Thomas and a second shot held by Carl Rushworth. Matias Fernandez-Pardo, still chasing his first Newcastle goal, dummied Jacob Murphy’s low cross with no team-mate behind him, and Coventry broke straight up the other end for Hornicek to parry Cherif.
Thomas was the reason the score stayed 1-0. He turned a Murphy header over his own crossbar, then, on the stroke of half-time, cleared off the line after Fernandez-Pardo had run on to a Nico Gonzalez through ball and rounded Rushworth.
Cherif doubles it, Botman answers
Three minutes into the second half, Newcastle failed to clear a long throw-in. The ball fell to Cherif, who took a touch, swivelled and drilled a low shot through a crowd of bodies into the bottom corner.
He should have had a third soon after, slicing wide from close range after a poor Newcastle clearance. Yoane Wissa found space on the edge of the box, but his shot was held by Rushworth.
Botman made it a contest in the 70th minute. The Dutch centre-back carried the ball forward unchallenged and hit a shot from the edge of the area into the top corner, his first goal since February. For the next 10 minutes Newcastle pushed, and Coventry had a couple of nervy moments at the back.
Two substitutes settle it
The game turned on a mistake from a player who had only just come on. Joelinton, in his first competitive match since May, lost the ball cheaply on the edge of his own box. Simms had been on the pitch for under four minutes, and his first touch was a shot that deflected off Malick Thiaw and past Hornicek in the 81st minute. Brandon Thomas-Asante set it up.
Five minutes later Mfuni finished the night. The 18-year-old, on loan from Manchester City and also off the bench, drove into the area and hit a left-footed shot that went in off the far post.
What it means for both clubs
Coventry are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2001, and this was their second win in a row after a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest before the international break. They rise from 19th to 14th on six points, two behind Newcastle.
For Newcastle, the night undid the good work of a 2-1 win over Hull City last month. Jaissle made one change from that game, bringing in Gonzalez for Sean Steur in midfield, and still conceded four. A side that started the evening looking at the top four ends it in mid-table, with defensive errors behind two of the goals.
Milan van Ewijk and Joelinton were booked. John Brooks refereed.
