Coventry City thrash Sheffield Wednesday to go top of the Championship

Fresh from their 4-0 victory against Millwall on Wednesday, Coventry City travelled up North to face out-of-form strugglers Sheffield Wednesday. Going into the game as clear favourites, the Sky Blues opened up the scoring in 3 minutes thanks to a header by Brandon Thomas-Asante following a deflection from Owls Defender Max Lowe.

The game was abruptly paused in the 10th minute due to a peaceful protest from the home fans against owner Dejphon Chansiri, after the board withheld the players’ weekly wages for the fifth time in seven months. The referees moved the players to safety, and the match resumed after stewards had removed fans from the pitch.

The score line took Coventry City’s total goal tally to 27 for the season

After a comparatively uneventful few minutes, Thomas-Asante doubled the Sky Blues’ lead, taking his total tally to five for the season. On the stroke of half time, Haji Wright scored a third, with the officials failing to notice that he was in an offside position.

Seemingly cruising towards a win, Coventry manager Frank Lampard decided to make four substitutions by the 63rd minute. Substitute Ellis Simms soon made it four following brilliant link-up play with full-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden, before Tatsuhiro Sakamoto added the fifth in the 75th minute. With the result, Coventry shot to the top of the table, while their opponents remain firmly anchored in the relegation zone amid a tumultuous time for the squad.

The score line took Coventry City’s total goal tally to 27 for the season, more than any other club across England’s top 4 leagues. A third victory of the week for Lampard’s men, who scored a total of 12 goals across the period without reply, also saw the Sky Blues go nine consecutive matches unbeaten in the league. Club captain Matt Grimes reflected: “It’s been a really good week. I think today’s the most impressive, not just because of the goals but also because of the quick turnaround playing Wednesday night away.”

A huge amount of credit has to be given to coach Frank Lampard

As for the Sky Blues excellent goal-scoring record, much of it comes down to the squad’s most potent attacker Haji Wright, who stands at the top of the league’s goal-scoring charts with a goal every 84 minutes. Attacking midfielder and player of the match Brandon Thomas-Asante also continued his fine run of form, taking his total goal contributions to eight for the season.

Yet a huge amount of credit has to be given to coach Frank Lampard, who took charge of this team when they were sitting 17th in the table and has since transformed them into one of the most feared sides in the league. This year, he looks set to go one further than last season’s playoff heartbreak and restore Coventry to the Premier League for the first time in 24 years. Is it too early to start believing?