Taiwo Awoniyi scored his first Premier League goal for Coventry City as Frank Lampard’s side beat Sunderland 3-1 to climb out of the relegation zone.
The win gave Coventry only their third league victory of the season. It also left Sunderland bottom of the table after their sixth defeat in nine matches.
Both teams had started the day in the bottom two, with just six goals each. However, Lampard’s four changes after last weekend’s defeat by Fulham helped spark a much sharper performance from the Sky Blues.
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto opened the scoring in the 17th minute. Sunderland failed to deal with a routine cross, and the ball fell to Sakamoto on the edge of the area. He made no mistake with a fine finish.
Taiwo Awoniyi doubled Coventry’s lead in the 37th minute. The Nigerian striker took the ball from Luke O’Nien with ease, then drove through Sunderland’s defence before scoring with the help of a deflection.
Sunderland offered little in response during the first half. Brian Brobbey had one decent chance, but he fired wide.
Rudoni Seals Coventry Win as Le Fée Scores Sunderland Consolation
Coventry effectively ended the contest seven minutes after the break. Jack Rudoni’s shot took a deflection off Omar Alderete, who had stretched out a leg to block the effort, and flew into the net.
Sunderland still had a chance to respond, but Chemsdine Talbi missed a good opportunity. The visitors later won a penalty after referee Simon Hooper reviewed a handball by Coventry defender Ethan Pinnock. Pinnock had raised his arm to block O’Nien’s shot.
Enzo Le Fée converted the spot kick in the 67th minute. However, Sunderland could not build on the goal and failed to mount a comeback.
Their afternoon ended on another sour note when Alderete received a second yellow card for tripping Rudoni in stoppage time.
Taiwo Awoniyi played 72 minutes before Sidiki Cherif replaced him. He scored with his only shot, completed 56 per cent of his passes, made 18 touches and covered 7.6km. The striker has now made seven Premier League appearances for Coventry this season.
Fellow Nigerian and Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka missed the match after picking up a hip injury in training the previous day. Lampard confirmed his absence, with Victor Torp taking his place in the starting line up.
Lampard made four changes after defeats by Tottenham and Fulham. He also dropped captain Matt Grimes and restored summer signing Awoniyi to the starting line up for the first time since his red card in Coventry’s 5-0 defeat by Brighton on 13 September.
The changes brought fresh energy to Coventry, who also made their chances count. They scored three goals from four shots on target, despite recording an expected goals figure of just 0.66.
Two goals also benefited from deflections that helped beat Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs. Even so, it was a vital result for Lampard and his side against fellow relegation rivals, and his team selection paid off with three important points.
