Coventry City climbed out of the relegation zone with a 4-1 dismantling of Newcastle United at the CBS Arena, a second successive Premier League victory sealed late by the substitutes Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni.
It was 25 years since John Hartson last scored a home Premier League goal for Coventry, so there was a certain weight to the moment Jack Rudoni stepped up in the sixth minute. The CBS Arena had been waiting through three weeks of international football, buoyed by a win away at Nottingham Forest, and the noise rose sharply when Ephron Mason-Clark chased Brandon Thomas-Asante’s pass in from the right. Lukas Hornicek could only flap at the ball, and when Sidiki Cherif went to ground after feeling contact from the Newcastle goalkeeper as they contested the loose ball, the vast majority of the stadium appealed for a penalty. Rudoni composed himself and slotted it left-footed, sending Hornicek the wrong way, before lifting his shirt to reveal the message “Get well soon Nan”.
Newcastle found space and the ball almost every time they attacked, but Frank Lampard’s willingness to balance risk with reward made Coventry dangerous in the extreme on the transition. Even after Sven Botman had pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 with 20 minutes remaining, Coventry insisted on leaving two or three players right up front. It was a bold approach from a manager who has warned supporters to expect exactly this throughout the club’s first season back in the elite since 2000/01, and on this occasion it paid off. On other days, the same strategy might leave them unstuck.
Cherif, making his first Premier League start since arriving from Fenerbahçe for £21m in the summer, shot straight and weakly at Hornicek on one such counterattack when Rudoni was all but free in the middle. Coventry also had Bobby Thomas to thank for denying Newcastle twice before the interval. First the centre-back headed off the line after Jacob Murphy turned Harvey Barnes’s superb far-post cross back in and past Carl Rushworth. Then, when Matias Fernandez-Pardo raced ahead of him on to a fine through pass, rounded Rushworth and shot goalwards, Thomas’s recovery run allowed him to clear.
Three minutes into the second half, the 19-year-old Cherif had his first Premier League goal. When Malick Thiaw headed a long throw out of the penalty area, Cherif’s first touch set him up to swivel and strike a crisp drive beyond Hornicek’s grasping fingers. He could then have put the game out of Newcastle’s reach, but after Botman horribly miscued Thomas-Asante’s cross from the right, Cherif clunked his sidefooted effort wide from six yards out.
That miss was made to look all the more important when Botman was allowed to wander forwards unchallenged and belt a shot into the top corner of Rushworth’s goal with 20 minutes left to play. Newcastle threatened to take charge, but Simms restored the cushion in the 81st minute, shooting home after Thomas-Asante nicked the ball on the edge of the area. There was still time for Thomas-Asante to shoot against the post before Mfuni twinkle-toed his way into the penalty area and struck in left-footed to emphatically seal the rout.
The result came with the wider picture of Coventry’s recruitment in mind. Only time will tell whether their £100m of summer investment carries sufficient quality to keep the club up, but the quantity is certainly there, with a further £70m of new talent not even in the starting XI. Taiwo Awoniyi, signed for £17m from Nottingham Forest, might have been the big arrival for many promoted sides, and his absence through a three-game suspension opened the way for Cherif, who is evidently not the finished product but has raw attributes for Coventry to build on.
For Newcastle, the afternoon was a missed opportunity. Victory would have taken them fourth in the Premier League, and they dominated for long spells and missed several very presentable chances, yet they could not argue with what turned into a dismantling. It also followed a 4-1 defeat at Leeds in their previous game, the same scoreline by which they were beaten here, after what had been a strong start to the season.