Coventry City whip Newcastle for first top-flight home win in 25 years

Coventry City stunned Newcastle United with an emphatic 4-1 victory as they won their first Premier League game at home in 25 years according to BBC Sport. 

Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek hauled down Sidiki Cherif to gift Coventry an early penalty and Jack Rudoni made no mistake with the finish, scoring the club’s first goal at home this season to raise the roof at CBS Arena.

It was Coventry’s first Premier League goal at their home ground since John Hartson scored in a 1-0 win against Sunderland in April 2001.

The hosts made a lightning-fast start to the second half, too, and teenager Cherif doubled their lead shortly after the restart with a clean finish.

A stunning 70th-minute long-range strike by Sven Botman handed Newcastle a lifeline, but a deflected shot by substitute Ellis Simms put Coventry out of reach – much to the delight of a raucous home crowd.

Stephen Mfuni put the cherry on top with four minutes of normal time remaining when he curled past Hornicek into the top-right corner.

The victory – Coventry’s second of the season – lifts them out the relegation zone and up to 14th, where they sit level on points with Manchester United.

Matthias Jaissle’s Newcastle remain 11th, with eight points from their opening six games.

The international break did not fall kindly for Coventry and they were unable to gather momentum after defeating Nottingham Forest for their first Premier League win since the 2000-01 campaign.

But the hosts could not have asked for a better start on Monday night as Hornicek, under pressure from Ephron Mason-Clark, recklessly parried the ball away before throwing himself at the legs of Cherif.

Newcastle piled on the pressure after Rudoni’s opener and Coventry had defender Bobby Thomas to thank for entering the break in front as he made two excellent blocks to deny Matias Fernandez-Pardo.

After scoring just one goal in their opening five games, the floodgates finally opened for Frank Lampard’s side and Cherif’s piercing finish in the 48th minute ensured Coventry raced out of the blocks again in the second half.

Simms made the most of the advantage given by referee John Brooks, who allowed play to go on after Joelinton clattered into Brandon Thomas-Asante on the edge of the box.

But it was 18-year-old Mfuni’s goal that was the pick of the bunch for the hosts as he drove into the penalty area before bending a lovely curling finish past Hornicek.

After difficult tests against Arsenal and Manchester City to start the season, this victory will be all the evidence Lampard and Coventry fans need to prove they have what it takes not only to survive this season, but compete.

After five years under Eddie Howe, eight points in Newcastle’s opening five Premier League games was not a bad start for Jaissle.

But the signs were there from the start that the Magpies lacked a solid defensive base and those weakness were put on show by a ruthless Coventry side.

After Hornicek’s early mistake to give away the penalty, Newcastle were left to chase the game and left acres of space for Coventry to counter-attack into.

Cherif was afforded too much time on the ball before he netted the hosts’ second, while Joelinton sloppily lost possession as he launched into a tackle before Simms found the target.

It did not help that Newcastle wasted the numerous chances they had in front of goal.

Fernandez-Pardo had a golden opportunity to tap in an equaliser in the first half from close range, but dummied Jacob Murphy’s pass and there was no-one arriving behind to convert.

And the Belgian was not clinical or fast enough to find a way past Thomas later on.

Jaissle will need to come up with a quick solution to solve the issues at both ends of the pitch before his team host Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday (17:30 BST).