Coventry City 1 - 0 Swansea City

Mason-Clark strikes as leaders Coventry beat Swans



Coventry City stretched their lead at the top of the Championship to eight points as Ephron Mason-Clark's goal secured victory over Swansea City.

The Sky Blues were pushed hard by lowly Swansea but Mason-Clark's emphatic close-range finish late in the first half proved enough for an eighth successive home win.

Frank Lampard's side enjoyed more control as the contest wore on, though they were relieved to see Liam Cullen volley over from point-blank range in the final quarter.

Victory extends Coventry's advantage over second-placed Middlesbrough, who were held at home by Blackburn Rovers.

More importantly, perhaps, Coventry are now 13 points clear of third place at the midway point in the season as they bid for a long-awaited return to the Premier League.

Swansea, meanwhile, slip to 20th – and only four points clear of the relegation zone - having suffered a fifth successive away defeat.

Coventry offered little going forward until the final stages of the first half, when a quick free-kick saw Swansea goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux save brilliantly from Ellis Simms before Mason-Clark's follow-up was inadvertently blocked by team-mate Jack Rudoni.

The goal came from one of Milan van Ewijk's many menacing long throws, as Matty Woolfenden flicked on and Mason-Clark drove the ball high into the net on the turn.

The half-time deficit was harsh on Swansea, who missed a big opportunity early on when Zan Vipotnik's shot ricocheted over off Liam Kitching.

Victor Torp and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto shot too close to Vigouroux as Coventry improved in the second period, though Swansea might have levelled when Cullen turned Ethan Galbraith's cross over the bar.

Substitute Melker Widell then drew a save from Coventry's former Swansea goalkeeper Carl Rushworth as Lampard's men did just enough to make it 29 points taken from 11 home league games this season.

This was a welcome return to the CBS Arena for a Coventry side who had dropped points at Ipswich, Preston and Southampton this month.

The Sky Blues are enjoying their longest home winning sequence since a nine-game streak in 1959-60, though they have had more comfortable successes than this.

Swansea emerged with some credit given their performance, but the failure to take one of their chances meant a fourth loss in seven games under Vitor Matos.

Matt Grimes was booed by some travelling fans during his first reunion with Swansea, the club he left to move to Coventry last January after more than 300 appearances across a decade in Wales.

But with Coventry sitting pretty at the top of the table, it was the former Swansea skipper who enjoyed the last laugh.

Coventry head coach Frank Lampard:

"Over the course of the season, there are so many games you play. We had a hot patch earlier in the season where everything you hit goes in.

"Today we had a couple of chances first half that didn't go in, Ephron gets a great goal. We have chances in the second half to make it feel more secure and it doesn't quite drop for us, so try to keep clean sheets, try to do other parts of our game.

"We weren't as good today off the ball as we normally are. First half was more passive, less urgent, and that had to be said at half-time because they (Swansea) can play and we gave them the feeling that they can play, look up and find passes through us.

"We addressed that. They are a good team, they gave us a tough game and I am really pleased with the result."