Coventry City 3 - 1 Sheffield United

[dutchman]

Leaders Coventry beat Blades to go four points clear



Championship leaders Coventry City came back from a goal behind at half-time to beat struggling Sheffield United and go four points clear at the top of the table.

The visitors took the lead when former Sky Blues defender Sam McCallum fired in from close range after Ben Mee had done well to flick on Sydie Peck's corner.

The Blades were forced into a change in goal at the break with the injured Michael Cooper replaced by Adam Davies and his first job was to get the ball out of the net after Tatsuhiro Sakamoto swept home a low finish when the United defence failed to deal with a long throw.

Frank Lampard's men were then gifted the lead when Davies failed to connect with a punch from Victor Torp's corner and Bobby Thomas' header crept over the line.

Haji Wright beat the offside trap and unselfishly squared for Brandon Thomas-Asante to wrap up the win with the the final kick of the game.

Coventry had suffered their first defeat of the season at Wrexham on Friday but this win moved them five points clear of third-placed Middlesbrough.

Another three goals took their tally for the season to 39 - no other side in the top four divisions of English football has scored more than 27.

Sheffield United remain third from bottom and, with 11 defeats from their opening 14 matches, have lost more league games this season than they did in the whole of 2024-25.

Lampard responded to Friday's reverse by Wrexham by making five changes to his starting XI, while Chris Wilder made two changes from the side beaten at home by Derby on Saturday.

McCallum's goal came slightly against the run of play but gave the away side a real impetus and Peck had a good chance to double their lead before the break only for Thomas to get a block in that took all the pace off his effort.

Coventry's best chance of the opening period came in time added on when Wright perhaps should have done better with a header than Cooper was able to hold.

That was Cooper's final action of the game though as having received treatment from the physios during the first half he did not appear after the interval and Davies was brought on for just a second league appearance since August 2024.

There was little the Wales international could have done to keep out Tatsuhiro's effort three minutes after the break, though boss Wilder will have been unimpressed by his side's inability to deal with a long throw that lacked power.

However, Davies was at fault for Coventry's second as he came for Torp's corner but did not make meaningful contact and Thomas put the home side in front on the hour-mark.

Thereafter the leaders had the better of it, although the Blades did have some late pressure without really testing Carl Rushworth in the Sky Blues goal.

With time all but up late substitute Jamie Allen sent Wright in behind the visitors' defence, though there was a suspicion of offside, and the USA international teed up Thomas-Asante to roll the ball into an empty net.

The Sky Blues host second-placed Stoke on Saturday, while the Blades, who have become the first second tier side since Wimbledon in 2003-04 to lose 11 of their opening 14 games, welcome QPR.

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard told BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire:

"I'm delighted with how the players have managed to win that game. It was absolutely deserved of course but it was brilliant character and when you think of the details of the game and how it went we were outstanding.

"I know there was a personnel change [at half-time] but it was more like the feeling of the team and can we come out with a load of force and energy. A tactical change is one thing but can we as a team run a bit more, play forward a bit more and be a bit more threatening and we absolutely did do that.

"It was great to get an early goal because that gives the players and the stadium a real belief.

"They're no mugs at all. They're a good team regardless of their league position and they wont finish anywhere near where they are because they've got good players."

[dutchman]

Coventry 'reacted well' to adversity in Blades win



Coventry City's comeback win against Sheffield United was an example of how they can fight back from adversity, says defender Bobby Thomas.

The Championship leaders went 1-0 down after former Coventry defender Sam McCallum scored for the struggling Blades in the 25th minute.

That was only the second time this season City had conceded the first goal in a league game but Frank Lampard's side responded in style after half-time.

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto equalised after 49 minutes, Thomas headed in from a corner on the hour before the Championship's top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante scored his 10th goal of the season in injury time to seal victory.

"Through the season we're not going to be coming in two, three-nil up every time, we are going to face adversity and today was an example of that," Thomas told BBC CWR.

"Coming in at 1-0 down, we managed to react to that and put what happened in the first half behind us and changed our view on the game. I thought we did that very well.

"Once we got the first goal, the game kind of flipped and we were on top. It seemed to change the game."

The win - Coventry's ninth in 14 games - kept them four points clear of Stoke City, who they face at the bet365 Stadium in a mouth-watering prospect on Saturday.

"Should be a good game, first v second, hopefully we'll come out on top," Thomas added.

"It'll be tough. They're flying at their place - let's see what happens."