Rudoni gives leaders Coventry dramatic win over Stoke
Coventry City moved eight points clear at the top of the Championship and closer to Premier League promotion with a hard-earned and dramatic stoppage-time victory against Stoke City.
Haji Wright nodded home his 16th goal of the season to put Frank Lampard's side ahead early on, only for Ben Gibson to level in first-half added with Stoke's only shot on goal.
Potters goalkeeper Tommy Simkin made string of saves in each half, including a smothering effort to keep Wright out in a one-on-one which had the Sky Blues players appealing for a penalty.
It appeared that Coventry would have to settle for a frustrating draw before Jack Rudoni punished Simkin for a calamitous attempted clearance to snatch a late winner.
The win against a Stoke side managed by former Coventry boss Mark Robins, who got them to within a penalty shootout win of a long-awaited Premier League return in 2023, has consolidated the Sky Blues' place in the top two.
They remain nine points clear of third-placed Millwall with 11 games remaining.
While Robins was back at the CBS Arena in the rival technical area, his imprint on the Coventry side looking to get back to the top-flight after a 25-year absence was highlighted with their opening goal.
Jay Dasilva and Wright, two players brought to Coventry by Robins, combined to break the deadlock.
Coventry pressed incessantly for a second before the break, but Potters keeper Simkin denied Ephron Mason-Clark, Frank Onyeka and Wright, who also hit the crossbar, before Gibson hit back for the visitors with a glanced header from a Sorba Thomas corner to end the half.
Simkin remained busy after the interval, saving from Rudoni and rushing out to foil Wright, but the keeper's efforts were undone in stoppage time when disastrously failing to clear the ball while under pressure.
It went as far as Rudoni, whose effort went in off Gibson to spark euphoric celebrations inside the packed CBS Arena.
Coventry City head coach Frank Lampard told BBC CWR:"Not every day is like this and you have to enjoy the moment when it comes. I enjoyed it today because I loved our performance – it was so, so good throughout the game that if we hadn't have got what we deserved it would have been a travesty.
"From minute one and how we played the first half, we should been two or three goals up. There was real quality in our play, good pressure from us off the ball and we gave them nothing, other than the goal. Apart from that, throughout the game they didn't have another shot on target or any real threat.
"So when you have that feeling of 'oh, it's going to be one of those days', but it flips because of the character of the boys, it makes it a special day."
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2026 6:05 pm