Frank Lampard called it a “complete performance”, and the numbers almost dared him to call it anything else. Newcastle United had 67 per cent of the ball, attempted 19 shots to Coventry’s nine and strung together 526 passes at 86 per cent accuracy. They still lost 4-1 on Monday night.
Jack Rudoni converted a sixth-minute penalty, teenage forward Sidiki Cherif added the second three minutes into the second half, and Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni finished the job in the final nine minutes. Sven Botman’s 70th-minute goal was Newcastle’s only reward for all the pressure.
“Very, very satisfying. It’s so hard to win. We played like the team that we want to be here,” Lampard said.
“You get what you deserve, which was great finishes. We haven’t quite had that rub of the green this season that would help us nick more points. It was a complete performance.”
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The win lifted Coventry out of the relegation zone and gave Lampard back-to-back Premier League victories, a sequence the club had not managed since 2001. It was also their first Premier League home win since promotion.
Cherif settles it after the restart
Rudoni’s penalty settled the hosts, but it was Cherif who tilted the night. The teenager won the opening spot-kick and then slid in the second goal moments after the restart.
“It’s very exciting because he’s so young. He’s got a really good manner, a really good way about him, he wants to train, he wants to learn,” Lampard said of the forward.
“He’s quite quiet, but he showed a lot of personality and didn’t stop running. There is a lot to come.”
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Jaissle: ‘not good enough’
For Jaissle, this was a second successive Monday-night humbling on the road. Newcastle were beaten 4-1 at Leeds on 14 September, and the German, who replaced Eddie Howe in August on a four-year deal, now sits on the edge of a Premier League conversation he will not want to be in.
“We’re frustrated. It’s a feeling you don’t want to have on a Monday evening after a match where you should win,” Jaissle told reporters.
“We need to analyse it, clearly. There were bits that were good, but in both boxes, to defend our own goal, we need to improve and also score goals.”
Jaissle pointed to the away record.
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“If you conceded eight goals in two away matches on Monday evenings, then it’s not good enough.”
Newcastle created the openings and spurned them. Both sides had six shots on target. Coventry converted four of theirs, Newcastle one.
Tottenham are next for Coventry. “They need to keep their feet on the ground because the next one is tough,” Lampard said.
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