Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Mark Robins’ side claim 3-0 win over Sunderland in the Championship.
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto scored the opening goal for the visitors on the eve of halftime. Callum O’Hare then scored his third goal of the season, and Kasey Palmer rounded out the scoring.
After being named Tony Mowbray’s successor on Monday, new manager Michael Beale had a miserable afternoon. Coventry’s victory means they have now lost only one of their past eight games, and while the Sky Blues may have begun the season hesitantly after losing both Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer in the summer, they appear to be on track for another play-off appearance.
That will also be Sunderland’s objective, though Beale’s team will need to improve significantly if the former Rangers and QPR manager is to build on Mowbray’s outstanding work over the last 15 months.
For his debut game in charge, Beale made one change, restoring Jobe Bellingham to the starting lineup. The teenager was watched from the stands by a famous face, with his brother, Jude, watching from the directors’ box after returning to England at the start of Real Madrid’s winter break.
Jobe was deployed as an attacking midfielder, with Abdoullah Ba as a false number nine ahead of him, and the latter should have opened the scoring in the 20th minute.
The ball rebounded invitingly for Ba, who was unmarked 10 yards out, after visiting goalkeeper Brad Collins parried Jack Clarke’s attempt from just outside the area. The 20-year-old appeared to be on his way to a score, but he skied a woeful effort over the crossbar.
Sunderland led at the time, but the hosts were grateful to their goalkeeper, Anthony Patterson, for a fine double save from Haji Wright and O’Hare midway through the first half. The Sunderland goalkeeper, however, was beaten as the Sky Blues seized the lead just before halftime.
After breaking down the left side thanks to Luke O’Nien’s blunder, O’Hare produced a low cross, and while Sakamoto’s original attempt was blocked at the back post, the ball rebounded off the Japanese midfielder and into the net. Clarke twice came close to equalizing early in the second half, sending in efforts that Collins saved, and Bellingham also saw an effort stopped close to the goalline as Sunderland piled on the pressure.
However, the Sky Blues remained a serious danger on the break, and the visitors extended their lead in the 67th minute. O’Hare curled a precise goal into the far corner after Wright brought the ball back from close to the byline.
The second goal prompted a portion of the Stadium of Light crowd to start shouting Mowbray’s name, and the singing became even louder when Coventry scored three minutes later. Patterson was unable to hang on to a low cross from the left, leaving Palmer with the simple chore of rolling home from close range.
