Coventry City 3-1 Sunderland: Lampard's Side Win as Sunderland Stay Rooted to the Bottom

Coventry City beat Sunderland 3-1 at the Coventry Building Society Arena to climb above the Premier League relegation zone. The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the closing stages of the match.

Goals from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Taiwo Awoniyi and Jack Rudoni handed the "Sky Blues" their third Premier League win of the season. The result piles further pressure on Régis Le Bris, head coach of a Sunderland side rooted to the foot of the table.

Sunderland started brightly and created good chances to take the lead: Carl Rushworth gathered Chris Rigg's effort, while Trai Hume fired over after a Coventry defensive error.

However, it was the hosts who struck first, in the 17th minute. When Trai Hume failed to clear Milan van Ewijk's neat cross from the right flank, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto tucked a tidy finish into the left-hand corner to put his side 1-0 up.

Sunderland had a clear chance to equalise minutes later, but Brian Brobbey's shot flashed wide of the left post. Goalkeeper Robin Roefs then turned Victor Torp's free kick from 25 metres behind for a corner.

Coventry doubled their lead in the 37th minute. Awoniyi dispossessed Luke O'Nien in a dangerous area, drove into the box and shot; the ball deflected off Omar Alderete and nestled in the bottom left-hand corner: 2-0.

Alderete was involved again for Coventry's third goal. The defender got an unfortunate touch on Rudoni's powerful strike, leaving goalkeeper Roefs helpless as the score moved to 3-0.

Searching for a way back, Sunderland saw Alderete's acrobatic effort go out of play and Chemsdine Talbi's shot miss the target. Enzo Le Fée then converted a penalty, awarded after a VAR review for an Ethan Pinnock handball in the box, to make it 3-1.

But Sunderland's comeback efforts came to nothing. In stoppage time, Alderete brought down Rudoni and was sent off for a second yellow card, capping a day of frustration for the "Black Cats".

Coventry back on track

Before the match, Frank Lampard had stressed that it was still "too early" to think about the league standings. But his side's varied and effective display will have restored the English manager's confidence.

Coventry stood out for their clinical finishing, generating 0.71 expected goals (xG) from 12 shots.

For Sunderland, meanwhile, the dark clouds over Le Bris show no sign of lifting. Without a win in their last seven league matches, Sunderland's poor run goes on.