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The Hornets were already three goals down by the time they lost James Abankwah to a straight red card one minute before half-time after his last-man foul on Haji Wright.

Brandon Thomas-Asante scored with a glancing header after just three minutes before Jamie Allen fired home to make it 2-0 in the seventh minute.

Having assisted Thomas-Asante's opener, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto got Coventry's third goal from the edge of the area in the 42nd minute, rendering Imran Louza's second-half penalty a mere consolation for Watford, which is now 14th on the table.

The win moved Coventry four points clear of Middlesbrough, and Rob Edwards's men could only cut that gap by a single point as they rallied from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 with Wrexham.

Coventry has now won five league games in a row for only the third time in its League history, having also done so in August 1954 and September 1964.

With 28 points from 12 games, it has made its best start to a League campaign, while Thomas-Asante has now scored or assisted in six successive Championship games.

On the goals front, Lampard's men are also ruthless, having now scored 34 goals in the Championship while conceding just nine from 12 matches so far for a goal difference of 25. The next best is nine, by fourth-placed Bristol City.