Coventry stuns Newcastle to move out of drop zone

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Having got its campaign up and running with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest before the international break, Frank Lampard's side produced another clinical counter-attacking performance at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Goals from Jack Rudoni and Sidiki Cherif put Coventry 2-0 up, and though Sven Botman's piledriver gave Newcastle hope of a comeback, substitutes Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni struck late on to put the game beyond Matthias Jaissle's side.

A lacklustre start saw Newcastle fall behind six minutes in, with Rudoni keeping his cool from the penalty spot after Lukas Hornicek spilled what should have been a routine ball to collect and exacerbated the issue by tripping Cherif.

The Magpies soon grew into the encounter, but Coventry were saved by two heroic clearances from Bobby Thomas, one in front of an unguarded net after Jacob Murphy knocked Harvey Barnes' cross back into the danger zone, then another to deny Matias Fernandez-Pardo what seemed a certain goal after he rounded Carl Rushworth.

But Coventry continued to carry a threat on the break throughout the first half, with Cherif shooting straight at Hornicek when he could have played in a team-mate, and the hosts doubled their advantage three minutes into the second period.

When Newcastle could not fully clear the lines from a long throw, Cherif took a touch near the D, then swivelled and drilled a wonderful finish into the bottom-right corner.

Cherif should have had his brace soon afterwards, only to slice badly wide following a botched Botman clearance, but after Joe Willock fired over, the Dutchman thundered a 20-yard shot into the near corner to give Rushworth no chance.

Newcastle then started to look menacing again, but when Joelinton conceded possession cheaply on the edge of his own area in the 81st minute, Simms saw his shot deflect off Malick Thiaw and skip past Hornicek.

Coventry would add further gloss to the scoreline through Manchester City loanee Mfuni, who blasted a brilliant effort in off the far post, four minutes from time.