Coventry maintained their push for the Championship play-offs with a 2-1 win over Sunderland at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Jamie Allen scored the opener after 25 minutes, guiding in his second goal in as many games after a pull-back from Viktor Gyokeres, who slid in a second to cap an excellent performance on his 100th appearance in a Sky Blues shirt.
Coventry City’s Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring their side’s second goal of the game
Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo curled in a beauty to halve the deficit in second-half stoppage time, but it was nothing more than a consolation for Tony Mowbray’s team, who missed out on the chance to jump into the play-off places having extended their run of not winning away at Coventry in the league since April 1985.
The Sky Blues, meanwhile, climb to 10th, two points outside the top six with 13 games remaining.
How the Sky Blues closed in on the top six
With valuable points up for grabs, the tempo was high from the start. Both teams tested the water with half-chances early on, with Danny Batth sending alarm bells ringing when he leapt above Kasey Palmer to send a header onto the crossbar.
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Sunderland’s Danny Batth powers a header at goal that ricochets off the bar during his side’s fixture against Coventry in the Championship
Sunderland soon took control of possession, but that meant little to Coventry – who had won 11 of the games this season where they had had under 50 per cent of the ball.
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Coventry’s Jamie Allen arrives in the box to put his side 1-0 up over Sunderland in the Championship
Shortly after Gyokeres had raced onto a misplaced pass and lifted a shot over the bar, he marked his 100th appearance for the Sky Blues with an assist, by driving into the box and pulling the ball back for Allen to guide in the opener.
The Swede then went alone as the hosts looked to double down on their advantage, sending a low shot skidding inches wide of the left-hand upright.
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Viktor Gyokeres scores Coventry’s second goal against Sunderland in their Championship match
Much of the second period passed without incident. Coventry defended well and severely restricted Sunderland in the final third, and then doubled their lead when Gyokeres pounced to guide home a cross from substitute Matt Godden for his 15th league goal of the campaign.
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Amad Diallo scores a terrific consolation goal for Sunderland in their defeat to Coventry City in the Championship
The visitors did finally make their breakthrough when Diallo controlled a cross and beat Ben Wilson with a sublime looping effort, though it was not sufficient to spark a dramatic equaliser.
Player of the match – Viktor Gyokeres
What’s next?
Coventry are next in action at 7.45pm on Tuesday February 28, when the face Preston at Deepdale, in match live on Sky Sports Football Red Button.
Sunderland, meanwhile, return at 3pm on Saturday March 4, when they face Stoke at the Stadium of Light.
