Championship roundup: Coventry back to winning ways as late Wright strike sinks Leicester

2 weeks ago 36

Frank Lampard hailed Coventry’s win against Leicester as “massive” after Haji Wright’s first goal since early October secured a 2-1 victory. Jordan James had opened the scoring for the visitors before Ellis Simms equalised shortly after half-time. Wright came off the bench to grab an 85th-minute winner as Coventry claimed a much-needed three points after a run of two victories in eight.

“It was a massive win because it was a tough match,” said Lampard. “They’re a quality team, you can’t get fooled by their league position because if they turn up and play well they give you problems. They gave us problems in the first half which makes us happier that we had half-time, dealt tactically with the problems and the feeling of the game and owned it in the second half.

“It was tense in the first half, they played well but we grabbed it back. Over the course of a season of course you’ll have games like this and full credit to the lads. We’ve set really high standards here and we’re used to having a lot of momentum in games and it’s normal that you don’t always have that. It’s my job to remind players because there was tension in the stadium.”

Sam Szmodics after scoring Ipswich’s third goal against his former club Blackburn

The tormer Blackburn player Sam Szmodics scored a late third goal against his old club as Ipswich extended their unbeaten run to six matches in all competitions with a 3-0 victory at Portman Road. Two goals in the opening 12 minutes set Ipswich on their way and they remain third in the table.

Injury-hit Blackburn conceded an own goal from the debutant Eiran Cashin, while the midfielder Jack Taylor scored the second and Szmodics was on target in the 88th minute in a match where the hosts spurned a series of chances. Blackburn, who failed to have a shot on target, were left languishing in 20th spot, four points above the relegation zone.

Blackburn’s manager, Valérien Ismaël, said: “The two goals in the first half just killed the momentum and everything in the game. In the first half Ipswich got nothing, just the two goals and apart from that it can’t be possible that we concede every time and come back into the game away against a strong team.”

Femi Azeez returned to the club that once released him to inspire Millwall to a 2-0 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road. Goals from Azeez, a Watford youth product until he was let go at the age of 14, and Josh Coburn kept Millwall in the playoff positions and brought a shuddering halt to Watford’s four-game winning run in the Championship.

A stop-start game was delayed by numerous injuries and an incident when a ballboy entered the playing area and caught the ball in the mistaken belief the ball had curled out of play.