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Coventry shrugged off an illness crisis and a half with 10 men as the Championship leaders secured a 1-1 draw at Southampton. Frank Lampard – having been abused throughout the match by home supporters – gestured multiple times at the Southampton fans after the match to spark a melee on the pitch.
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and the first-choice centre-backs, Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching, missed the game with a flu bug and Jay Dasilva was sent off 85 seconds into the second half. Ephron Mason-Clark had given Coventry a first-half lead but they could not hold out as Nathan Wood levelled after the break.
Coventry thought they should have been awarded a penalty when Haji Wright went down under a Taylor Harwood-Bellis challenge, but the last 15 minutes of the first half saw the visitors assert their dominance, first when Gavin Bazunu was forced into a stunning save to deny Jack Rudoni, and then by taking the lead. Victor Torp dinked a ball into the middle where Mason-Clark managed to shrug off his marker to head home for the second game in a row. It was the winger’s fifth goal of the season.
Southampton were behind at half-time for the first time in Tonda Eckert’s nine-match reign but were given a lifeline when Dasilva saw red. The full-back steamed into Welington and smashed into the Brazilian wing-back’s shins with his studs.
The hosts took advantage of their extra man in the 56th minute as Wood nodded in his first Southampton goal from a pinpoint delivery by Adam Armstrong. They almost went in front shortly afterwards as Finn Azaz settled himself and placed a shot towards the bottom corner, only for Carl Rushworth to repel the chance.
Blackburn registered just their second home victory of the season as they saw off Millwall 2-0. Without a win in five and with only six points at Ewood Park all season, Valérien Ismaël’s side made a fast start, scoring twice before the break.
Andri Gudjohnsen set them on their way, lashing in his seventh of the campaign in the third minute, before Yuki Ohashi matched that tally in the 45th minute when profiting from a mix-up in the Millwall defence. Blackburn held on with ease after that, though it was a day to forget for Alex Neil’s side as their winless run stretched to three.
Will Keane grabbed an equaliser six minutes into added time to earn Preston a 1-1 draw with Norwich at Deepdale. The 32-year-old, who came off the bench late on for Lewis Dobbin, nodded Preston level from close range after Jovon Makama thought he had won it for the visitors. Makama latched on to Emiliano Marcondes’s delicate clipped pass before slamming the ball past Daniel Iversen in the 84th minute. While the draw made it one defeat in six as Norwich manager for Philippe Clement, the last-gasp equaliser will have stung as he attempts to lead his side out of relegation trouble.
Following Friday night’s meeting of the division’s Welsh clubs, Phil Parkinson defended Arthur Okonkwo after the Wrexham goalkeeper’s 90th-minute howler handed Swansea a 2-1 victory. Okonkwo first failed to collect Ethan Galbraith’s free-kick as his punch looped into the air behind him and towards Ben Cabango. The Swansea captain sent a looping header towards goal, and Okonkwo was back in position to make an easy catch by the post, but he dropped the ball and Adam Idah had the simple task of nudging it across the line.
Parkinson said: “It’s a high-profile mistake, but Arthur’s been outstanding. He’s been a colossus of a goalkeeper and he’ll get every bit of support because he’s won us a lot of points over the last few years.”
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