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Who ever believed in the form book for the playoffs anyway? No team has ever entered the English playoffs in worse form than Sunderland, after their five successive defeats, but Wilson Isidor’s first goal in 14 games and Eliezer Mayenda’s late capital enabled Regis Le Bris’s team to earn their first victory over Coventry City since 2007 and become favourites to reach the EFL Championship playoff final on 24 May.
Jack Rudoni, who grew up a Chelsea fan, Frank Lampard his hero, had headed Coventry level within two minutes of Isidor breaking his long goal drought. But then, in the 88th minute, Mayenda was gifted a clear run on Coventry’s goal by Milan van Ewijk’s disastrous back pass and rounded Ben Wilson, the Sunderland academy graduate in Coventry’s goal, before turning in the goal that has turned expectations on their head. The 2,400 travelling Sunderland fans reprised the Roker roar in their small corner of the CBS Arena.
Lampard has exceeded expectations since taking over Coventry in November and he will still believe his team’s superior form over the second half of the season will give him the chance of repeating his feat when he took Derby County to the 2019 Championship playoff final by beating Leeds United. But, after a wretched run of 14 points from 14 games, this was Sunderland’s night.
The home crowd, having broken the club’s record attendance figure at this stadium for the previous game against Middlesbrough, were in full voice again as the game kicked off with a full moon peering down from a perfectly blue evening sky, mirroring City’s white shorts beneath their shirts. “The support on the day and the atmosphere was one of the best I have ever experienced at the CBS [Arena],” Ben Sheaf, the Coventry captain, wrote in his programme notes. “That noise that you generate doesn’t go unnoticed by everyone at the club.”
Everything appeared in Coventry’s favour. They have been in very decent form, winning nine of their last 11 home games, while their visitors’ mediocre run stretches back well before the five successive defeats with which they ended the regulation season. Nor had Sunderland beaten Coventry in any of their 10 meetings since 2007.
With automatic promotion effectively out of their reach since not long after the fold of the season, Sunderland had only scored three goals in the nine games since they lost 3-0 here in March. Their leading marksman Wilson Isidor, left out of last week’s home defeat by QPR, had not scored for 13 games.
So it was no wonder the CBS Arena was awash with optimism. From the first of five Coventry corners in the opening half, Antony Patterson, the Sunderland goalkeeper, barely helped matters as he struggled to make his punch count, and the ball had to be scrambled away.
For all their dominance of possession, however, it was not until the middle of the half that Matt Grimes, their January signing from Swansea, had a couple of attempts at goal: after slicing the first well wide, he neatly sidestepped his man from Haji Wright’s pullback from the second but saw his shot bravely blocked.
Sunderland were restricted to rare breakaway, certainly in the first half. When Mayenda did turn and get away from the base of Coventry’s midfield in the centre circle, Isidor’s poor run off the ball obliged him to go all the way on his own. His final shot from the edge of the penalty area was a good effort but wide.
From the right wing, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was constantly causing Sunderland problems, not least after Dennis Cirkin was booked for a fairly crude foul midway through the half. He seemed able to cut inside and swerve over his in-swinging crosses at will, and again Patterson failed to fuel Sunderland’s 2,400 travelling supporters with great confidence when he flapped one such delivery wide for a corner.
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In their third playoff in four seasons, Sunderland came back into this contest after the interval. A corner routine had ended with Enzo Le Fée delivering a fine diagonal cross for Trai Hume, the original taker, to volley hard but wide.
Although Rudoni, the jewel in Coventry’s crown, snapped a shot wide, there was a sense of unease infiltrating the home ranks. Three Coventry players were cautioned in eight minutes.
Sure enough, Sunderland went ahead midway through the second half. Le Fée picked up the ball in the centre circle and this time the two forwards split their runs superbly. Isidor was picked out superbly, as Coventry appealed in vain for offside, and the Frenchman cut inside to fire his shot into the far bottom corner for his 13th goal of the season.
This served to wake Coventry up. Within two minutes Milan van Ewijk crossed from the right wing and Rudoni – who else? – rose at the near post to head powerfully home, his 12th goal involvement in his last 13 games.
