Coventry v Newcastle
Coventry put four past Newcastle to climb out of relegation zone
Coventry City picked up their first home victory in the Premier League for 25 years with an emphatic 4-1 win over Newcastle United on Monday.
The last time Newcastle played on a Monday night they were hammered 4-1 by Leeds and suffered the same miserable fate in Coventry less than a month later.
Jack Rudoni's sixth-minute penalty gave Frank Lampard's side a dream start and their first Premier League goal in front of their own fans since John Hartson scored in a 1-0 win over Sunderland in April 2001.
It was the first time Coventry fans had seen a Premier League goal at the Coventry Building Society Arena with their last goal in the top flight coming at Highfield Road.
Bobby Thomas' last-man clearance left Matias Fernandez-Pardo waiting for his first goal for the club and that proved to be vital as Sidiki Cherif doubled the hosts lead three minutes into the second period.
Newcastle got themselves back in the contest through a belter from Sven Botman after 70 minutes but Coventry were not to be denied as Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni ensured they moved out of the drop zone with successive wins to draw level on points with Manchester United on a memorable night.
Newcastle started sloppily which set the tone for their disappointing evening, and it led to goalkeeper Lukás Hornícek giving away a penalty in the fourth minute.
The Czech goalkeeper spilled Brandon Thomas-Asante's routine ball and then brought down Cherif before Rudoni calmly sent him the wrong way from 12 yards.
The visitors settled and looked to respond, winger Harvey Barnes looked lively and collected a pass from Joe Willock before firing straight at Carl Rushworth for their first shot on target.
The Sky Blues had a glorious chance to make it two with their first touch inside Newcastle's box since the goal.
Jacob Murphy's cross was cleared by Milan van Ewijk which set Cherif on the counter attack and beyond a high Magpies line but he could only aim straight at Hornicek.
Newcastle should have been on level terms a couple of minutes before the break when Fernandez-Pardo got in behind the Coventry defence from a long clearance, he rounded Rushworth only to see his goalbound effort blocked on the line by the covering Thomas.
Coventry caught Newcastle cold at the start of the second period too as they doubled their advantage.
A long throw into the box was headed out by Malick Thiaw but only into the path of Cherif who arrowed low and hard through several Newcastle bodies and into the bottom right corner.
The Magpies needed something special to get themselves back in the contest and it came when Botman lined one up on the left edge of the area with a bullet too fast for Rushworth to halve the deficit.
The momentum seemingly swung by the way of the visitors but Coventry somehow managed to restore their two-goal lead.
Thomas-Asante dispossessed Joelinton outside his own box and the ball dropped to Simms who saw his effort deflect off Thiaw and in to make it three after 81 minutes.
Newcastle's night was over, and Thomas-Asante struck the post but it did not stop them from suffering further when substitute Mfuni cracked in a fourth five minutes later, just moments after stepping off the bench.