Lampard Warns Coventry Against Complacency After Newcastle Rout
Coventry City’s first home Premier League victory for 25 years arrived in emphatic fashion as Frank Lampard’s newly promoted side beat Newcastle United 4-1 on Monday, but the manager has warned his players that confidence must not become complacency before a demanding trip to Tottenham.
Jack Rudoni put Coventry ahead from the penalty spot in the sixth minute after goalkeeper Lukás Horníček fouled Sidiki Cherif in the area. The hosts carried that one-goal advantage into the interval and began the second half with similar purpose, with Cherif adding a second soon after the restart.
Newcastle briefly gave themselves a route back into the contest when Sven Botman struck from distance with 20 minutes remaining. Yet Coventry responded decisively rather than allowing the visitors to build momentum. Ellis Simms restored the two-goal cushion before Stephen Mfuni completed the scoring, sealing a second successive win for Lampard’s side.
The result lifted Coventry to 14th place. It also continued a sharp improvement in front of goal: they had drawn blanks in each of their opening four league fixtures, but have now scored five across their past two matches. Lampard was encouraged by four different scorers against Newcastle, particularly after his team had been the Championship’s leading scorers last season.
“We will be underdogs in almost every match, so we have to push everything beyond the limit,” Lampard said. “It is a good feeling for the players, but they must remain grounded because the next game is difficult and the one after that will be difficult too. We looked like a side that was hard to beat here, which is something we had not felt in our earlier home matches this season.
“It brings confidence, but there is a balance between confidence and over-confidence. They have to be humble and recognise that every aspect of the level has risen.”
Lampard said it had been uncomfortable to see Coventry still without a league goal before the win at Nottingham Forest, when left-back Jay Dasilva, not a regular scorer, found the net. He believes the recent goals can give the attacking players greater belief, while also showing the group that contributions can come from throughout the side.
Newcastle, meanwhile, remain 11th after taking eight points from six league games. Their second 4-1 away defeat in a month, following the loss at Leeds, has left them level with Bournemouth and Chelsea for the division’s highest goals conceded total so far.
Head coach Matthias Jaissle accepted that the display and result fell below the required Premier League standard, even though he felt Newcastle had shown more than they did at Leeds. “It was difficult through the whole game,” he said. “There are moments in both penalty areas where we have to improve. We were better than in the Leeds game; after the opening 10 minutes we controlled the match, but we gave away soft goals. If you let in eight goals in two Monday-night away games, that is not good enough for this league.”
