Frank Lampard's Coventry thrash Wayne Rooney's Plymouth
Coventry City 4 - 0 Plymouth Argyle
On Boxing Day, Plymouth Argyle endured yet another heavy away defeat in the Championship, as Wayne Rooney lost his first managerial clash against former England teammate Frank Lampard.
Lampard’s Coventry City dominated the injury-hit Argyle, scoring all their goals before the break.
A bad day for Plymouth but their fans still created a fantastic atmosphere at Coventry. eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com
— SuperNewsAffiliate (@supernewsaffiliate.bsky.social) 27 December 2024 at 21:37
[image or embed]
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto opened the scoring early on, before a recalled Josh Eccles doubled the lead 20 minutes in. Coventry then put the game out of reach with two quickfire goals just before half-time.
In-form Ephron Mason-Clark netted his fourth goal in six games since Lampard’s arrival, while Eccles added his second of the match – and tripled his season tally – to round off the first-half rout.
This marked Lampard’s third win as Coventry manager, lifting the Sky Blues to 14th in the table, 10 points shy of a play-off spot.
For Plymouth, the defeat compounded a miserable run of form. They remain rooted to the bottom, just two points from safety, but this was their fourth consecutive away loss in December. Over those games, they’ve scored only once while conceding 16. This has included heavy defeats against Norwich City (6-0) and Bristol City (4-1)
Adding to Rooney’s frustrations, Plymouth were reduced to 10 men late on when Callum Wright saw red for a foul on Joel Latibeaudiere in the 87th minute.
It was a very different Boxing Day for Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney
With a long list of attacking injuries – including Ryan Hardie, Michael Obafemi, Ibrahim Cissoko, Muhamed Tijani, and Morgan Whittaker – Argyle boss Wayne Rooney had little choice but to hand 16-year-old Tegan Finn his first start. Finn had previously made only one substitute appearance, coming on during a 3-0 defeat at Leeds in early November.
Rooney also had to contend with the absence of captain Joe Edwards, while Frank Lampard had the luxury of making four changes to his Coventry City side after their 4-1 defeat at Portsmouth on Saturday, inspired by Callum Lang.
Lampard recalled goalkeeper Oliver Dovin, back after missing eight games, as well as defenders Jake Bidwell and Joel Latibeaudiere and midfielder Josh Eccles. Of those changes, Eccles made the most significant impact, scoring twice and playing a key role in setting up another goal during Coventry's dominant first half.
Coventry got off to a flying start, taking just five minutes to open the scoring. Captain Ben Sheaf floated a cross to the back post, where Tatsuhiro Sakamoto headed home.
Frank Lampard v Wayne Rooney in the Championship.
— European Super Football (@ESFootballNews) December 27, 2024
More reaction to come on European Super Football after a thumping Coventry win. https://t.co/0agg6nOKnO
The lead was doubled on 20 minutes when Ephron Mason-Clark pounced on a headed knockdown and teed up Eccles, who finished with a precise low strike.
The game was effectively over as a contest shortly after Argyle lost midfielder Mustapha Bundu to injury. Coventry struck twice more before the break, starting with Eccles turning provider for Mason-Clark in the 39th minute. Moments later, Jack Rudoni pressed high to win possession, and after Argyle failed to clear their lines, Eccles slotted in his second goal, once again finding the bottom corner.
