Coventry ease to victory at Blackburn to edge further clear of danger in Championship

llis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante scored either side of the break as Frank Lampard’s Coventry triumphed 2-0 at Blackburn to make it back-to-back Championship wins.

Simms headed the visitors in front four minutes before half-time after Sky Blues goalkeeper Oliver Dovin had made good saves to deny Makhtar Gueye and Danny Batth.

Thomas-Asante then added a 48th-minute finish, and Coventry almost had a third when Jack Rudoni hit a post as they recorded a second victory in four days, following Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bristol City, and moved up to 13th in the table.

Having been two points above the relegation zone when Lampard was appointed as successor to Mark Robins in November, the team are now nine clear, with 18 points accrued across 11 games under the former England midfielder.

It was a second successive loss for John Eustace’s Blackburn, who have won only one of their last eight league matches, but they stay in the play-off places, albeit dropping to sixth.

Match Action

Blackburn carved out the first chance of the contest in the 10th minute when Tyrhys Dolan’s cross was met by Gueye and Dovin did well to push the header over the bar.

Dovin then produced another fine stop nine minutes later as he parried a headed attempt from Batth.

The away side started to exert some pressure, winning a series of corners, before another Blackburn attack ended with Gueye having a shot blocked.

A further Coventry corner then led to them grabbing the lead late in the first half, with Blackburn keeper Balazs Toth, making his league debut in the absence of the unwell Aynsley Pears, punching the ball but only to Victor Torp, whose delivery was headed in by Simms at the far post.

Second Half

And moments into the second half Lampard’s men had another when Rudoni sent the ball into the six-yard box and Thomas-Asante – linked with Blackburn this month – turned the ball in.

John Buckley blasted wide and Gueye saw one shot gathered by Dovin and another diverted behind by Joel Latibeaudiere as Blackburn looked to hit back, before Eustace – having already replaced Callum Brittain with Adam Forshaw at the interval – opted to make a quadruple substitution.

Dovin was subsequently in action again, keeping out a Gueye strike, and Rudoni then nearly boosted Coventry’s lead as his shot clipped the upright.

The closing stages saw Gueye head into the side-netting and substitute Andreas Weimann slot in, only to see the flag up for offside, as the hosts’ attempts to salvage something fell short.

READ MORE: Frank Lampard impressed by Coventry’s showing at Blackburn