Coventry City 3-1 Middlesbrough: Haji Wright hat-trick takes Sky Blues back to the top

Haji Wright hit a hat-trick as Coventry City returned to the top of the Championship with a 3-1 home victory over in-form promotion rivals Middlesbrough.

Coventry had relinquished a 10-point lead at the top of the table to their opponents, but a dominant performance at the Coventry Building Society Arena saw Frank Lampard’s side go back to the summit and move one step closer to the Premier League.

Following three games without a win, the Sky Blues reignited their title bid and ended Middlesbrough’s six-match winning run.

Wright struck a post with the first action of the game, but was not to be denied a second time when he tapped in just his third goal since October to settle any home nerves.

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Lacklustre

Middlesbrough put in a rare lacklustre attacking display as they failed to register a shot on target in the first period.

Wright doubled the hosts’ advantage 10 minutes after the break before Riley McGree got Boro back in the contest.

However, the United States international completed his treble with his 13th goal of the season from the penalty spot after Matt Targett handled inside the area.

Match action

Coventry’s fast start almost brought instant rewards as Tatsuhiro Sakamoto curled a cross on to the head of Wright, who guided the ball against a post.

Boro players threw themselves in front of further efforts from Frank Onyeka and Jack Rudoni, but the visitors began to settle down, Morgan Whittaker firing over with their first sight of goal after a chaotic opening.

But the hosts hit the front in the 21st minute.

Rudoni tiptoed his way into the area and flashed a teasing ball across the face of goal and Wright was on hand to poke it past Sol Brynn.

The Sky Blues went in search of a second when Ephron Mason-Clark darted into the area, but he guided his effort the wrong side of a post.

It took 40 minutes, but the Teesiders finally woke up and started to test Coventry for the first time.

Targett whipped a searching ball beyond the back line, but Whittaker could only head it against Jay Dasilva and behind.

Chances were beginning to come at each end, Mason-Clark timing his run perfectly to break the offside trap but shooting straight at Brynn minutes before the break.

Second half

Twenty seconds after Hayden Hackney had forced Carl Rushworth into his first save, the keeper sent a high kick over the top for Wright, who latched on to the long ball and finished past Brynn.

Coventry were seemingly comfortable, but Boro served a reminder they still carried a threat as Aidan Morris fired against a post from distance.

And Middlesbrough did get themselves back in the match, Callum Brittain breaching the back line and sending in a cross which McGree diverted home to set up a nervy last quarter for Coventry.

But those nerves were soon settled as Josh Eccles’ cross hit Targett’s hand and Wright stepped up to seal his hat-trick and the points from the spot.

Promotion credentials

Lampard felt his side showed their promotion credentials with the victory but knows there is still a long way to go.

He said: “(It was a) big game of football and showed why it’s one and two in the league.

“Difficult team to play against. In terms of the game plan, we worked on it a lot this week and the lads delivered it, so I’m very happy.

“If we can play like that and deliver like that, we have 14 more to go now. We have to take that as a template of what needs to go into a game.

“There’s so many points to fight for. We’ve got ourselves in this position; it’s game on. There is so much to play for and we absolutely can’t get carried away.

“We have to focus on ourselves. No one can rest. It’s about action, but we have to recognise the effort we put into this game to stick to a plan and deliver that. West Brom will be a different challenge.”

Praise

Wright made it 13 goals for the season with his hat-trick and Lampard was full of praise for the forward.

He added: “Haji keeps his head down, he’s been working hard and we know what Haji can be like when he’s in that form.

“Really pleased for him and he has to take that forward.

“Especially with a high-level game, you have to score in critical moments and we did today. Haji to deliver the pressure penalty.

“Everybody worked and Haji did the business.”

A game of fine margins

Middlesbrough had won six games in a row going into the game, but defeat dropped Kim Hellberg’s side back to second following a brief stint on top.

He felt it was a game of fine margins, though.

He said: “Disappointed we played too much into their hands. They were better than us in the first half.

“Second half we were brilliant, take away the two situations where they scored.

“We created lots of opportunities. They score both of them for not doing too much. They were awful goals to concede.

“I know if our performances are good enough, we will be in a good position in the table at the end of the season. You look at the game and we had 17 shots in the game.

“(Coventry are a) good team, good players, squad and coach. It was a game of very small margins. It’ll be a race till the last day probably, so we just need to enjoy it.”

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