Coventry City match 60-Year-Old goalscoring record in emphatic win over Watford
Coventry City’s blistering start to the Championship season continued on Saturday as their 3-1 victory over Watford saw them equal a second-tier record that has stood for six decades.
Frank Lampard used Wayne Rooney to return to winning ways in style.
Frank Lampard’s side delivered a commanding performance in the early kick-off, taking their impressive goal tally to 34 in just 12 matches. The Sky Blues wasted no time asserting their dominance, racing to a 2-0 lead within the first seven minutes thanks to strikes from Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jamie Allen.
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto added a third just before the half-time whistle, a goal that carried historical significance. It was this strike that brought Coventry level with a 60-year-old record for the most goals scored at this stage of a second-division season.
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The last team to reach the 34-goal mark so quickly was Wolverhampton Wanderers during the 1965/66 campaign, a feat that had remained unmatched until now. Despite their three-goal cushion, Coventry may feel they missed an opportunity to break even older records in the second half. Another goal would have seen them equal Sheffield Wednesday’s 35-goal haul from 1958/59.
Watford, who were reduced to 10 men, managed to pull a goal back in the 69th minute through an Imran Louza penalty, but it was little more than a consolation.
Unbeaten Sky Blues Extend Lead at the Top
The victory extended Coventry’s lead at the top of the Championship table to four points, putting pressure on their rivals who were yet to play. More impressively, the Midlands club remains the only unbeaten side in the division, boasting a record of eight wins and four draws from their opening 12 games.
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Their record-equalling goalscoring form is particularly remarkable when compared to the rest of the league. The next highest-scoring teams, Bristol City and Hull City, have each netted 19 goals. Furthermore, Coventry’s defence is among the league’s best, with only two other clubs having conceded fewer goals.
What Lampard said
Manager Frank Lampard lauded his team’s fast start but acknowledged that the final scoreline didn’t fully capture the challenge posed by Watford. Goalkeeper Carl Rushworth was called upon to make several key saves in the first half to preserve the lead.
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“Very happy. Tough opponent, [we] did the damage in the first half with going 3-0 and [them having] 10 men… Very pleased, as I said they were a threat of course – we dealt with that, Rushworth made some really good saves for us and [it was] clinical from us,” Lampard told talkSPORT after the match.
The manager was especially pleased with the result, given the absence of key players, including six-goal striker Victor Torp and influential midfielder Jack Rudoni.
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“The minute we drop, it won’t be there anymore. There’s such a long way to go. I’m very happy… Especially with our squad, we’re not the biggest, so to get through that… we need to just keep working, stay very tight together and we’ll see how we go,” he cautioned.
