Coventry City moved a step closer to the Premier League with a pulsating 3-2 victory over Derby County as Jack Rudoni scored twice on his return from injury.
Frank Onyeka opened the scoring with a superb long-range curling strike, but Ben Brereton Diaz headed Derby level after a sensational cross from Matt Clarke. Lampard, who had a spell managing Derby in 2019, made a triple substitution just after the hour and Rudoni, on from the bench at the 62nd minute after being out since February 28, fired home from 15 yards four minutes later to put Coventry back in front.
Both sides missed chances before Derby won a controversial penalty when Brereton Diaz was judged to have been fouled by goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, despite the keeper getting a touch on the ball. Brereton Diaz converted the spot-kick to make it 2-2, but Rudoni struck again three minutes later — his second of the night, coming with around 10 minutes remaining — to restore Coventry’s lead and send the home fans into song.
The victory is Coventry’s eighth win in nine league matches and moves them 11 points clear at the top of the Championship. They now need just eight points from their remaining six games to secure promotion back to the Premier League.
Coventry manager Frank Lampard said: “Enjoy it while it’s there because we don’t always get these nights and these results and we’ve had a lot of them this season. Now they can enjoy it, they’re a massive part of what we do here, the fans are incredible… This team has got character.”
Derby boss John Eustace reflected positively despite the defeat: “I thought we were excellent. It was really pleasing to come to the best team in the league and perform how we did. I’m disappointed to lose. The three goals we conceded were all sloppy and we could have scored a couple more ourselves if we’d been more clinical. We’ve got six big games coming up now that we’ll be ready for.”