Coventry City 1-0 Bristol City: Ephron Mason-Clark strike keeps Frank Lampard's men five points clear at Championship summit
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Coventry City and Bristol City at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday; Ephron Mason-Clark's goal maintains a five-point lead at the top of the table for Frank Lampard's men
Saturday 13 December 2025 18:49, UK
Championship leaders Coventry got back to winning ways as a 1-0 victory against Bristol City kept them five points clear at the top.
Ephron Mason-Clark scored the winner in the second half as the Sky Blues maintained their advantage over second-placed Middlesbrough.
It was Coventry's seventh successive home victory - they last had a longer home winning run between May and October 2021.
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Frank Lampard's team started on the front foot and came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute.
Key man Jack Rudoni fed Haji Wright, whose fierce shot struck a post. Victor Torp saw his follow-up effort blocked as the leaders threatened to run riot.
But the visitors caused Coventry problems on the counter-attack, with Sinclair Armstrong hitting the woodwork after good work from Emil Riis. Armstrong was a constant menace, forcing goalkeeper Carl Rushworth into a smart stop following a clever turn.
Back came Coventry and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto tested the reflexes of Robins goalkeeper Radek Vitek.
There was a big flashpoint just after the half-hour mark when Armstrong had a goal controversially ruled out for handball by referee Stephen Martin. TV replays suggested it was a harsh decision.
It was end-to-end stuff as Vitek got down low to his right to turn away Mason-Clark's terrific strike from long range. The Manchester United loanee also foiled Wright in the dying moments of the first half as Coventry continued to press for the opener.
Bristol City tweaked things at half-time, with Mark Sykes making way for defender Haydon Roberts and they were unfortunate not to take the lead just after the hour when Adam Randell's header from Anis Mehmeti's cross was brilliantly tipped over the crossbar by Rushworth.
It proved a big moment as Mason-Clark fired Coventry in front in the 64th minute, squeezing the ball in from close range after Bobby Thomas' header came off a post and Wright's shot was blocked.
The goal was no more than Coventry deserved following a good spell of pressure.
To their credit, the Robins refused to give up and Rushworth had to be alert to keep out Mehmeti's deflected drive. Riis then spurned a golden chance to level, sending a looping header over the bar.
Ross McCrorie, Armstrong and Scott Twine were also thwarted by Rushworth as Bristol City piled the pressure on. It took a stunning stop from Rushworth to prevent Fally Mayulu from equalising in time added on as Coventry held on to secure maximum points.
It is now three matches without a win for the visitors. The defeat leaves Gerhard Struber's side in 11th, four points outside of the play-off places.
The managers
Coventry's Frank Lampard:
"The save at the end was fantastic - he (Rushworth) is showing himself to be a really high-level goalkeeper for us.
"He's a top keeper, he trains brilliantly, he's low maintenance and I think he's enjoying it here and I enjoyed him today.
"The players' attitude from minute one was really good, we started really sharp and continued that and we pushed them back.
"They are one of the highest pressing teams in the league. We played a lot of the game in their half and their threat came on the counter-attack.
"We were great, absolutely not our best performance but in the endurance test of a long season you have your comfortable wins, ones where you have to dig in and fight for the win - games like that, keep a clean sheet, get your goal and I think we showed a lot of spirit.
"I'm delighted for Ephron. It was not a typical Ephron goal. I loved the way we kept the ball alive. It's what you have to do in those moments from a set piece.
"We've scored a lot of beautiful goals this season but we've also scored those sort of goals. I love scrappy goals - they all count the same."
Bristol City's Gerhard Struber:
"We deserved more from the game but, at the same time, we have to be super critical of ourselves.
"We put in a really good performance against the top team in the league and we were so close to picking up points but, in the most important moments we have to be sharper and more clinical to score goals.
"We had enough chances to go home with points. It's frustrating to lose, especially because we put in a really good performance. The minimum we deserved today was a point.
"Small things in the end make the difference; I think we have played at a really good level in the last two weeks but we've not picked up the points that we would have liked.
"The difference between Coventry and us today was that they scored in a really good moment. We got into good positions but we didn't take our chances."
