Coventry City vs Burnley. Sky Bet Championship.
The Coventry Building Society ArenaAttendance28,704.
Coventry City 1-2 Burnley: Jaidon Anthony double steers Clarets to comeback win
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Coventry City and Burnley at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Saturday; Two goals from Jaidon Anthony steers Clarets to victory.
Saturday 5 April 2025 17:17, UK
Burnley moved to the top of the Sky Bet Championship after Jaidon Anthony's double secured a 2-1 victory at Coventry.
Haji Wright controversially opened the scoring early on before Anthony struck either side of half-time to extend Burnley's unbeaten league run to 27 matches.
Burnley's victory also handed Coventry back-to-back league defeats for the first time since Frank Lampard took charge of the Sky Blues in late November.
The former England midfielder was also sent off after full-time for confronting referee James Bell following the final whistle.
- Championship highlights | Table | Fixtures
- All you need to know - Streaming Sky Sports with NOW | Get Sky Sports
- Download the Sky Sports App to watch every Sky Sports+ game
- Live EFL on Sky Sports+ & how to watch | Get more EFL to your phone with WhatsApp
Jack Rudoni was one of four recalled to the starting XI by Lampard following last weekend's disappointing display at Sheffield United, and it was his shot that was tipped onto the post by James Trafford before Ephron Mason-Clark followed up.
Mason-Clark's shot was then blocked, but fell kindly to Wright to swivel and smash home from close range despite replays showing he was clearly in an offside position.
It was only the 12th goal the Clarets had conceded this season and just their seventh on the road, but it lit the touchpaper for a full-blooded first half between the two promotion chasers.
Scott Parker's side were level just past the 15-minute mark when Josh Cullen nipped in front of Brad Collins, who had replaced Oliver Dovin following his season-ending ACL injury at Bramall Lane.
Cullen squared to Lyle Foster, whose improvised flick-on allowed Anthony to slot into an empty net with Coventry's defence nowhere to be seen.
Wright, who scored a hat-trick in Coventry's last home outing against Sunderland, could have put the hosts back in front had he connected with Jay Dasilva's sumptuous cross with the goal at his mercy.
A calamity in the Sky Blues' back line gifted Burnley and Anthony their second just after the break.
Liam Kitching failed to connect with his header back to Collins, who had come out of his penalty area, and Anthony pounced on the loose ball before rolling into an empty net for the second time.
Burnley arrived at the CBS Arena with the best away record in the Championship, taking 39 points from their 19 matches on the road this season, and went in search of a third through Foster.
The South African wriggled his way into the box before shooting straight at the chest of Collins.
Josh Laurent was next to go close to a third as he cut inside and took aim at goal but Collins parried his effort away for a corner.
Coventry were unable to threaten the stubborn Burnley defence other than a handful of Milan van Ewijk long throws as Parker's side closed out their 12th away victory of the season.
The managers
Coventry assistant Joe Edwards:
"The positive we have to take from it is that we've gone up against a top team there in the division.
"We spoke before the game about this potentially being a chance for us to lay a marker down. I think it's clear the top three this season have been the standout three, and we wanted to come here and really give them a game today and I think they got that.
"There's real disappointment in the dressing room off the result, but I think when we get back together there will be a belief to be taken for how much we went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the division.
"Both the lads involved will be disappointed, it's obviously a mistake and they'll be disappointed because they're both really good players.
"It was a bad way to start the second half, and then when you're playing against a team of this level the big thing you're then focusing on and questioning is the response and I think the response is outstanding."
Burnley's Scott Parker:
"Immensely proud, a tough place to come, we knew that coming into the game. A team right in form. The stadium was bouncing as well, pretty alive for large parts of the game.
"We go a goal down early on, albeit a clear offside goal which was disappointing. Reacted superbly well, get ourselves back in the game, well-worked goal and then showed our quality in the first half.
"I thought it was a very good first half, we come out of half-time, chased a bit of a lost cause, which epitomises what this team is about.
"We were only sitting here last week with a 1-0 swing in this game, these games always turn out to be like that and at that point, any coach sitting here saying that it's tactical, or it's technical, you just need to roll sleeves up and you need to go to places and dig.
"For the majority of this year this team and these players have got that really, and that makes me very proud of them.
"We need to try and win as many games as we can and I thought the overall game today had a bit of everything. When we had to show our quality at times, we showed our quality with some nice bits."
