{"id":470733,"date":"2026-03-12T02:59:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T02:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/470733\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T02:59:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T02:59:20","slug":"coventry-city-player-ratings-as-sky-blues-show-authority-at-top-of-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/470733\/","title":{"rendered":"Coventry City player ratings as Sky Blues show authority at top of Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coventry City player ratings from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner hands out the scores from the CBS Arena<\/p>\n

21:56, 11 Mar 2026Updated 02:40, 12 Mar 2026<\/p>\n

\"Brandon<\/p>\n

Brandon Thomas-Asante of Coventry City celebrates a goal 2-0.<\/p>\n

Coventry City scored twice in a dominant first half to put them on course for a sixth consecutive Championship victory to keep them firmly at the top of the table.<\/p>\n

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto opened the scoring in the 17th minute when his powerful shot from just outside the D took a wicked deflection off Preston midfielder Ben Whiteman to beat Daniel Iversen at his near post.<\/p>\n

Brandon Thomas-Asante then doubled the lead just after the half hour from a corner which saw Ellis Simms denied by a brilliant save onto the crossbar, only for the City striker to pounce on the loose ball and chest it over the line.<\/p>\n

Aside from an early Whiteman header from a free-kick, which forced Carl Rushworth into a good save at his near post, North End barely laid a glove on the Sky Blues who were well worth their lead at the break.<\/p>\n

Matt Grimes extended the scoreline in the 50th minute from the penalty spot, coolly slotting into the bottom corner and sending the keeper the wrong way after Ephron Mason-Clark was fouled as he went past Pol Valentin in the box.<\/p>\n

Frank Lampard made four changes on and just after the hour as he sought to manage his squad through the three game week, with Southampton the visitors on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Winger Jahnoah Markelo followed in the 79th minute as the hoe fans enjoyed their evening, singing, \u201cWe\u2019re going to win the league,\u201d as the game played out with their team firmly in control.<\/p>\n

\"Tatsuhiro<\/p>\n

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto of Coventry City celebrates with team-mate Matt Grimes after scoring the opening goal <\/p>\n

STARTING FORMATION: 4-2-3-1<\/p>\n

CARL RUSHWORTH: 8<\/p>\n

Made a good early save to deny a Ben Whiteman header at his near post and commanded his area well, coming out to catch high balls into the box. Oozed class throughout with good feet, handling and positioning that had the fans singing \u201cEngland\u2019s number one\u201d again.<\/p>\n

MILAN VAN EWIJK: 8<\/p>\n

Defended almost effortlessly in a really accomplished display both defending and going forward.<\/p>\n

LUKE WOOLFENDEN: 7.5\/8<\/p>\n

A cool, calm and collected presence at the back from where he distributed the ball well and never gave North End’s strikers a sniff.<\/p>\n

LIAM KITCHING: 7.5\/8<\/p>\n

Aggressive and determined from the off and had a hand in the second goal with a far post header from the corner. Solid throughout.<\/p>\n

JAY DASILVA: 7.5<\/p>\n

Hit a couple of stray passes early on but quickly grew into the game and worked well with Mason-Clark attacking down the left flank. Decent throughout.<\/p>\n

\"Tatsuhiro<\/p>\n

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto of Coventry City scores the opening goal <\/p>\n

MATT GRIMES: 8.5<\/p>\n

Calm and functional presence in midfield where he helped recycle the ball time and again alongside Onyeka. Dropped into the back, almost operating at a left centre-back of the three at times while Van Ewijk and Dasilva got forward like wing-backs. Send in the corner for the second goal and hit a string of crosses into the box. Coolly slotted home City\u2019s third from the penalty spot. A real captain\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

FRANK ONYEKA 7.5\/8<\/p>\n

Frequently won the ball and intercepted passes while adding a physical presence on his return to the midfield. Tested the keeper in the sixth minute with a brilliantly struck volley that was tipped over the bar and had a hand in the opening goal with a long diagonal into the box.<\/p>\n

TATSUHIRO SAKAMOTO: 8<\/p>\n

Gave City the 17th minute lead when he hit a deflected shot from outside the box to beat Iversen at his near post. Put in an incredible shift, covering so much ground and tracking back to win the ball.<\/p>\n

BRANDON THOMAS-ASANTE: 8<\/p>\n

Back in the starting line-up and deployed in the number ten role where he was lively from the start and was alert and alive in the box to chest home the loose ball from a Simms effort that was saved to double City\u2019s first half lead.<\/p>\n

\"Brandon<\/p>\n

Brandon Thomas-Asante of Coventry City scores his team’s second goal <\/p>\n

EPHRON MASON-CLARK: 8<\/p>\n

A threat down the left wing from the start where he gave full-back Pol Valentin a difficult evening, the defender eventually brining him down in the box for City\u2019s second half penalty.<\/p>\n

ELLIS SIMMS: 7.5<\/p>\n

Had a hand in the second goal when he was denied himself by a brilliant save that pushed his shot onto the bar and out for Thomas-Asante to score. Lots of hard running and a real handful for the PNE defenders. Deserved a goal.<\/p>\n

\"Ellis<\/p>\n

Ellis Simms of Coventry City and Jordan Storey of Preston North End<\/p>\n

SUBSTITUTES:<\/p>\n

KAINE KESLER-HAYDEN (60 mins, for van Ewijk): 6.5<\/p>\n

Slotted in enthusiastically against the club where he was named player of the year last season, making marauding runs as City looked to increase their scoreline.<\/p>\n

VICTOR TORP (60 mins, for Onyeka): 6.5<\/p>\n

Organised and functional in the middle of the park as City managed their comfortable three goal advantage.<\/p>\n

ROMAIN ESSE (60 mins, for Sakamoto): 6<\/p>\n

Lively on the right and had a decent shot at goal, albeit comfortable for the keeper.<\/p>\n

JOSH ECCLES (66 mins, for Mason-Clark): 6.5<\/p>\n

Loads of hard work and effort from the local lad who attempted to get on the scoresheet when he lifted a shot just over the bar. Should have scored late on when he lifted it over from aboput eight yards out.<\/p>\n

JAHNOAH MARKELO (79 mins, for Thomas-Asante): 6.5<\/p>\n

Caught the eye with some decent runs down the left and excellent crosses into the box.<\/p>\n

Subs (not used): Ben Wilson (GK), Jake Bidwell, Haji Wright, Jamie Allen.<\/p>\n

PRESTON (3-4-1-2): Daniel Iversen; Odeluga Offiah, Jordon Story, Andrew Hughes; Pol Valentin, Ali McCann, Ben Whiteman, Thierry Small; Alfie Devine; Milutin Osmajic, Daniel Jebbison.<\/p>\n

Subs (not used): David Cornell (GK), Lewis Dobbin, Liam Lindsay, Andrew Moran, Kitt Nelson, Brad Potts, Michael Smith, Jordan Thompson, Andrija Vukcevic.<\/p>\n

GOALS:<\/p>\n

SKY BLUES: Sakamoto (17) Thomas-Asante (34), Grimes (50, pen)<\/p>\n

NORTH END:<\/p>\n

REFEREE: Lewis Smith.<\/p>\n

ATTENDANCE: 27,835 (358 away)<\/p>\n

NEXT UP: Southampton (h) Saturday, March 14 (12.30pm).<\/p>\n

Who was your man of the match? Click HERE to have your say.<\/a>Get the latest Coventry City headlines sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n

Get the latest Coventry City news sent straight to your phone by joining our Sky Blues WhatsApp group. It’s a free service. You just need WhatsApp on your phones to participate. To join, just click here<\/a>, select ‘Join Community’ and you’re in. If you later decide to leave our community, you can do so by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking ‘Exit Group’. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you are curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n

Every day, the CoventryLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Coventry<\/a> City content.<\/p>\n

Our dedicated reporter Andy Turner – who you can follow on X<\/a> – follows the Sky Blues home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.<\/p>\n

So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur – that’s why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you’ll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox.<\/a> You can also get all your favourite content from CoventryLive’s Sky Blues team on WhatsApp.<\/a> Sign up f or breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coventry City player ratings from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner hands out the scores from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[79458,49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-470733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-coventry-city-fc","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}