The 2,244 Coventry supporters, many of whom made the 444-mile round trip, cycled through the catalogue of songs after crisp finishes by Awoniyi and Rudoni. Then Lampard obliged when they craved a wave from a manager who led them back to the top flight after 25 years away. But the game did not turn into the non-event most would have envisaged. \u201cIt\u2019s very easy to go: \u2018Why don\u2019t you just go 2-0 up and then beat Plymouth 5-0, 6-0?\u2019\u201d Lampard said. \u201cI\u2019ve played in these games many times with different teams and they can become awkward, especially when the flow of the game goes against you: the crowd turns, emotions catch up and all of a sudden the game feels very different. I thought we dealt OK with that, in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plymouth were suddenly liberated at 2-0 down. The Danish centre-back Mathias Ross sent a header wide from a free-kick and a couple of minutes later Oliver Irow read Harvey White\u2019s flighted pass and the Tottenham loanee, 24 hours after signing, drove inside Joel Latibeaudiere and drilled past the Coventry goalkeeper Dan Bentley, another debutant. From there, aside from Awoniyi heading wide unmarked, Coventry had to withstand Plymouth pressure. After fumbling White\u2019s shot from distance, Bentley diverted Will Evans\u2019s rebound on to his left post.<\/p>\n
Cleverley knew the value of recording an upset, Lampard the damage of defeat. It must have crossed his mind when Amaechi levelled on 54 minutes. Amaechi swarmed Liam Kitching and pinched the ball after the Coventry defender got in a tangle and fired in. Plymouth introduced the homegrown academy graduates Tegan Finn and Caleb Roberts, joining the 17-year-old full-back Joe Mwaro, this his full debut, on the pitch. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier with the reaction and the quality we showed to make sure it was still a competitive game,\u201d Cleverley said.<\/p>\n
Jack Rudoni doubles Coventry\u2019s lead from close range in the fifth minute. Photograph: Dan Mullan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Mason-Clark arrived for his first appearance of the season after a hamstring issue and added the fifth goal of an entertaining game. It was a galling goal from a Plymouth perspective. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto\u2019s cross from the right caused problems, Mason-Clark at first failing to divert the ball goalwards. But Torp was alert to the ball dropping at the back post and squared to provide Mason-Clark the simplest of finishes, the forward poking in from inside the six-yard box.<\/p>\n
Lampard made a triple sub, Sidiki Cherif replacing Awoniyi for his debut, while Josh Eccles and Brandon Thomas-Asante also entered. Joe Edwards, the Plymouth midfielder, arrived from the bench but his first notable action was to inadvertently swipe at Thomas-Asante in the box when trying to clear the leftovers of a Coventry corner, giving the referee, Elliott Swallow, no choice but to award a penalty. Torp capped the scoring, thrashing the spot-kick into the top corner.<\/p>\n
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