Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Coventry and Stoke City at the Coventry Building Society Arena as goals from Jacob Brown, Tyrese Campbell, Will Smallbone and Ki-Jana Hoever sealed victory for the Potters.
Saturday 1 April 2023 18:11, UK
Coventry's play-off charge was abruptly halted as Stoke claimed a thumping 4-0 victory at the CBS Arena.
Tyrese Campbell and Ki-Jana Hoever both scored one and created another for the Potters while Jacob Brown and Will Smallbone were also on the scoresheet.
The Sky Blues were unbeaten in nine outings in the Sky Bet Championship but found themselves behind after just six minutes to Brown's strike before Campbell doubled the lead before half-time.
On-loan Southampton midfielder Smallbone added a third and Hoever made it four with 13 minutes remaining.
Stoke came into the game as mid-table as could be, sitting 12 points from the play-off places in 13th, with the same gap to the relegation zone.
But Alex Neil's men were also on a run of four without defeat and got off to the perfect start through Brown.
A fantastic advantage by referee Samuel Barrott allowed Stoke to shift the ball out to the left, where Campbell fired a wicked cross into the six-yard box for Brown to stab home his sixth Championship goal of the season.
Stoke piled on the pressure throughout the first half as Callum Doyle spectacularly cleared Ben Wilmot's header off the line from Smallbone's corner, who himself was denied brilliantly by Ben Wilson after Campbell's cut-back.
Campbell had an earlier chance to double the lead himself when he was left unmarked to take aim at goal following Nick Powell's knock-down, who returned after almost two months out injured.
But just as pressure was turning into frustration, Campbell doubled Stoke's lead.
The 23-year-old broke the offside trap before latching onto Hoever's forward pass and while Coventry were looking over to the assistant for a flag, Campbell steadied himself before slotting past Wilson.
It was a sloppy, disjointed first half from Mark Robins' Coventry as they mustered just one shot on target to Stoke's six before making three changes at the break to try and reduce the arrears.
The Sky Blues were much brighter in the second half as top scorer Viktor Gyokeres' half-volley was clawed away by the sprawling Jack Bonham.
It was the Stoke stopper's first meaningful contribution but he had to be on hand to smother Matt Godden's effort as well as thwarting Gyokeres once again after Joshua Wilson-Esbrand's deflected shot fell kindly for the Sweden international.
But as Coventry pressed, the game was put to bed by Smallbone after 71 minutes. Josh Laurent laid the ball back to the on-loan Southampton man, who slotted into the corner.
Things went from bad to worse for Coventry six minutes later as marauding full-back Hoever swept home Ben Pearson's cross to cap a memorable away victory for Neil's side.
Coventry's Mark Robins:
"It was a tough day, a reality check because that's the level you've got to get to. We are closer to that level, there's no doubt, but we were miles away from it and that's a surprise. But it's there for everybody to see, there's a gulf between us and them. It's a wake-up call and there's no doubt about it, it's a wake-up call to know we were miles away from them.
"We've got to try and bridge that gap and to bridge that gap you've got to have all your quality on the pitch. It's evident they've got themselves going, they've got a way of playing and if there was a lot of games left they'd be up there."
Stoke's Alex Neil:
"Really pleasing. It was a different challenge for us in the fact we played against a back three. We haven't really done that since we changed our shape so it was always going to be a more open game. It was going to be a case of who damages who most and I thought the game should probably have been done by half-time. We had four or five really good chances where I thought we should have put the game to bed. The game was then quite even for about 25 minutes at the start of the second half and I thought that who was going to score the next goal was really going to decide the game.
"We got it and I thought it was game over. If they got it, it was going to be game on. The balance of the team is really good at the minute. If you look at the bench it was very strong, the first time I can remember in recent weeks where I've turned around and got real strength in depth. We're trying to gain the supporters' trust and make them aware of what I'm trying to do and I think they can start to see everything coming to fruition. It's getting better and better as we go forward and all it does is give them confidence in them, that obviously we're going to get it right and we're going to be good."
