Skip to content

League One round-up: Coventry beat Sunderland in nine-goal epic, Barnsley up to second

Sunderland beaten in five-goal thriller by Coventry, while Barnsley's win puts them above Black Cats and into top two

Coventry City's Conor Chaplin celebrates the win
Image: Coventry City's Conor Chaplin scored the winner at Sunderland

Sunderland's hopes of securing automatic promotion were dealt a major blow as they suffered a remarkable 5-4 defeat to Coventry at the Stadium of Light.

There were six goals in a chaotic first half, beginning with George Honeyman cancelling out Bright Enobakhare's opener for the visitors.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights of Coventry's extraordinary 5-4 victory at Sunderland

Amadou Bakayoko and Jordy Hiwula then gave the Sky Blues a two-goal cushion, but the teams went in level at half-time at 3-3 after Charlie Wyke and Will Grigg scored.

Jordan Shipley had Coventry in front again, but Max Power levelled things up once more. Conor Chaplin completed the scoring after 78 minutes in an incredible afternoon in the north east.

Live EFL

Barnsley took full advantage of Sunderland's defeat by beating Fleetwood 4-2 at Oakwell to move above the Black Cats into second place in the table.

Mike-Steven Bahre and Cauley Woodrow struck to give the Tykes the half-time lead. Cameron McGeehan and Jacob Brown added second-half goals. Ched Evans and Wes Burns scored for Fleetwood, who had Harry Soutar sent off in the second half with the score at 2-1.

Portsmouth piled more pressure on Sunderland in the race for automatic promotion after they were also comfortable home winners against Rochdale.

Also See:

Oliver Hawkins, Brett Pitman, Gareth Evans, and Jamal Lowe were on the scoresheet in a 4-1 victory for Pompey. Aaron Wilbraham replied for Rochdale, who stay out of the relegation places despite the defeat.

Live EFL

Charlton kept themselves in the hunt for a top-two spot with a 3-1 win against leaders Luton, who led through Harry Cornick's early strike.

Lyle Taylor, from the penalty spot, Igor Vetokele, and Taylor again netted to turn the game on its head. Luton, beaten for the first time since October, finished with 10 men after Andrew Shinnie was sent off.

Tommy Rowe and Danny Andrew scored in Doncaster's 2-0 win against Plymouth as Rovers remained in a good position to claim the last play-off spot.

Peterborough stay seventh, five points behind Doncaster after Marcus Maddison scored in a 1-0 victory at Blackpool.

Bradford are on the brink of relegation after losing 3-2 at Bristol Rovers, who won with Jonson Clarke-Harris' late strike after Nathaniel Knight-Percival's injury-time effort looked to have got a point for the bottom club. Lewis O'Brien had given Bradford the lead before goals from Clarke-Harris and James Clarke.

Southend are still in trouble after losing 2-0 at home to Wycombe, with Adebayo Akinfenwa scoring both goals, while AFC Wimbledon stay in the bottom four after a goalless draw at Oxford.

Walsall stay in the relegation zone but, like Wimbledon and Southend, remain within touching distance of safety despite losing 2-1 at Accrington. Ross Sykes scored for Stanley either side of Nicky Devlin's equaliser. Josh Gordon was sent off late on for the Saddlers.

Scunthorpe are still just above the drop zone after a 3-0 defeat to Burton at Glanford Park. Kieran Wallace, Lucas Akins, and Liam Boyce netted for the Brewers.

James Bolton and Tyrese Campbell were on target in Shrewsbury's 2-0 win at Gillingham.

Play Super 6
Play Super 6

Predict 6 correct scores for your chance to win £250K.

Around Sky