AFCON 2025
Coventry City manager Frank Lampard has praised Nigeria international Taiwo Awoniyi after the striker marked his first start for the club with a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s 4-2 Carabao Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle.
Awoniyi needed just three minutes to make his mark, opening the scoring after being played through by a sublime flick from Ghana midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi.
The former Nottingham Forest forward then turned provider two minutes later, setting up Jack Rudoni to double Coventry’s advantage.
Plymouth pulled one back through Oliver Irow in the 21st minute before substitute Xavier Ameachi levelled the scores early in the second half.
Coventry regained the lead through Ephron Mason-Clark, who finished a well-worked move after coming on in the 60th minute.
Victor Torp sealed the victory from the penalty spot with a superb finish into the top corner after Brandon Thomas-Asante was fouled inside the box.
Speaking after the match, Lampard admitted Awoniyi is still working towards full match sharpness but said the striker demonstrated the qualities Coventry brought him in for.
“I think so. He played some good pre-season minutes at Forest, although probably not so much in his last sort of 10 days before coming to us,” Lampard said.
“So it was good to get him on the pitch at the Emirates and then he starts the game tonight and he gets his goal and an assist, and yeah, he’ll be getting fit at this point but I thought we saw the qualities that we brought him here for.”
The performance represents an encouraging start to Awoniyi’s time at Coventry following his permanent move from Nottingham Forest.
The Nigerian will now turn his attention to Premier League action, with Coventry set to host fellow newly promoted side Hull City on Saturday.
Coventry suffered a 3-0 defeat to defending champions Arsenal in their opening league fixture, while Hull City stunned Manchester United with a 2-0 victory.
