Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Frank Lampard believes two “outstanding” moments of individual quality from James Maddison and Omar Marmoush were the difference in Coventry City’s defeat to Tottenham.
Coventry saw their two-game winning run in the Premier League come to an end on Monday, with Roberto De Zerbi’s side earning a 3-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Maddison opened the scoring with a stunning, sweeping finish into the top-left corner in the 14th minute, but the Sky Blues hit back through Jack Rudoni early in the second half.
But the hosts reclaimed their lead just before the hour when Marmoush fired in his first Spurs goal from just outside the box, though Carl Rushworth got a touch on the shot.
Coventry pushed for a leveller that never came, with substitute Ben Davies sealing the win in the 96th minute to move Spurs one place above their opponents in the standings.
The Sky Blues have begun a league campaign with as many as five defeats from their first seven games for the first time since 1996-97 (W1 D1 L5 in the Premier League – however they did manage to avoid relegation that season).
Lampard, however, took the positives from his team’s display, adding that two bits of magic proved decisive as Spurs became the first side to score three goals from outside the box in a single Premier League game since Fulham against Leicester City in May 2023.
“Very pleased with the performance. We were in the game to say the least,” Lampard told BBC Sport. “Two outstanding goals for them.
“The second was questionable because the arm was up in the face but a quality finish. I am proud of the performance. 3-1 feels nasty at the end because of the last goal.
“We created some good moments. We wanted to start well, as they started well in every game they have played here but haven’t got what they deserved.
“The feeling and flow of the game we were brave and getting people up on their top line. Individuals were showing their quality with Rudoni and Thomas-Asante – eight of the boys played in the Championship last year, and now they have shown they have grown.
“I don’t like the fixture list games, they are all hard. Are we happy? We will always want more, we feel there are a couple more points we feel we could have had.”
Thank you for your incredible backing on the road tonight. https://t.co/sfebkOEdfZ
— Coventry City (@CoventryCityFC) October 19, 2026
Coventry had their chances against Spurs, but were only able to muster an expected goals (xG) total of 0.82 from their 12 shots, though only one of those tested Antonin Kinsky.
The Sky Blues have also now failed to win any of their last 48 Premier League games when conceding first (D6 L42) since a 2-1 win against Charlton Athletic in March 1999.
Rudoni’s display was another positive for Lampard, with the midfielder becoming the first player to score in back-to-back Premier League appearances for Coventry since John Hartson netted in four consecutive games between March and April 2001.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating, we felt we did well as a team. We took the game plan to them well. At the end it really could’ve been 2-2,” Rudoni conceded.
“We’ve got to take the positives. We have a big game on Saturday so we’ll just look at the positives and get ready for that.”
Coventry face a crucial run of league games against the side around them, with two home matches against Fulham and Sunderland coming between now and the end of October.
They also face Everton, Crystal Palace and Leeds United next month, and when asked about Coventry’s upcoming run of fixtures, Rudoni added: “I think we’ve shown we can compete and, like you say, it’s the little differences like shots on target.
“We’ve shown we can compete. We just need to get points on the board. We need to really get points on the board.”
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