Coventry City end 25-year wait for Premier League win at Nottingham Forest

Coventry City secured their first Premier League victory for 25 years as Jay Dasilva’s goal gave Frank Lampard’s side a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The result ended a difficult start to the campaign for the promoted side, who had lost their opening four matches without scoring. Their early schedule had included away games at Arsenal and Manchester City, while last weekend’s 5-0 defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion left them with no points and a goal difference of minus 10.

Dasilva finally changed Coventry’s fortunes in the 55th minute. Goalkeeper Carl Rushworth sent a long pass forward, which the wing-back controlled expertly before cutting inside and curling a finish beyond Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

Forest thought they had rescued a point late in the game when Igor Jesus found the net. However, the goal was disallowed after a VAR review, with the forward judged to have clipped the foot of Coventry midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi and caused him to stumble.

That decision preserved a deserved victory for Coventry, whose performance gave them a first Premier League win since April 2001. They will now enter the international break with a first league victory of the season and a renewed sense that they can compete at the highest level.

“It feels great, it feels amazing,” Lampard said. “The way the players worked for it. Having lost our first four games in different circumstances, it’s easy to feel negative, like where is the goal, where is the win coming from?

“The players deserve it. It’s really important for some of the players, for many of them it’s their debut in the Premier League and they need to feel like they belong.”

Coventry’s previous top-flight victory came against Sunderland in April 2001. They were relegated a few matches later, ending a 34-year spell in the top division.

The club subsequently fell as far as the fourth tier during a troubled period, making the scenes at the final whistle particularly significant for the travelling supporters.

Lampard, a three-time Premier League winner as a player with Chelsea, urged his team to remain focused despite the breakthrough result.

“We have to keep our feet on the ground because it’s one win, and we’ve felt how ruthless the league is already,” he said. “We’ve had two of the toughest games on paper, probably in City and Arsenal, but it doesn’t matter.

“The points still said zero after four games and that hurts. So I think going into a break, yeah, for sure, for everyone to have a bit of rest, to feel good about it.

“You know that’s the starting point, so they can use that.”