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Ephron Mason-Clark scored his ninth goal of the campaign to give Coventry all three points Ephron Mason-Clark's second-half tap-in put Championship leaders Coventry back to winning ways against a spirited Bristol City. Coventry's Haji Wright and Bristol City's Sinclair Armstrong both hit the crossbar during an entertaining end-to-end first-half, in which Armstrong also found the target but it was scratched off for a handball. Mason-Clark however had a simple shot to eventually break the deadlock for the Sky Blues after Bobby Thomas' header hit the post and the Robins failed to clear the rebound. Coventry keeper Carl Rushworth then kept his side in the lead with a string of impressive saves including denying Fally Mayulu in the closing minutes with his outstretched arm. The victory ensures Coventry maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table with their seventh consecutive home victory – their best run at the CBS Arena since 2021, while Bristol City drop to 11th. It was a fast and fierce first 45 minutes, with a flurry of attempts at both ends. Wright hit the post 16 minutes in as he had Radek Vitek beaten in the Bristol City goal, before Cameron Pring blocked the rebound from Viktor Torp to deny Coventry an early opener. Armstrong - making his first start for the Robins in five games - saw his own effort hit the woodwork as out of nothing he crashed a shot off the post a few minutes later. He then collected a cross from the left on his chest, spinning a volleying it powerfully towards goal forcing a quick-thinking save from Rushworth. At the other end, Wright dragged another effort wide of the post as the Sky Blues pounced again. Armstrong thought he had the opener before half-time as he followed a header with two shots in succession - the last one crossing the line only for referee Stephen Martin to blow his whistle to disallow it as the Republic of Ireland international had appeared to control the ball with the assistance of his hand. Carl Rushworth made a string of saves to deny Bristol City an equaliser Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber had to reshuffle his back three before kick-off with centre-backs Zak Vyner (knee) and George Tanner (ankle) ruled out and Coventry repeatedly tried to exploit things after the break with plenty of crosses into the box. And it was from a corner that Coventry took the lead. Bobby Thomas struck the post with a header and as the Robins failed to properly clear their lines, Mason-Clark tapped in from close range to make it 1-0. The visitors however will wonder how they were unable to take anything from the CBS Arena, ending the game with nine shots on target to Coventry's four. Rushworth had already tipped an Adam Randall header over the bar when he saved an Anis Mehmeti shot with his legs, despite diving the wrong way. Emil Riis then sent a diving header over the bar from six yards out, Haydon Roberts sliced a shot wide and substitute Mayulu was denied in added time as Rushworth stretched to the bottom corner with the striker looking destined to score. Coventry City head coach Frank Lampard told BBC Radio CWR: "To lose a game and draw a game probably put a bit more importance on this, a bit more feeling. People would have been looking at us to see how we reacted against a strong team. "It was great, the players' attitude from minute one was really good, really sharp and continued that. "We pushed them back and they're one of the highest pressing teams in the league, highest regains, and we played a lot of the game in their half. "Absolutely not our best performance but sometimes in the endurance test of a season, you look at all the games, your comfortable wins, the games where you have to fight and dig in for the win - games that give you challenges like that [but you] keep a clean sheet, get a goal and we showed a lot of spirit in the team. " This video can not be played Lampard: 'The players' attitude was really sharp' Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol: "I am really happy how we deal with the opponent today and we was in a really good way but we have to score and this is the difference between them and us - that they can use chances and we have the gap. "We are so close and we can see we can be with the top team in the league for the most of the time on the same level, but in the most important moments they have this ability and we have also good chances and we should use that. "Their goalkeeper was on an outstanding level and caught one or other balls that was crazy sometimes. But these are the moments where we have to be super sharp and clinical. "Sincs and Emil they did today a really good job. Sincs was really dangerous with his forward runs, the timing, also his link up - they created a really difficult game for the defence from Coventry. "On the same time we have top chances and we have to use it. "This is the only gap at the moment what I can see; the boys invest a lot, the effort was on an outstanding great level, our possession game, our transition game, against a top team in the league we played on a really high level but we lose this game [as we] have problems to score. " This video can not be played Struber: 'Really disappointed' After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 13th December 2025 at 17: 01 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Gerhard Struber Formation: 3 - 5 - 2 Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Gerhard Struber Formation: 3 - 5 - 2 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Coventry City have lost none of their last five home league games against Bristol City (W3 D2), last losing to the Robins in October 2014 in League One. Bristol City have won one of their last nine league matches against Coventry (D4 L4), a 1-0 home win in October 2023. Coventry have won their last six home league matches – they last had a longer home winning run between May and October 2021 (seven under Mark Robins). Bristol City have won four of their nine away league games this season (D3 L2) – already as many as they won in 23 away games in 2024-25 (W4 D10 L9). Bristol City’s Emil Riis has scored four goals in his last six league appearances against Coventry, all for Preston North End. Match ends, Coventry City 1, Bristol City 0. Second Half ends, Coventry City 1, Bristol City 0. Attempt missed. Josh Eccles (Coventry City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. Handball by Scott Twine (Bristol City). Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Carl Rushworth. Attempt saved. Fally Mayulu (Bristol City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner by Carl Rushworth (Coventry City). Assisted by Adam Randell. Corner, Bristol City. Conceded by Jay Dasilva. Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time. Substitution, Coventry City. Luke Woolfenden replaces Ephron Mason-Clark. Attempt missed. Haydon Roberts (Bristol City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Ross Mc Crorie with a cross. Attempt missed. Ellis Simms (Coventry City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Bobby Thomas. Substitution, Coventry City. Josh Eccles replaces Victor Torp. Substitution, Coventry City. Jamie Allen replaces Jack Rudoni. Substitution, Bristol City. Fally Mayulu replaces Emil Riis. Substitution, Bristol City. Yu Hirakawa replaces Cameron Pring. Attempt saved. Scott Twine (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner by Carl Rushworth (Coventry City). Foul by Jack Rudoni (Coventry City). Adam Randell (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Substitution, Coventry City. Ellis Simms replaces Haji Wright. Victor Torp (Coventry City) wins a free kick on the right wing. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.