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Matt Grimes' goal was just his second of the season and his first from open play Matt Grimes scored against his old club as Coventry City took another step towards the Premier League thanks to a 3-0 victory at Swansea City. Grimes' 20-yard volley was one of the three Coventry goals inside 11 minutes late in the first half as Frank Lampard's team seized control of what had been an even contest. The Sky Blues held on with comfort to secure a seventh victory in their past eight matches which means they are nine points clear of Middlesbrough at the top of the table – and 11 ahead of third-placed Ipswich – with seven games remaining this season. Brandon Thomas-Asante opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Ephron Mason-Clark turned sharply before being caught by Ben Cabango. Swansea then paid the price for winger Eom Jisung's failure to clear, as Frank Onyeka's cross ricocheted to Grimes and his crisp effort bounced in off the post. Another Onyeka cross led to the third goal, with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto's far-post shot beating Swansea goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux with the aid of a deflection off Ethan Galbraith. Some clumsy defending aside, Swansea could consider themselves unfortunate to be 3-0 down at the break. Josh Tymon rattled the bar early on and Melker Widell drilled against the post straight after Grimes' goal, while Goncalo Franco headed inches wide from point-blank range. But there was no sign of a Swansea comeback in the second half, with Ellis Simms and Thomas-Asante going close to extending Coventry's advantage as Vitor Matos' team saw their run of 10 home league games without defeat come to an end. The Welsh side slip to 14th in the table, 11 points adrift of the play-off places. Swansea criticise TV coverage of defeat by Wrexham Coventry are the leading scorers in the EFL having struck 81 times in the Championship Much of the focus in the build-up to this game was on Grimes, the long-time Swansea captain who was making a first return to the club since his move to Coventry 14 months ago. Despite serving Swansea admirably during a decade in Wales, the midfielder was given an icy reception by sections of the home support. He would have been entitled, therefore, to savour the sweet strike which brought Coventry's second goal, but opted instead to raise his hands in apology. From that moment on, the boos from Swansea fans died down. Ultimately, it was Grimes and Coventry who were left smiling as they cruised home in the second half despite being given plenty to think about in the first half hour. Perhaps the story would have been different had any of the hosts' first-half chances dropped to Zan Vipotnik, although the Slovenia international wasted a presentable opportunity to pull one back in the closing minutes. Vipotnik leads the Championship goalscoring charts with Coventry's Haji Wright in second. The USA international missed the trip to Swansea through injury, but in truth the leaders did not miss him. Swansea head coach Vitor Matos: "We had chances, we didn't score. That shows that in this kind of game, being clinical is massive, having the mental focus in that kind of situation is massive. "That's something we need to improve. For 30 minutes I think we were a good team who properly pushed Coventry in moments they didn't like. "Cross bar, post, good chance for Franco as well, then a penalty changed the momentum. "We needed to chase them back and doing that against a good team like Coventry is not easy. " Coventry head coach Frank Lampard: "Swansea have been in fine form at home for quite long period of time. I watched a lot of them this week and the more you watch them, the more you don't want to play them. "They're high pressing, they're one of the highest in the league, they make it difficult to play, they can move and rotate and play well. "They had their couple of moments, so did we. It was a typical trading game of a team that has played really well at home and us coming away and we're you know we're a good team. "But then we took the reins - obviously goals affect the game hugely. We're very clinical in a 12-minute spell and then the second half is just how to see out a game with a counter-attack threat, so I am very happy with the players. " This video can not be played Frank Lampard post Swansea win 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 21st March 2026 at 19: 06 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Vitor Matos Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Vitor Matos Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Swansea have lost their last two league games against Coventry – they last lost three in a row against them in a run of five between 1938 and 1947. After a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture this season, Coventry can do the league double over Swansea for the first time since 1946-47, also in the second tier. Since the start of December 2025, no team have won more points in Championship home games than Swansea (26 – level with Ipswich), going unbeaten in all 10 in this period (W8 D2). Coventry lost at home to Southampton last time out, while they have only suffered back-to-back defeats in the Championship once across their last 38 matches (January this year, v Norwich and QPR). Zan Vipotnik has been directly involved in 19 goals in the Championship this season (17 goals, 2 assists), with Joël Piroe in 2022-23 (21) the last Swansea player to reach 20+ in a league campaign. Match ends, Swansea City 0, Coventry City 3. Second Half ends, Swansea City 0, Coventry City 3. Melker Widell (Swansea City) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Milan van Ewijk (Coventry City). Fourth official has announced 4 minutes of added time. Foul by Liam Cullen (Swansea City). Romain Esse (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Zan Vipotnik (Swansea City) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Melker Widell. Marko Stamenic (Swansea City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Marko Stamenic (Swansea City). Josh Eccles (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Attempt missed. Ishé Samuels-Smith (Swansea City) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left following a corner. Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Joel Latibeaudiere. Attempt blocked. Marko Stamenic (Swansea City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Joel Ward. Attempt saved. Melker Widell (Swansea City) header from very close range is saved in the top centre of the goal by Carl Rushworth (Coventry City). Assisted by Zan Vipotnik with a headed pass. Attempt blocked. Ronald (Swansea City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Melker Widell. Malick Yalcouyé (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Romain Esse (Coventry City). Substitution, Coventry City. Jake Bidwell replaces Jay Dasilva. Substitution, Coventry City. Luke Woolfenden replaces Bobby Thomas. Copyright © 2026 BBC. 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