Ephron Mason-Clark seemed to be dragged down in the penalty area late in the game as Coventry were ultimately defeated by Midlands rivals Birmingham City
Coventry City Manager Frank Lampard applauds the fans at full-time following his team’s defeat at St Andrew’s Stadium(Image: Joe Toth/Shutterstock)
Frank Lampard believes Coventry City have not received the penalties they deserve this season after Ephron Mason-Clark was pulled down in the Birmingham City penalty area by Tomoki Iwata.
The defeat does not impact Coventry’s position at the top of the table, but it does hand Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough valuable opportunities to close the gap. Lampard will now be hoping his side can respond after a run of three games without a win.
However, the Coventry boss felt his team may have deserved at least a point after being denied a stoppage-time penalty. Mason-Clark appeared to be dragged to the ground by his shirt by Iwata and immediately appealed to referee James Linington, but neither the official nor his assistant deemed the challenge worthy of a spot-kick.
Lampard did not limit his frustration to that decision alone, with the former England midfielder highlighting what he feels is a season-long pattern of penalties going against his side.
Coventry City’s Ephron Mason-Clark is man-handled by Birmingham City’s Tomoki Iwata(Image: Cody Froggatt/PA Wire)
After the match, the Sky Sports interviewer was unable to finish their question about the late penalty shout before Lampard interjected: “It’s a penalty.” He continued: “Yeah, we played the Ipswich game, I spoke after Ipswich [where] we had two absolute penalties, one on Haji and Woolfenden at a corner which the referee was staring at.
“We [should have] had a penalty against Southampton, we [should have] had a penalty against Cheltenham at home. It was a red card and it wasn’t given and we got apologies…
“…It’s again and again for us at the minute. I think it’s quite clear – it’s clear as day Ephron gets dragged down. And there are so many penalties that we are not getting.
“We’ve had one penalty this season. I think we’re the team with the most box entries and consistent attacking, attacking – and we’re not getting them. There’s no point in asking questions anymore because after the event nothing matters.
“And I’m always focused on performance so my frustration with today is with us and I haven’t had to say that much this season because we should do better. But we’re not getting penalties. I can’t understand it”
Coventry twice hauled themselves level through impressive long-range strikes from Josh Eccles and Ellis Simms, but Marvin Ducksch’s third goal restored Birmingham’s lead and proved decisive.
The Sky Blues dominated large spells of the match, enjoying 75 per cent possession, recording a higher xG and registering 17 shots compared to Birmingham’s nine. Despite that control, the contest remained finely balanced throughout.
Reflecting on the end-to-end encounter, Lampard said: “Yeah, well it shouldn’t have been like that, we allowed that. I’m always respectful of opposition – they’re at a tough moment. And the game was there for us, and that’s on us to not take it.
“To give three goals away in a game, you’re going to struggle to win a game in this league. But the game was there, we had lots of possession. I’ve been here many a time and you come here when the crowd are hot and the team are pressing and aggressive and it wasn’t like that.
“And there was times where we just needed the urgency to grab it and go, ‘okay we can have the ball but we have to break lines and we’ve got to be faster on the sides of the pitch – it’s all there for us.’ So it’s on us.”
After a demanding festive schedule, Lampard’s squad will now enjoy a week-long break before turning their attention to an FA Cup clash against Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday, with the Coventry boss hoping for a positive cup run to build on their strong early-season form.