Brandon Thomas-Asante bags brace as five-star Coventry ease to top of table

Brandon Thomas-Asante scored a first-half brace as Coventry eased to a 5-0 Championship victory away to struggling Sheffield Wednesday that sent them top of the table.

Thomas-Asante opened the scoring early on and completed his double just after the half-hour mark, while Haji Wright, Ellis Simms and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto were also on target.

The visitors got off to a great start when Thomas-Asante produced a close-range finish in the third minute after the Owls defence failed to deal with a corner effectively.

Wednesday’s Yan Valery had a chance soon after the goal but fired the ball off target from the right-hand side of the area.

There was a break in play after 10 minutes when a group of home supporters entered the pitch in protest at club owner Dejphon Chansiri, following the news that wage payments to players had been delayed for the fifth time in seven months.

Play resumed after around five minutes and Wright wasted a great chance for Coventry after putting through on goal, prodding the ball wide from a good position.

Wright then had a shot blocked as the visitors continued to press for a second goal.

Their pressure paid off when some hesitant defending from Dominic Iorfa saw him caught in possession and Thomas-Asante took advantage, producing a fine low finish into the far corner of the net from inside the box.

Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath made an important save towards the end of the half to deny Coventry a third goal, getting down smartly to save a close-range effort from Ephron Mason-Clark, who had got on the end of a low cross from Thomas-Asante.

It proved to be a temporary respite, however, as the visitors did score a third goal in first-half stoppage-time.

Matt Grimes swung the ball into the area, it was headed on by Thomas-Asante and Bobby Thomas’ far-post header was moving towards the net but Wright got the final touch from close range.

It looked to be offside and there were strong protests from the Wednesday players but referee Adam Herczeg dismissed the appeals.

He and his fellow match officials faced a barrage of boos as they left the pitch at the end of the half.

Thomas-Asante went close to completing his hat-trick just after the hour-mark when his header was saved by Horvath.

Substitute Simms added a fourth goal after 68 minutes as he fired Kaine Kesler-Hayden’s low cross into the net after arriving unmarked at the far post.

With 15 minutes remaining, Sakamoto made it 5-0, hammering the ball into the net after the defence failed to deal with a free-kick played into the area as Coventry extended their unbeaten start to the season to nine matches.