Coventry City climbed out of the Premier League bottom three with a 3-1 win over Sunderland, Brentford ended a four-match winless run by beating Nottingham Forest 2-0, and Aston Villa were held 1-1 by Fulham after John McGinn missed a penalty.
England: Saturday’s Premier League programme offered a relegation-battle swing at Coventry, a milestone win in west London and a costly slip at Villa Park. Here is how the three results unfolded.
Coventry climb out of the bottom three
Coventry City began the weekend in the bottom three and finished Saturday outside it. A 3-1 victory over Sunderland at the Coventry Building Society Arena lifted Frank Lampard’s side to nine points from nine games and left the visitors rooted to the foot of the table.
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto put the hosts ahead in the 17th minute with a strike from the edge of the box. Taiwo Awoniyi made it two shortly before the interval, winning the ball from Luke O’Nien, driving into the area and finishing low into the bottom-left corner with a slight deflection off Omar Alderete. Jack Rudoni added a third early in the second half, hitting a shot from distance that took a deflection off Alderete and beat Robin Roefs.
Sunderland pulled one back in the 67th minute after a VAR check showed Ethan Pinnock had blocked an O’Nien effort with his arm, and Enzo Le Fée converted the penalty. In stoppage time Alderete was sent off for a second yellow card after bringing down Rudoni. Sunderland have not won in their last seven Premier League games and sit bottom on five points; earlier in the week they had beaten Brentford 3-2 in the Carabao Cup. Lampard said it was too early in the season to worry about the table, while Régis Le Bris said the Premier League is relentless and admitted his side are not consistent enough.
Brentford end their winless run
Brentford marked their 100th Premier League game at the Gtech Community Stadium with a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, ending a four-match winless run and lifting Keith Andrews’ side to sixth on 14 points.
The opener came in the 30th minute. Dango Ouattara skipped past Murillo on the right and drove a low cross across goal, and Nikola Milenković turned it into his own net. Mathias Jensen hit the crossbar with a free kick before the break after Milenković fouled Kevin Schade. Forest pushed hard after the interval, finishing with 12 shots to Brentford’s six, with Ryan Yates heading over and Liam Delap shooting over, but Brentford struck again in the 76th minute. Substitute Aaron Hickey found Jaidon Anthony, who picked out Igor Thiago, and the striker’s shot deflected off Milenković, hit the underside of the crossbar and went in. Andrews said he was proud of the performance. Forest sit 19th with six points.
McGinn’s miss and Suzuki’s error at Villa Park
At Villa Park, Aston Villa dominated the early stages and won a penalty after a VAR review, but John McGinn’s spot-kick in the 16th minute struck the woodwork. Nicolas Jackson gave Villa the lead late in the first half with a finish from the centre of the box.
The lead lasted until just after the hour, when Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki fumbled an Alex Iwobi inswinging corner and knocked it back over his own line. Pau Torres headed just wide from a free kick and Alejandro Garnacho had a shot blocked as Villa chased a winner, but the draw left them on 12 points and Fulham on nine, with Fulham still 15th.
Results (31 October 2026):
Coventry City 3, Sunderland 1 — Sakamoto 17’, Awoniyi, Rudoni; Le Fée 67’ (pen). Alderete (Sunderland) sent off.
Brentford 2, Nottingham Forest 0 — Milenković (own goal) 30’, Thiago 76’.
Aston Villa 1, Fulham 1 — Jackson; Suzuki (own goal). McGinn (Villa) missed a penalty, 16’.
