Victor Torp penalty sends Coventry into Carabao Cup third round with 4-2 win at Plymouth
Victor Torp sealed Coventry City’s 4-2 victory over Plymouth in the Carabao Cup at Plymouth on 25 August 2026, sending Frank Lampard’s side into the competition’s third round.
A midweek trip to Devon promised to be difficult for a Coventry side focused on Premier League survival, but the visitors raced into a two-goal lead inside four minutes and six seconds when Taiwo Awoniyi opened his account for his new club and Jack Rudoni doubled the advantage. The match drew 2,100 Coventry supporters, many of whom made a 444-mile round trip, and Lampard acknowledged the mood, saying: “You’ve got to enjoy a win, always.”
Plymouth responded before half-time; Mathias Ross headed wide from a free-kick then Oliver Irow, the Tottenham loanee 24 hours after signing, read Harvey White’s flighted pass, drove inside Joel Latibeaudiere and drilled past debutant goalkeeper Dan Bentley to make it 2-1. After that Irow’s goal and a couple of close calls, including Awoniyi heading wide unmarked and Bentley diverting Will Evans’s rebound onto his left post, Coventry faced sustained pressure.
Xavier Amaechi levelled nine minutes into the second half after swarming Liam Kitching, pinching the ball and firing in to make it 2-2, and manager Stephen Cleverley introduced homegrown academy graduates Tegan Finn and Caleb Roberts, joining 18-year-old full-back Joe Mwaro for his full debut. “I couldn’t be happier with the reaction and the quality we showed to make sure it was still a competitive game,” Cleverley said.
Ephron Mason-Clark, a substitute making his first appearance of the season after a hamstring issue, restored Coventry’s lead when Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s cross caused problems and Victor Torp reacted to the ball dropping at the back post to square for Mason-Clark to poke in from inside the six-yard box, the fifth goal of an entertaining contest.
Lampard made a triple substitution that introduced Sidiki Cherif for an injured Awoniyi on his debut, Josh Eccles and Brandon Thomas-Asante, and a later corner led to a challenge by Plymouth’s Joe Edwards on Thomas-Asante that referee Elliott Swallow judged to be a foul in the box. Torp capped the scoring, thrashing the spot-kick into the top corner to complete the six-goal thriller.
Lampard reflected on the fragile nature of early leads, saying: “It’s very easy to go: ‘Why don’t you just go 2-0 up and then beat Plymouth 5-0, 6-0?’ I’ve played in these games many times with different teams and they can become awkward, especially when the flow of the game goes against you: the crowd turns, emotions catch up and all of a sudden the game feels very different. I thought we dealt OK with that, in the end.”
Coventry’s win ensures they progress to the Carabao Cup third round; Lampard added later: “If you do well in it, you’re great for a moment, if you don’t do so well, then you’re not,” and referenced the expectations placed on English coaches when discussing the broader context of the match.