COVENTRY City secured a fifth straight league win with a 2-0 victory at Bristol City to move eight points clear at the top of the Championship table.
Goals from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Haji Wright put the Sky Blues in command at the break which came either side of Joel Latibeaudiere’s red card at Ashton Gate.
However, Bristol City had Adam Randell sent off in the second half as both teams finished the game with 10-men.
The result means Coventry lead Middlesbrough at the top of the Championship table by eight points although second-placed Boro have a game in hand.
The Robins went close early on as Sinclair Armstrong drove towards the box and curled a shot inches past the post from 20-yards out with Carl Rushworth at full stretch.
However, the Sky Blues broke the deadlock on 37 minutes when Sakamoto’s back-post header squirmed through the gloves of home goalkeeper Radek Vitek after Jay Dasilva floated a cross into the box from the left.
The visitors then lost Latibeaudiere to a red card two minutes before half time after Emil Riis Jakobsen pounced on the Coventry defender’s loose touch and he pulled the forward to the ground as the last defender.
The Robins spurned a golden chance to draw level before the break as Neto Borges sent a free header over the bar when left unmarked six-yards from goal.
However, Coventry doubled their lead in first-half injury time when Wright won the ball on the edge of the penalty area and fired a show into the bottom left corner from 15-yards out.
Bristol City received a red card of their own after the interval on 56 minutes with Randell shown a second yellow card after he caught Josh Eccles in the chest with his boot to leave both teams down to 10-men.
The Robins searched for a route back into the game as Rushworth sprung to his left to keep out Scott Twine’s curling effort from 25-yards.
At the other end, substitute Ellis Simms saw his shot saved by Vitek while Rushworth produced more heroics to deny Twine a second time at the death.
