Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka has helped Coventry City seal promotion to the English Premier League after a 25-year hiatus, Soccernet.ng reports.
Onyeka kept his place in the starting eleven when his Coventry side traveled to Ewood Park to take on relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers.
Going into the game, the Sky Blues needed just one point to seal Premier League promotion, and they were odds-on favorites to get the result. However, Rovers did not make life any easier for them.
With Onyeka in the middle of the park, Frank Lampard’s men dominated. However, they failed to create enough clear-cut chances. Blackburn were also quite blunt, and so the first half ended goalless.
The second half was when the drama really started. Blackburn Rovers scored the opener against the run of play, courtesy of Ryoya Morishita in the 54th minute.
However, after going down, the Sky Blues failed to show enough bite immediately. This caused coach Frank Lampard to tweak his lineup; hence, he took out Super Eagles star Onyeka in the 63rd minute.
During his time on the pitch, Onyeka registered 32 passes, 81 percent of which were completed. He also won two tackles and made two clearances.
In search of goals, Coventry poured men forward. They eventually found one through Bobby Thomas, who leapt highest to meet a cross from Victor Torp and send a well-placed header into the left side of the net to make it 1-1.
After scoring that goal, Coventry opted to hold the ball and eventually saw out the 1-1 draw—a result that sealed their promotion to the Premier League.
