Coventry 5 Portsmouth 1: Neil Allen's verdict - Joy amid the humiliation as Blues secure Championship survival

Never could a 5-1 humbling have been so enthusiastically received, yet there was plenty to celebrate at the Coventry Building Society Stadium.

While Premier League-bound Coventry’s classy performance earned them the Championship title, the side so brutally on the receiving end were toasting survival.

Oxford United’s 1-0 home defeat to Wrexham ensures John Mousinho’s men have stayed up with two games to spare, a remarkable outcome considering most believed they were destined for League One just a month ago.

Coventry was by far the weakest performance since that 6-1 Loftus Road debacle, nonetheless the Blues’ overall return of 11 points from 18 available was enough to keep them in the Championship.

They were ruthlessly dismantled by Frank Lampard’s men, albeit having helpfully gifted the leaders the opening three goals, who certainly didn’t require any assistance to achieve victory.

Ephron Mason-Clark (two), Haji Wright, substitute Kaine Kesler-Hayden and a Regan Poole own goal were the backbone to Coventry’s comfortable win over a desperately poor Pompey - not that it really mattered.

Results elsewhere, namely the Kassam Stadium, meant the travelling support were also celebrating before the final whistle, with their place in the Championship secured for another season.

Leicester City will join Sheffield Wednesday in League One next year, with Oxford, Blackburn and Charlton scrapping to avoid that final spot.

As for Pompey, Mousinho has kept them up for a second successive season, arguably against the odds, but thankfully they won’t be facing Coventry.

Mousinho had made four changes against the Sky Blues, with recalls for Madiodio Dia, Ebou Adams and Adrian Segecic, while Connor Ogilvie returned from a three-match ban.

With Terry Devlin and Keshi Anderson unable to play again this season following hamstring injuries sustained against Leicester, two of Pompey’s changes were enforced.

While Marlon Pack and Conor Shaughnessy dropped to the bench, with Colby Bishop handed the captaincy for the Sky Blues clash.

Jordan Williams moved across to right-back, with Ogilvie returning at left-back, while Dia partnered Regan Poole in the centre of defence.

Elsewhere, Luke Le Roux was recalled to the squad, while Josh Murphy was again named among the substitutes after a surprise return from injury against Leicester.

Meanwhile, former Pompey loanee, Minhyeok Yang once more missed out for Coventry, failing to be included in a match-day squad for a 13th successive match.

The South Korean international had been recalled from Fratton Park by Spurs in January in order to loan him to Frank Lampard’s side - but he has totalled just 29 minutes of league football since the switch.

Representing their first match back at the Coventry Building Society Arena since clinching promotion, there were fireworks and pyrotechnics to greet the Coventry players as they made their way onto the pitch.

When the match kicked off, inevitably it was the hosts who seized control during the early stages, dictating play, albeit not providing too much of a threat to Pompey’s penalty area.

However, that all changed on 12 minutes following dreadful defending from the Blues when dealing with Jack Rudoni’s right-wing corner.

Wright was completely outnumbered inside the six-yard box, yet somehow managed to get himself between Nicolas Schmid and Regan Poole to head it into the net in the softest of circumstances.

It represented a dreadful start to the game for the visitors, with Schmid helpfully going down claiming injury moments later, allowing Mousinho to initiate an impromptu team talk on the touchline as they attempted to regroup.

There were appeals for a Pompey penalty when Ogilvie went down under a Coventry challenge as he attempted to get on the end of a Milli Alli left-wing cross, yet otherwise the visitors were struggling to offer too much of a threat.

Certainly it was proving far too easy for the Championship leaders, who weren’t even firing at full pelt, yet still had a comfortable lead and were heading towards the title.

The Blues had a let-off on 43 minutes when Andre Dozzell and Adams were guilty of going for the same ball, with neither getting it, and Wright flashed a shot just over the bar from inside the box.

Trailing at the break and with Dia on a booking after an uncertain half, the Senegal defender was replaced by Shaughnessy at centre-half for the second period.

However, within a minute it was 2-0 to Coventry following a calamitous mistake from Schmid.

Bobby Thomas put a long ball into Pompey’s left-hand channel which Poole mopped up with ease, knocking the ball back to Schmid.

However, the goalkeeper decided to touch the ball inside, seemingly unaware that Mason-Clark was lurking, and the attacker had the simplest of tasks to finish into an empty net.

It was shocking from the Austrian keeper - and on 50 minutes it became 3-0, with the leaders gifted another.

Milan Van Ewijk drove down the right and delivered a dangerous cross into the box which Poole could only deflect into the net on the run, giving Schmid no chance.

As if it was in any doubt, a chant of ‘Campiones’ rang around the stadium, with Coventry’s lead clearly impregnable at this point, despite 40 minutes of the game remaining,

It should have been 4-0 on 61 minutes. but for a remarkable miss from Wright who, from eight yards out, put the ball over with the goal gaping after Rudoni’s shot had ricocheted off the right-hand post.

That signalled the introduction of Murphy and Luke Le Roux off the bench in place of Alli and Adams. For Murphy it also signalled a first Blues outlining since December after an injury-ravaged season.

Pompey grabbed a consolidation on 69 minutes, however, when Rudoni’s loose pass towards his defence was picked up by Segecic.

The Croatian drove forward and struck a sublime left-footed shot from outside the box which gave Carl Rushworth no chance as he registered a seventh goal of the season.

Yet that proved to be brief respite as the Sky Blues restored their three-goal advantage on 76 minutes when Mason-Clark bagged his second after getting in behind Williams.

It was left to substitute Kaine Kesley-Hayden to wrap up victory in stoppage time, with a first-time shot at the far post which went through Schmid and into the net to make it 5-1.

Then news of Wrexham’s win filtered through - Pompey will be in the Championship next season.