COVENTRY, England (AP) — Teenager Sidiki Cherif scored one and made one as Coventry overcame a dishevelled Newcastle 4-1 and earned successive Premier League wins on Monday.
The win was a real boost for Coventry, which had lost its first four games of the season but edged past Nottingham Forest in the final league match before the international break.
Click to Gallery
Newcastle United’s manager Matthias Jaissle gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Coventry City and Newcastle United in Coventry, England, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall, left, and Coventry City’s Caleb Yirenkyi, right, challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Coventry City and Newcastle United in Coventry, England, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
Coventry City’s Jack Rudoni, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Coventry City and Newcastle United in Coventry, England, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
The victory also marked its first in the Premier League in 25 years after the Midlands club returned to the top division in the summer.
“It is so hard to win but we played like the team we want to be tonight,” coach Frank Lampard said. “A team where you look at them and see spirit and energy. We know we are going to have to suffer a lot in games this season but the work ethic of the boys and the belief mean you get what you deserve.”
Cherif was brought down just four minutes into the game and Jack Rudoni made no mistake from the spot.
Newcastle controlled most of the first half without troubling the Coventry goal but it was a different story in the second period as the home side won the game with some clinical finishing.
Cherif made it 2-0 with a low shot from the edge of the box three minutes into the second period, and although Sven Botman reduced the deficit with a stunning strike in the 70th Ellis Simms restored the two-goal advantage nine minutes from time.
Stephen Mfuni, the 18-year-old center half on loan from Manchester City, scored his first professional goal in the 86th to cap a dream night for Coventry and lift Lampard’s men into 14th spot.
Newcastle sat three places and two points above them and coach Matthias Jaissle warned he had work to do after what was a second straight 4-1 loss away from home following a similar result at Leeds a month ago.
“Back-to-back 4-1 defeats away are things we need to avoid in the future,” he said.
“We are frustrated. It is a feeling you don’t want to have after a match where you should win. We apologize to the fans that made the journey. They deserved a better result.”
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
Coventry City’s Brandon Thomas-Asante, left, and Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall, right, challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Coventry City and Newcastle United in Coventry, England, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
Newcastle United’s manager Matthias Jaissle gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Coventry City and Newcastle United in Coventry, England, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall, left, and Coventry City’s Caleb Yirenkyi, right, challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Coventry City and Newcastle United in Coventry, England, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
Coventry City’s Jack Rudoni, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Coventry City and Newcastle United in Coventry, England, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Monday ordered a 24-hour halt to tree-cutting at the East Potomac Golf Course, a historic D.C. course that has been part of President Donald Trump’s plans to remake the city.
Reyes issued the order following a tense three-hour hearing in which she harshly criticized the government for having deceived her with its actions over the holiday weekend.
Reyes said the 24-hour temporary order could be extended to 14 days if necessary. It was limited to one day while the government tries to find a key Trump administration official to discuss why a massive tree-cutting at the park needed to occur over the holiday weekend, with little notification to plaintiffs in a lawsuit trying to halt renovation plans or the judge.
It’s the latest example of the erosion of trust between the government and the independent judiciary, as the Trump administration tries to steamroll scrutiny of its actions, from the White House ballroom to immigration enforcement.
The hearing started with a blistering 15-minute statement from Reyes, who has declined repeated motions from the plaintiffs to halt work by the administration out of concern that its strategy has seemed to be move ahead on projects despite court actions.
“I am thoroughly unamused right now,” Reyes said. “I do not know how I could have made it any plainer that I did not want what was to happen, to happen.” The judge added, “I have given the government every single benefit of the doubt that it would not do precisely what it has done.”
She told the government’s lawyers sharply, “I wanted you all to be better than you have been.”
The emergency hearing on a holiday expanded as the judge ordered the government to get various participants in the decision-making process into the hearing remotely.
Reyes plans to hold another hearing Tuesday and wants to hear from Greg Wischer, deputy chief of staff at the Interior Department. Wischer pushed for the work to be done urgently, according to testimony from Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the National Park Service.
Reyes and plaintiff’s attorney Abbe Lowell raised numerous questions about the timeline and chain of command for the decision and whether the witnesses were aware of other plans by the administration.
Kevin Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, cited a 2019 National Park Service Cultural Landscape Report as the guide for the work.
Lands said it was part of Trump’s 2025 order to make D.C. safe and beautiful. Under questioning from Reyes, he acknowledged that while other city golf courses were also mentioned in the Cultural Landscape Report, there had been no discussions of work at them.
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
A golfer hits from the rough near a tree wrapped in caution tape at the East Potomac Golf Links, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Golfers tee off near log sections cut and tree stumps at the East Potomac Golf Links, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Golfers hit from the fairway near log sections cut from trees at the East Potomac Golf Links, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
A golfer walks past the stump of a large tree at the East Potomac Golf Links, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Golfers pass workers as the National Park Service begins cutting down trees at East Potomac Golf Links, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
A golfer pauses near trees recently cut down by the National Park Service at East Potomac Golf Links, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Golfers pass workers as the National Park Service begins cutting down trees at East Potomac Golf Links, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Golfers pass trees recently cut down by the National Park Service, at East Potomac Golf Links, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
President Donald Trump waves while returning to the White House following a trip to Clarksville, Tenn., on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
