Late Gelhardt Winner Puts a Screw in Stoke’s Play-Off Hopes

Late Gelhardt Winner Puts a Screw in Stoke’s Play-Off Hopes

The highlight of the Saturday lunchtime kick-offs resided in the EFL Championship, specifically in Stoke-on-Trent.

At the BET365 Stadium, early title chasers Stoke City took on Hull City as the hosts looked to provisionally cut the gap to Coventry City at the top of the table.

Sorba Thomas put the Potters ahead in the 17th minute through an outrageous strike from an edge-of-the-box volley effort.

At half-time, they would have thought they would be cutting the gap to seven points to Coventry, but Semi Ajayi would soon flip things on their head for the Tigers shortly after the break.

A corner, which was initially cleared, eventually fell the way of the centre back, following a fortunate deflection - finding the back of the net, Ajayi had now provided a platform for Hull to chase a vital three points.

From then on, the match seemed destined for a share of points, underlined by Hull's poor finishing despite a step up in threatening chances towards the game's end; however, eventually, luck rolled in the visitors' favour.

In the final minute of regulation time, Joe Gelhardt was put through on the left side of the box to slot home a composed finish to give the visitors all three points and a massive win, vaulting the Tigers up to seventh.

The result meant that Coventry could have the opportunity to pull further clear of Stoke, while Hull would leap up to find themselves in and amongst the fabled play-off places.

Coventry Fly Clear at the Top

Onto the 3pm kick-offs, and we headed to the Coventry Building Society Stadium, where the Sky Blues looked perfectly poised to pull further clear at the top of the Championship table.

After losing three games on the bounce - while having a goal difference of 1-8 in the last games – and watching themselves falling miserably out of play-off contention, the Addicks' hopes of redemption were reignited following their midweek signing of Jerome Roussillon, a man few can forget thanks to his FIFA Ultimate Team supremacy back in the day.

🇬🇵✍️ 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 | 2nd division English team Charlton Athletic have signed Jérôme Roussillon (32) on a free transfer. ✅

The former Wolfsburg left-back has made nearly 400 career appearances. ✨ pic.twitter.com/7ToqaLpSVk

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) November 29, 2025

The Frenchman was left out of the starting squad for the day's fixture, but it didn't seem to matter early on as ex-Reading midfielder Harvey Knibbs gave the visitors a shock lead inside 15 minutes.

However, Coventry games always deliver goals, and it didn't take free-scoring Sky Blues long to settle into the fixture; quickly finding their attacking groove, their attempts on goal figure piled up throughout the afternoon, mustering up a total of over 20.

Charlton fans would have been ecstatic heading towards the end of the first period, with the score still 1-0 approaching the 40-minute mark.

However, the next five minutes would unfold as something akin to a nightmare for Addicks fans, as Coventry flipped the scoreline on its head through strikes from Josh Eccles and the in-form Ellis Simms.

The Sky Blues netted their 50th goal of the campaign already on the 76th minute too, as Simms doubled his tally and added to Charlton's miserable run of form as the score ended 3-1.

The result meant they would have extended their lead at the top of the table too, given that Middlesbrough were a goal down at home to Derby County for much of the game at Riverside, but a late comeback with goals courtesy of Matt Targett and Morgan Whittaker means that Boro remain ten points behind.

As for Charlton, the defeat is their fourth in a row; their play-off aspirations have depleted entirely. They fall to seventeenth in the standings, six points off both the play-off places and the relegation zone, but if their form does not pick up soon, they certainly will not be heading back up.