Coventry City manager Frank Lampard described his side's last-gasp 2-1 victory over Stoke as one of the best home performances of the season.
Haji Wright headed the league leaders ahead before Ben Gibson equalised on the stroke of half-time with what proved to be Stoke's only shot on target.
Jack Rudoni capitalised on a late error from the onrushing Tommy Simkin to put Coventry eight points clear of second-placed Middlesbrough, who travel to Birmingham on Monday.
"We were fantastic today," Lampard said.
"One of our best home performances from the first minute. We should have been two or three goals ahead at half-time for our play, but football sometimes kicks you where you don't want it to.
"They get a free-kick in their own half, launch it in the box, get their first corner and score and that's obviously disheartening.
"But the performance in the first half was brilliant. There was no answer to what we were doing for them.
"You just start to worry when the game goes on and we play that well and it's 1-1, but yeah, the character of the team to get it over the line in the end and get what we fully deserved was brilliant."
Breathing room at the top for Coventry
Coventry were playing their first home game since the crucial 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough, in which Wright scored a hat-trick, and the American took just 12 minutes to get on the scoresheet.
Jay Dasilva whipped in a sublime cross which was nodded home by the Sky Blues top scorer, who claimed his 15th of the season.
Stoke were made to endure an onslaught for the rest of the first half.
Wright's earlier goal had made it five in four outings, and Coventry's talisman saw his next effort rebuffed by the busy Simkin before crashing the follow-up effort off the outside of the post.
Stoke had barely threatened at the other end, yet the sucker punch came on the stroke of half-time.
Sorba Thomas whipped in a corner from the left which was glanced in at the near post by Gibson, who netted for the first time since December 2024.
Rudoni had found the net in both of Coventry's back-to-back victories over West Brom and Sheffield United, and nearly restored the Sky Blues' lead after the break.
Wright wriggled his way into the box and poked through to Rudoni, whose low effort was well saved by Simkin in the Stoke goal.
Victor Torp's ball over the top then set Wright one-on-one with Simkin, but the Stoke academy graduate was out quickly to smother at the American's feet.
Goalscorer Wright was replaced by Ellis Simms, who was picked out by a smart ball into the box from Dasilva, but blasted his effort over the bar.
Just as it looked like Coventry were going to be left to settle for a point, Brandon Thomas-Asante's ball forward was chased by Simms.
The onrushing Simkin could only block the ball into the path of Rudoni, whose first-time finish evaded the best efforts of Gibson to secure Coventry a vital three points.
Familiar Stoke struggles
Stoke manager Mark Robins admitted his side deserved nothing from the game as he suffered defeat against his former club for the third time in three league matches since departing the CBS Arena.
Robins said: "We didn't deserve anything for the way we were in the first half. We were poor. Having said that, we get back in the game through a bit of luck.
"From our point of view, we didn't get close enough to them so we had to alter things. That got us a bit more of a foothold in the game.
"Awful game, but it was a game where you've got to lift balls in behind them and run, get crosses in where you can, it just doesn't resemble anything that we do.