Cardiff City fought long and hard but ultimately fell short against Enzo Maresca's Leicester City.
Leicester dominated the ball throughout the first half and it paid off as Wanya Marcal-Madivadu opened the scoring at 36 minutes. The Bluebirds grew after the goal and a thunderbolt from Aaron Ramsey meant the two sides went in level at half-time.
Cardiff opened the second half well but failed to put away some great chances from the likes of Yakou Meite. The Bluebirds ultimately paid the price as Cesare Casadei scored late on to snatch all three points for the home side.
Player Ratings:
Jak Alnwick (7) - Another impressive outing from The Bluebirds keeper. Alnwick arguably stopped Cardiff from getting a hammering with three or four top draw saves. If he keeps up this form I personally don't see where Allsop or Runarsson will get minutes.
Mahlon Romeo (5) - Kept Mavididi relatively quiet but an act of petulance saw Romeo sent off a few minutes before the end. Some nice dribbles to get The Bluebirds up the field and some nice passes. Romeo will now miss next weekend's game against Sheffield Wednesday.
Mark McGuinness (6) - Didn't really notice him in the game but altogether was relatively solid. A good block to deny Iheanacho in the first half; probably the highlight of Macca's game. Arguably should do better for the goal.
Dimitrios Goutas (5.5) - A couple of shaky moments early on however, I felt he grew into the game. One or two decent long balls. Substituted with a supposed hamstring issue, so let's hope that's nothing too serious.
Jamilu Collins (7) - JC back to his best. A brilliant block in the first half denied Mavididi. Collins got up and down the pitch well, and also linked up well with Callum O'Dowda down the left-hand side.
Ryan Wintle (5.5) - Didn't notice him much. In the first half he did lose the ball quite a few times with loose balls but ultimately wasn't good but wasn't bad either.
Joe Ralls (7) - Nice assist for the goal and was unlucky to not get one himself. Rallsy carried on his decent start under Bulut influencing the team both defensively and going forward.
Aaron Ramsey (8) MOTM - Oozes quality. Not only was his goal truly unbelievable but some nice flicks and tricks just showed the narrative that he's 'lost it' is nonsense. If he can keep this up for the entire season there's no doubt we have the best player in the league in our ranks.
Josh Bowler (6) - Looked dangerous in the first half and seemed to have the beating of Callum Doyle however, went quieter in the second half, the ball spent the majority of the second half on the other side of the field so Bowler wasn't involved much.
Callum O'Dowda (6) - A mixed game for O'Dowda. It seemed for every good thing he did he lost the ball or did something daft. Created some nice chances with some decent crosses. Nice to see him back in his natural position.
Ike Ugbo (5.5) - Hard to rate Ugbo. He can't have touched the ball more than 15-20 times. Some nice little flicks but ultimately a change was needed at half-time.
Subs:
Yakou Meite (6) - An eventful afternoon for LaBrute. Ultimately should've scored but if you look aside from that he really did make an impact. Linked up well with the players around him and held the ball up well. Personally am encouraged by what I saw.
Manolis Siopis (6.5) - El Pitbull 2.0. Siopis was darting around the pitch chasing the ball down at every opportunity. On the ball, he was composed and got up the field well. Can already tell he'll be vital for us.
Karlan Grant (6) - Much improved by Grant who looked up for it. Showed some good pace and had a chance or two. We saw glimpses of the Grant that excites fans, let's hope he keeps it up.
Jack Simpson (4) - Ultimately probably at blame for the goal. Things just didn't fall his way as he struggled against Jamie Vardy. I usually think some of the Simpson hate is over the top but he really wasn't the best yesterday, another centre-half is desperately needed.
Callum Robinson (5) - Struggled really to get involved. Part to blame for the goal after a weak challenge on Dewsbury-Hall. Think Robbo needs to start rather than coming on in the last 10 minutes of games.
Summary
A performance nobody can be ashamed of. The Bluebirds fought until the end and that's all we can ask. This team isn't far off clicking and Erol Bulut is the man to take us forward. However, we need to cut out these mistakes as it's costing us games. Arguably we should be looking at six or seven points on the board by now but we have one, but that's football.
Next time out, The Bluebirds welcome rock-bottom Sheffield Wednesday to the CCS.
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