Cardiff City lost their last home game of the season 4-1 to a clinical Middlesbrough side.
David Turnbull tried his luck from range early on but his effort was just flicked over by Seny Dieng.
Middlesbrough should have been in front not long later but Latte Lath was denied from point blank range by Ethan Horvath.
Boro did take the lead just before half-time as Clarke tapped in at the back post.
The Bluebirds should have been level not long after the break as Goutas struck the post, Ashford then missed the rebound when it looked easier to score.
Turnbull was next to try his luck, some good work from him and Bowler down the right found Turnbull unmarked in the box, however the Scotsman couldn’t find the target.
Boro pounced and scored three in quick succession through Azaz, Latte Lath and Gilbert.
Cardiff got one back just before full-time. Robinson found an unmarked Bowler who tapped into an empty net. The late consolation didn’t come to anything as The Bluebirds ended their 23/24 home campaign with defeat.
Player Ratings:
Ethan Horvath (6) - Could’ve been a couple more without Horvath who made made some fine stops. Distribution wasn’t too bad.
Mahlon Romeo (5) - Struggled against an impressive Finn Azaz. Some nice defensive bits.
Nat Phillips (4) - Didn’t deal with Latte Lath well. Was caught out a few times. Only looked in field when he had the ball, rather than opening the game. Pretty poor.
Dimitrios Goutas (5) - Struggled against Latte Lath as well. Only slightly higher than Phillips as he made a couple of key interceptions and blocks.
Ollie Tanner (5) - Ayling has Tanner pinned back which restricted him massively. Wasn’t too bad defensively but didn’t get many chances to get forward.
Manolis Siopis (5) - Pretty sloppy on the ball. Was energetic out of possession but Boro seemed just to play around him.
Joe Ralls (5) - Similar to Sio. Poor on the ball, and seemed reluctant to go forward, near enough anonymous out of possession.
David Turnbull (7) MOTM - One of Cardiff’s only real creative outlets. Seemed to be everywhere and was the creator of everything good going forward. Could have scored one or two.
Josh Bowler (6.5) - Wasn’t too good, but wasn’t too bad. Linked well with Turnbull down the right. Right place, right time for his goal.
Cian Ashford (6) - Really should have scored. A few sloppy bits on the ball, but grew into the game and looked sharp late on. Did a good job out of possession.
Famara Diedhiou (6) - Won the majority of his battles, but had no support. Good work wasted, really.
Subs:
Joel Colwill (6.5) - Tidy performance. Retained the ball really well and a couple of nice defensive pieces as well.
Raheem Conte (6.5) - Got forward well with a great burst of pace. Comfortable on the ball.
Ryan Wintle (6) - Not sure why Wintle was brought on when we were trying to score. Nevertheless, played the safe ball and didn’t add a great deal.
Callum Robinson (6.5) - Quite pleased with Robbo. Came on with intent and got an assist to show for it.
Luey Giles (6.5) - Good defensive showing from the 17 year-old.
Summary:
A frustrating one as on another day Cardiff score two or three more and it’s a different game. Onto the next.
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