Cardiff City secured their first league victory of the season with a 1-0 win against Millwall.
Millwall had a chance after a quarter of an hour, as a fierce effort from Romain Esse was palmed away by Alnwick.
City were next to try their luck, an excellent ball from Alex Robertson found Ollie Tanner, but the winger fired high and wide.
The Bluebirds took the lead just before half-time, an inch-perfect ball from Joe Ralls found Perry Ng who made no mistake to put City in front.
The Lions were almost level before the break, however were denied by a goal line clearance from Callum Robinson.
City almost doubled their lead just after half-time, as a melee in the box saw Rubin Colwill and Alex Robertson test their luck, but neither were successful.
Yakou Meite almost added a second late on, the striker couldn’t connect with Ollie Tanner’s cross inside the box.
Jak Alnwick came to the rescue in stoppage time. Denying Duncan Watmore from point blank range to secure City’s first three points of the season.
Player Ratings:
JaK Alnwick (8) - Alnwick thoroughly deserves that clean sheet, as he’s been so impressive in the past few games. Another great performance this evening, with some real key saves.
Perry Ng (8) - The man of the moment. A goal that will silence a few. A brilliant header that Ng really needed. Was solid on top of that, with some key defensive pieces.
Dimitrios Goutas (8.5) MOTM - Magnificent. Goutas really needed that and you could see him growing in confidence. Some real key moments defensively. Looked like the Goutas we all grew to love last season.
Calum Chambers (6.5) - Probably one of the better showings in a City shirt for Chambers. A handful of nice defensive pieces. A very lucky man late on.
Joel Bagan (7.5) - Really solid and encouraging showing from Bagan. An important evening and opportunity for Bagan, and he grabbed it with both arms. Looked agile and strong defensively. Linked up well with El Ghazi.
Alex Robertson (8) - Such a joy to watch. Some of the passes Robertson played tonight we’ve been crying out for years. Looked so cool in possession.
Joe Ralls (8) - Mr. Cardiff City. An excellent cross for the goal. You could tell from watching Rallsy tonight how much it meant, fought for every single ball. A strong offensive performance from City’s skipper.
Ollie Tanner (7.5) - That was the Ollie Tanner we all know and love. Direct and powerful and just a pain in the backside for the opposition. Linked up well with Colwill. Also solid defensively.
Rubin Colwill (8) - Running out of words to describe the talent that we have. Another showing were Colwill has ran the show. Only grudge, is he isn’t getting the goal involvements his performances are deserving. But tonight, so silky and such a handful.
Anwar El Ghazi (6.5) - On a whole El Ghazi was fairly quiet. Some nice drives forward, but failed really to gain any rhythm. Worked well with Bagan.
Callum Robinson (6.5) - A quiet evening for Robbo really. A couple of half chances but not a great deal to shout about, other than the magnificent goal-line clearance.
Subs:
Chris Willock (6) - Was fairly quiet when he came on. Just a lot of ball chasing. Some nice defensive pieces. Worked well with Colwill.
Yakou Meite (5) - Really think Meite has to score by throwing himself at the ball. Pretty frustrating outside of that.
Andy Rinomhota (6.5) - Added a bit of legs to the right hand side, and ultimately was solid in the closing stages of the game.
David Turnbull (N/A)
Summary:
An important win, and credit must go to Omer Riza who got things right to a tee. Some excellent individual performances as well.
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