Cardiff City payed the price for a lacklustre performance as they were beat 1-0 by Wayne Rooney's Birmingham City.
The visitors dominated the first quarter of an hour as Sirki Dembele forced an early save out of Bluebirds shot stopper Alex Runarsson. However, there was concern for supporters as Perry Ng was replaced after telling staff that he couldn't see properly, on came Mahlon Romeo in his place after fourteen minutes.
The Bluebirds best chance of the evening came after twenty minutes as a ball swung in by Ryan Wintle found Dimitrios Goutas, however a good save from John Ruddy denied the Greek international.
Half chances for both sides came as Lee Buchanan fired over from inside the box, and Colwill played a ball through to set Karlan Grant one-on-one with John Ruddy, however Aiwu was there to stop Grant in his tracks.
After a foul on Etete that was not given, Blues found themselves down the other end of the pitch as Dembele found Bacuna unmarked in the box, and he made no mistake and gave Birmingham the lead going into half-time.
In the 47th minute Etete battled hard to beat Ruddy to the ball on the edge of the box, he cut the ball back, however there wasn't a City player in sight to take the chance.
JC and Colwill has half chances but it just wasn't The Bluebirds evening. Aiwu should have made it two-nil however his shot landed in the hands of Alex Runarsson.
A late free-kick from Rubin Colwill was parried away by John Ruddy, and that was all she wrote. The Bluebirds made it three defeats in four.
Player Ratings:
Alex Runarsson (6) - Two or three good saves. Needs to do better for the goal as he's caught in no man's land. Distribution was fine, needs more urgency at times.
Perry Ng (N/A) - Wishing Perry a speedy recovery.
Dimitrios Goutas (7) MOTM - The one player out of the back line that really tried to get the team forward. Kept Stansfield quiet, altogether a solid evening for Dimi. Unlucky for the goal.
Mark McGuinness (6) - Too much of the same from Macca on the ball. Seemed a pattern of Runarsson to McGuinnes to Collins, back to McGuinness back to Runarsson, a lack of urgency was frustrating. Otherwise, defensively wasn't too bad.
Jamilu Collins (5.5) - Struggled against a pacey Siriki Dembele. Was ok going forward.
Manolis Siopis (6) - Tried the riskier ball at times but it just didn't come off for him. Some typical key interceptions, however a player who's clearly in need of a rest.
Ryan Wintle (6) - Same as the weekend for Wintle. Didn't necessarily do anything wrong, but the reliance on the short and easier ball is what frustrates supporters.
Rubin Colwill (7) - Only player who looked like he could hurt Birmingham. Right ideas but other players weren't on the same wave length, so not much he can do about that. Encouraging start but needs to start more consistently.
Yakou Meite (6.5) - Got in behind once or twice just final delivery wasn't the best. Quieter once moved back centrally.
Karlan Grant (5.5) - Just didn't click for Grant. A few sloppy plays that led Birmingham into good positions. Didn't have much chance to attack.
Kion Etete (6.5) - Worked hard and probably deserved something for it. Seemed to have Sanderson's number and was going a decent job on him, surprised to see him substituted.
Subs:
Mahlon Romeo (6.5) - Switches off for the goal. However, other than that thought it was relatively solid evening for Romeo.
Callum Robinson (6) - Failed really to get involved. One or two decent deliveries from set pieces.
Josh Bowler (6) - Similair to Robbo, failed to get involved and make an impact.
Ike Ugbo (N/A) - Touched the ball twice in twenty minutes, hard really to give him a rating.
Ollie Tanner (6) - Looked a threat, just something not clicking at the moment.
Summary:
A wake up call that's been needed for week. Look weak in attack and we're crawling towards January.
The Bluebirds are back on the road as they face Hull City this weekend.
Comments