Cardiff City were forced to settle for a point against John Eustace's Blackburn.
Both sides had early chances as Dimitrios Goutas had a header in the box held. Blackburn defender Dom Hyam fired wide from distance not long after.
The best chance of the first half fell to Karlan Grant, the winger found himself in behind following a good pass from Manolis Siopis, however Grant couldn't find a way past Pears in the Blackburn goal.
Bowler and Grant were both denied early in the second half. As well as Kion Etete, after some great work from Rubin Colwill who cut the ball back to the forward who could only find the gloves of Pears.
Grant came close again as he tried his luck with a free-kick, the ball went just over. Cardiff 'keeper Ethan Horvath was called into action just after the hour mark, as Dolan found himself free six yards frm goal, however was denied by a great save from the American.
That was all she wrote, both sides forced to settle for a point.
Player Ratings:
Ethan Horvath (7) - Commanded his area really well, played the sweeping role to perfection. Made a brilliant save to deny Dolan. And even a cheeky back heel to top off a good performance.
Mahlon Romeo (7) - Was strong in his battles and had a good game. Typical Mahlon Romeo performance really, some good defensive actions, didn't offer much going forward.
Dimitrios Goutas (7) - Faired well against Sam Gallagher, and altogether had a solid evening. Could've done better from one or two set piece chances.
Nat Phillips (8) - Just oozes calmness and quality. On the ball, really composed. Kept Szmodics quiet, and worked really well with Goutas. Really encouraging stuff.
Jamilu Collins (5) - One or two nice pieces defensively. On the ball is where JC struggled, was just too slow in some actions and it stopped Cardiff from creating chances at times. Caused Grant to be visibly frustrated quite a few times.
Ryan Wintle (5) - Had an encouraging first twenty minutes, where he put himself about and played well. That fizzled out. Set piece delivery was poor and was anonymous defensively, just allowed Dolan to be free six yards out.
Manolis Siopis (7.5) - Did what Sio does best, frustrated Blackburn. Looked really sharp and was first to pretty much every loose ball in midfield.
Rubin Colwill (8) - Running out of words to describe Colwill. Cardiff's main creative outlet yet again and should've had an assist. Defensively really good as well. Oozes quality on the ball.
Josh Bowler (5) - Just never got into things really. One or two nice runs that unfortuantely didn't lead to things. When he pressed, it caused Blackburn problems, but just failed to get into the rhythm of things.
Karlan Grant (8) MOTM - Blackburn just couldn't deal with the pace and power of Grant. Caused problems everytime he came forward, against a good right-back as well. Deserved a goal, and probably had enough chances to get one, just didn't fall for him.
Kion Etete (6) - We saw the two sides to Etete in his time on the pitch. He did some really good things, won the ball high up the pitch, and did really well to put Bowler through. However, at times was brushed to the floor. Don't think he was as bad as some have made out.
Subs:
Ollie Tanner (6) - Tried to make things happen, and gave maximum effort as you'd expect. However, didn't make anything to shout about.
Famara Diedhiou (N/A) - Didn't see much action when he came on.
David Turnbull (N/A) - Didn't see much action when he came on.
Summary:
I felt there was clear improvement from the weekend, and there was plenty to be encouraged by, but having seen the reaction, I feel I'm on my own in thinking that. Cardiff City isn't a nice place at the moment.
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