I can’t claim the credit for this, it was a presenter of a City podcast I watch who began saying very early in the season that this Cardiff City side must be absolute murder to play against when they’re in the lead because they’re so hard to get the ball off if they don’t have to risk losing it by chasing a winning goal or an equaliser.
I couldn’t help but think of those comments as I watched the second half of City’s 2-0 win at Wigan today. Wigan had won three and drawn one of their four home league matches and were fancied to be top six challengers by some after taking steps in the summer to put right a lack of goals in their squad.
Wigan had only won one in six and had been beaten by Wycombe in the League Cup in midweek, but I reckon they’re a top half team.
However, at times today there looked to be a yawning chasm between the teams. The opening thirty five minutes saw Wigan chasing shadows and they all seemed to have in retaliation was midfielder Matt Smith leaving a “calling card” with cynical and at times nasty late challenges on all of our starting midfielders (the two Colwill’s and Ryan Wintle). Smith was eventually booked for his foul on Joel Colwill, but then should have been given a second yellow for another clear foul on midfield substitute David Turnbull.
Wigan, to their credit, forced their way into the game in the last ten minutes of the first half and should really have equalised during their strongest period of the game, but City got to half time with their 1-0 lead intact and, having shown how they could pass in a constructive manner as they chased more goals, the second half became a different matter completely as they chose to “close the game down” by denying Wigan possession.
City won the possession battle 73/27 with a passing accuracy figure of 88 per cent and it felt like more than that through the second half as they squeezed the hope out of Wigan and their fans.
As I watched us playing in a manner that Cardiff City teams have not done for years, if ever, I found myself wondering if Wigan fans watching would have rated us the best team they’ve played so far, but no sooner had I allowed the question to form in my mind than I was reminded of the knot I had in my stomach telling me that while it was all looking so comfortable out on the pitch, any side that is behind always has hope when it’s only be a single goal.
City can play some very sharp football at times in their defensive and midfield thirds, but they’ve had a problem carrying that slickness into the attacking third. In our dominant first half spell today there were so many times when just a little bit more precision and composure could have seen us left with great chances to put the game to bed very ealry in proceedings.
The good thing is that the players seem fully aware that improvements are required if Perry Ng’s post game interview on the club website is anything to go by. Besides talking absolutely glowingly about BBM, he warned of the dangers of complacency and repeated that we will need to become more ruthless – on the other hand, he was adamant that this was the best City team he’d played for.
This was definitely Ng’s best game so far this season as City, with Gabe Osho in for Will Fish in the only change from Tuesday, gave what was their most complete away league performance of the season.
Wintle had already forced home goalkeeper Sam Tickle into a diving save when Callim Robinson switched play out to the right on seventeen minutes and, eventually, Ng worked a one two with Rubin Colwill before getting away a shot which took a nick off Smith I think it was to beat Tickle on his near post for his first goal in almost exactly a year.
The Wigan defence creaked and groaned like a rusty gate at times as we came close to getting a second, but, from somewhere, they put together a move which carved City open, Christian Sayde really should have scored as he found himself free in front of goal some ten yards out, but Nathan Trott was out quickly to close him down and make the save.
Wigan’s plan was clearly to get crosses into the box and veteran Paul Mullin’s header flew just over from one of them while Ng and Trott just about managed to keep out an in swinging near post corner.
City managed to left the siege though in time added on at the end of the first half when Rubin Colwill’s twenty yarder flew about a yard over.
City substituted Chris Willock for Isaak Davies and Yousef Salech for Callum Robinson quite early in the second half, but, although Willock’s ability on the ball helped them keep possession, neither of them got much opportunity to show what they could do in attack as it became more about retaining possession in midfield and at the back with the front players’function being to contribute to what was a largely successful forward press.
Wigan forced three corners in quick succession and got first contact on two of them. There was also another corner which, rather luckily for us, bounced off Calum Chambers’ chest into Trott’s hands.
The game continued in this strange limbo where City were looking so comfortable most of the time while you were asking yourself how could they be when they were only 1-0 up. However, with the six minutes of additional time at the end of the match almost up, City showed some of their first half incisiveness as a slick move down their left freed Rubin Colwill and his low cross forced Morgan Fox into a professional foul on Salech which brought the inevitable consequence of our first penalty of the season and a red card for the Welshman.
Salech has shown himself to be a good penalty during his time at Cardiff (a miss against Stoke in shoot out apart) and he put his spot kick into the side netting as Tickle dived the other way.
This was one of those days where there were no weak performers in the City team and to prove that, I’d say that both centrebacks, Joel Bagan, Wintle and Cian Ashford all had very good games behind man of the match Ng.
With all three teams above them winning, City stay fourth in the table, but may regain top spot on Tuesday if they can beat bottom of the table Burton in a game postponed following the last international break.
At age group level, there was a fifth straight win for our under 18s after they’d been reduced to ten men in the first half at QPR this lunchtime, but a couple of goals by Jack Sykes ensured a 2-0 win.
