CHAOS AT CARDIFF
Cardiff will head to the amex tomorrow with more chips on their shoulders than you would find in the average Brighton fish and chippie.
The luckless Bluebirds were again hit by a controversial decision when referee Mike dean gave them a penalty before changing his mind.
Neil Warnock’s battlers eventually went down 2-0 after a Chris Wood brace and will head to the south coast knowing that anything less than three points against arguably the only team they can catch will send them back to the Championship.
The only good news for the visitors at Turf Moor came after the final whistle when they learned that Brighton had been thrashed 5-0 at home by Bournemouth. That chink of light was not lost on midfielder Harry arter, who is on loan to Cardiff from the Cherries.
‘With the way the games are ticking down, Brighton are probably the only team we can catch now,’ the irishman admitted. ‘They’ve had a hefty defeat so i’m sure they will feel pressure and we can go there with nothing to lose.’
Victory at the amex would put Cardiff two points behind their hosts, who would still have a game in hand. But arter said: ‘We would have four games still to play then and the pressure would be on them.’
This has been some year for the Welsh side. Warnock is already facing an fa charge after branding officiating in the Premier League the ‘worst in the world’ and he will have seen nothing in Lancashire to change that opinion.
Cardiff have also had to cope with the tragic death of plane crash victim Emiliano Sala.
‘ it’s been a tough year for the club for obvious reasons,’ said arter. ‘ You can highlight the last couple of weeks because we feel decisions have gone against us but you’ve got to dust yourself down and try not to get worked up. We just have to look forward to Tuesday. We’ve faced adversity this season, on and off the pitch, and we feel like if we are going to stay up we will really have battled against everyone. That would make it sweet in the end if we were able to do it.’
Cardiff were unsuccessful here with a hat- trick of penalty appeals: two handballs and a challenge on aron Gunnarsson (below) from Charlie Taylor.
‘We could have had three penalties but that’s just the way it is at the minute,’ said arter.
‘i’m a little bit baffled by the rules. Everyone talks about Var and that is probably what the Premier League needs.’
resurgent Burnley, who endured a miserable start to the season, are as good as safe.
But Wood, now in double figures for the season, will not rest. ‘We’re almost there now but not quite,’ he said.
The Kiwi saw the funny side of strike partner ashley Barnes’s decision to kiss Cardiff’s Joe Bennett twice after they tangled. ‘We’ve seen a photo,’ he said. ‘i think he just felt the love.’
They are certainly feeling the love at Turf Moor.
BURNLEY (4-4-2): Heaton 6.5; Lowton 6, Tarkowski 7, Mee 7, Taylor 7; Hendrick 6.5, Westwood 5.5, Cork 6, McNeil 7; Barnes 6.5, WOOD 7.5. Subs not used: Hart, Gibson, Gudmundsson, Brady, Ward, Vydra, Long. Scorer: Wood 31, 90+2. Booked: Tarkowski, Barnes. Manager: Sean Dyche 7. CARDIFF (4-2-3-1): Etheridge 6.5; Peltier 6, Morrison 6, Manga 6, Bennett 6.5; Gunnarsson 6.5, Arter 7 (Reid 80min); Hoilett 5 (Mendez-Laing 73, 5), Camarasa 5.5, Murphy 6.5; Zohore 6 (Niasse 78). Subs not used: Murphy, Ralls, Bacuna, Cunningham. Booked: Bennett, Peltier, Arter, Camarasa. Manager: Neil Warnock 6. Referee: Mike Dean 5. Attendance: 21,480.