Battling Bluebirds miss out on wembley final spot
CARDIFF City agonisingly missed out on the Championship play-off final despite earning a valiant 2-1 victory at Craven Cottage.
They knew the task ahead of them was sizeable, indeed no team had ever overturned a two-goal deficit in the second leg of a Championship semifinal clash, but, boy, they gave it a good go.
An early goal from Curtis Nelson offered hope, only for Neeskens Kebano to quickly extinguish the flame. Lee Tomlin then provided Cardiff fans everywhere with huge hope, scoring just after the restart.
But they just couldn’t find that final goal, despite intense pressure late on. The Wembley dream was just a goal out of reach.
The Bluebirds started in the most perfect fashion, too.
A pinpoint Joe Ralls corner invited Nelson to run up and power home emphatically to get City back in this tie.
Just 55 seconds later, though, the visitors came crashing back down to earth.
The bubble was immediately burst when the Cottagers broke down CarAnd, diff’s right and Bobby Decordova-Reid fizzed in a terrific cross, which saw Kebano nip in front of Leandro Bacuna and turn home cutely to level it on the night.
Back to square one, then.
The game then settled into a pattern: Fulham had a sustained threat and looked dangerous when building up with their slick passing, but Cardiff were always in with a shout at the setpiece.
But just after the half-hour it looked as though Decordova-Reid was certain to double the hosts’ tally when he burst through the middle, clear through on goal. Then, out of nowhere, skipper Sean Morrison put in a goal-saving tackle to deny him.
Danny Ward came the closest then for the hosts, when he lashed a rightfooted effort over from just outside the box, but the Bluebirds were in desperate need of creativity after the break.
So, of course, they called on Tomlin.
of course, he made an instant impact.
Seconds after the restart, another Vaulks long throw-in found its way to fellow sub Nathaniel Mendez-Laing at the back post and the winger powered a header at goal.
It was too hot for Marek Rodak to handle and he parried it away, but Michael Hector fluffed his lines and cleared it straight to Tomlin, who volleyed home emphatically from close range. Game on.
Cardiff were in the ascendancy. Just minutes later, Mendez-Laing put in a pinpoint cross to Josh Murphy, who was unmarked at the back post, but his header was tame.
Then it was Ward’s turn. Bacuna fizzed in a tremendous cross across goal, but it was agonisingly out of reach for the outstretched leg of the striker.
On the hour, there looked like only one team was going to score.
But Fulham offered a couple of tasty reminders of what they had up their sleeve, chiefly from substitute Aboubakar Kamara. The winger produced two big chances in quick succession after the hour – the first saved excellently by Smithies at the near post, the second tipped onto the post.
So, Cardiff tried to up their danger level by introducing Robert Glatzel and he almost made an immediate impact.
A whipped cross from Ralls in towards the striker preceded an almighty goalmouth scramble, which was eventually cleared to Vaulks. The midfielder thumped a volley at goal and only the fingertips of Rodak kept it out.
The Bluebirds lost Tomlin with what looked like a hamstring injury, but still threatened.
As the game entered the last 10 minutes, Neil Harris threw everything at Fulham, including Callum Paterson. With just seconds to go, Smithies found Paterson on the right and the Scot headed it into the path of Glatzel.
The big German sprinted into the box and volleyed, but it was narrowly over the bar.
It just wasn’t enough. They gave everything they had and left it all out on the field.
There are thousands of Cardiff fans, up and down the country, who will be disconsolate. But not one of them will doubt the effort.
The final at Wembley was one step too far, but those boys in blue gave a performance every Bluebird can be proud of.
Cardiff City (4-2-3-1): Smithies; Bacuna, Morrison, Nelson, Bennett; Vaulks, Pack (Tomlin 46, Whyte 84); Murphy (Paterson 81), Ralls, Hoilett (Mendez-Laing 46); Ward (Glatzel 72). Subs: Etheridge, Bamba, Sanderson, Smith, Whyte.
Fulham (4-3-3): Rodak; Christie, Hector, Ream, Bryan; Onomah, Reed, Cairney; Knockaert (Odoi 76), Kebano (Kamara 46), DecordovaReid. Subs: Betinelli, Mawson, Sessegnon, Odoi, Le Marchand, McDonald, Johansen, Cavaleiro. Referee: Paul Tierney