OJO FIRES CARDIFF WINNER
PRESTON NORTH END 0 CARDIFF CITY Ojo (52) 1
SHEYI Ojo’s thunderous strike was enough to hand Cardiff City a deserved victory over Preston North End at Deepdale. The Liverpool loanee was on hand just after half-time to lash home following a wonderful counter-attacking move, handing the Bluebirds yet another success on the road.
No Championship side has picked up as many away points as Cardiff since Neil Harris took over – and the hosts rarely looked too capable of threatening a well-organised City side.
As well as earning themselves a vital three points, Harry Wilson was brought on for his City debut, although it came at the expense of another injury to Greg Cunningham.
Injuries to the Irishman, and Jordi Osei-Tutu, will come as a concern, but on the whole this will go down as a good day at the office for the Bluebirds.
The last few days have largely been hugely positive, with exciting Liverpool loanee Wilson among a trio of signings secured on deadline day.
Wilson was named on the bench for the trip to Deepdale, along with fellow arrivals Filip Benkovic and Dillon Phillips. Indeed, after seeing some signs of promise in the 0-0 draw with Blackburn, boss Neil Harris opted against any wholesale changes, with an injury to Joe Bennett and a suspension to Lee Tomlin sparking the only alterations.
Nevertheless, the first 45 minutes at Deepdale provided a pretty convincing explanation of precisely why someone of Wilson’s quality has been so sorely needed.
Junior Hoilett should have done better after being teed up by Sean Morrison’s knockdown inside the area, but could only loop his effort well over the bar inside the opening 10 minutes.
Cardiff dominated possession, but clear-cut chances were frustratingly hard to come by.
At the other end, Alex Smithies was called upon midway through the opening half, claiming smartly to deny Sean Maguire’s angled effort after a neat one-two with former Swansea City forward Scott Sinclair.
The more critical Bluebirds fans will have perhaps been calling for a reshuffle.
Joe Ralls struggled to really fill the Tomlin-shaped hole behind Kieffer Moore, while Ojo and Hoilett just couldn’t quite find the right final ball for much of the opening 45 minutes.
Defensively, in contrast, it was a superb start, with the excellence and leadership of skipper Morrison typically at the heart of it all.
Nevertheless, with little sign of a breakthrough, changes were always likely, and they arrived in arguably the cruellest of circumstances.
Cunningham, drafted in to cover for the injured Bennett, will still feel like he has a point to prove at Cardiff given his recent injury woes.
But his first league visit back to Deepdale since his departure in 2018 was cut short after half an hour, after he pulled up with a suspected hamstring injury.
Enter Wilson.
The sight of the 23-year-old in a Cardiff shirt will probably spark a fair amount of swooning in the Welsh capital, but it was Wales team-mate Kieffer Moore who came closest to breaking the deadlock.
However, the 28-year-old simply couldn’t keep his header down following a superb teasing cross from Osei-Tutu.
Despite much of the fanfare around Wilson in recent days, Moore remains an integral part of this City side, and it was his contribution that sparked Cardiff into life just after the interval. Superbly out-muscling his man on the halfway line, Moore battered his way through the midfield, before slipping in Ojo inside the area.
The Liverpool loanee looked up, ignored the screams from Wilson in the middle, before rifling home with a sensational finish.
It was as good a counter-attacking goal as you’re likely to see, but Cardiff’s ruthless defensive duo of Morrison and Curtis Nelson deserved credit too, offering little chance to a Preston frontline yet to find the net at home this season.
Cardiff were dealt another injury blow when Osei-Tutu limped off, while Jayden Stockley came close to levelling late on but could only direct his header into the arms of Smithies.
But an equaliser would have been harsh on Cardiff, who were worth their win and now leapfrog their opponents in the Championship table.