WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE BLUEBIRDS’ RIVERSIDE SUCCESS...
IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT TO PLAY AS CARDIFF DO, ESPECIALLY AWAY FROM HOME. BUT this was the latest example that shows it’s worth it after Joe Ralls’ penalty made it six goals in the final 15 minutes of games.
Last season, a big blot on the Bluebirds’ copybook was the fact they would ship late goals to see hard work go unrewarded.
This year, they have earned an impressive 10 points from their tally of 27 from such late goals. There have been winners at Burton, Wolves, Sunderland and now Middlesbrough with time ticking away – all adding up to four big results on the road. There have also been late levellers against Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday.
Having that in the back of minds will be plenty motivation for Neil Warnock’s men to keep going until the bitter end. He has said they are a never-say-die kind of side and this was the latest slice of evidence for that. GARRY MONK DIDN’T GRUMBLE ABOUT THE PENALTY DECISION – EVEN IF HE DID DESCRIBE CARDIFF’S WIN AS A HARSH RESULT FOR HIS SIDE. MONK has felt the frustration of the home fans, but he would have had frustration too given that none of his own players had that late spark to turn a game like Nathaniel Mendez-Laing did.
The former Swansea boss admitted that, even though there was a suggestion the wideman was offside before he was brought down by Adama Traore, that he would have hoped his side was the one who could have forced such a late situation. It was testament to Nathaniel Mendez-Laing who, although is still not quite at his August form, keeps going to try and spark something. He made the odd wrong decision and didn’t make counters count enough, but he kept going and eventually got the team its breakthrough. If you don’t ask the questions, you won’t get the answer you’re looking for. IT WAS CANNY MANAGEMENT TO BRING ON CALLUM PATERSON IN THE FINAL MOMENTS. THE Scot has not seen any senior action for the Bluebirds since signing with a pre-existing injury in the summer. It was a clever piece of man-management to give him that taste, even in the final seconds after more than nine months without getting back on a pitch.
It wasn’t a pity decision, but a pat on the back for Paterson for the work he’s put in – but also a nod that he can have a role. With the back three functioning well, the Scotland international’s ability to operate as a pacey wing-back does give hope of even more away day successes such as this one. NEIL ETHERIDGE HAD TO TAKE HIS SHARE OF THE BLAME AT ST ANDREW’S FOR HIS WEAK CLEARANCE THAT INVITED CHE ADAMS TO OPEN THE SCORING. AT the Riverside he showed he wasn’t willing to make the same mistake as he showed a good alertness and gave Cardiff an assured presence behind the back three. He didn’t have any big saves to make as such, but with Middlesbrough trying to split the defence and chase balls through, there were several occasions where the Philippines international had to make quick decisions to come and deal with potential danger. He didn’t mess around, with one headed clearance a delight. There was some late miscommunication with Bruno Manga and a bit of a subsequent brain freeze, but he earned this fifth clean sheet of the season as much as the defenders NEIL WARNOCK HOPES HE WON’T BE WITHOUT KENNETH ZOHORE AND ARON GUNNARSSON FOR LONG. AFTER all, he is already without Jazz Richards and Kadeem Harris to call on as, in what must be a simple quick of unfortunate fate, all are out with ankle injuries. While Warnock has used the squad well, you did fear the loss of Gunnarsson and Zohore would hurt Cardiff. Any further knocks and niggles would start biting a bit harder, especially when the winter months and the increased Saturday-TuesdaySaturday slogs start to affect tired legs. It does remind that a player or two wouldn’t be amiss in January if this chance of promotion is to linger joyfully on.