It goes from bad to worse as Baggies bash Bluebirds
CARDIFF City’s utterly miserable run of form continued last night as West Brom put them to the sword in a 4-0 drubbing.
It means the Bluebirds have now lost their last four league games on the bounce - five in their last six - and there was little in this performance to suggest an upsurge in form any time soon.
Karlan Grant opened the scoring early in the first half before Curtis Nelson’s calamitous own goal after the break squashed any chance of a City comeback.
Alex Mowatt was next, smashing in their third with 15 minutes to go, before substitute Matt Phillips converted from close range to cap off a dismal night for the hosts.
That’s nine goals conceded in four days now and pressure is really mounting.
Cardiff setup in a manner which suggested they were trying to stop West Brom scoring, rather than cause trouble at the other end. That’s what a 5-1 hammering up at Blackburn Rovers will do to you.
Mick McCarthy opted for five centre backs across the back line – that’s right, five – with Mark McGuinness tasked with being asked to play the furthest out of position at right wingback.
For what it’s worth, he was probably the pick of the players throughout the course of the match.
But while McCarthy sought to shore up the defence, the changes in fact had the opposite effect as the Baggies bullied their way into the lead with just a smidge over four minutes on the clock.
West Brom knocked the ball out to their left, where Adam Reach headed into Grant’s path. The striker shifted it on to his right and Sean Morrison just showed too much of the goal before Grant pulled the trigger, driving a low shot flying past the helpless Dillon Phillips in the Cardiff goal.
Cardiff’s game plan was somewhat tricky to understand. They continued to smash balls upfield in hope of the ball landing in their favour, but the relatively diminutive trio of Ryan Giles, James Collins and Leandro
Bacuna were no match for the Baggies’ giants at the back.
With Kieffer Moore on the bench, it looked a curious option.
As such, Cardiff’s chances were thin on the ground, but they did get one golden one in the first half. A Will Vaulks cross found Bacuna at the back post and the Curacao international powered a header back across goal, only to see it cleared cleverly off the line.
But Cardiff finished the half in slightly more encouraging fashion than they had played the first 40 minutes or so, especially when James Collins attempted a scissor kick following a long throw from Marlon Pack, only for his effort to rebound off Ryan Giles and over the bar.
It meant Cardiff trudged down the tunnel at half time, to a smattering of boos, in the knowledge that they had not scored a first-half league goal since Harry Wilson’s free-kick against Birmingham City on May 1.
It wasn’t much better from City after the break and the first chance came when Nelson turned the ball into his own net.
It was a comical state of affairs,
really, if you weren’t a Cardiff City fan, that is. Phillips palmed a dangerous cross into an even more treacherous area of the box before Ciaron Brown tried to hook the ball away to safety. Brown’s clearance ricocheted back off Callum Robinson and towards goal. Curtis Nelson tried to intercept, but could not sort his feet out and smashed his clearance into the post and into his own net. The mood inside Cardiff City Stadium turned even more sour than it was before and McCarthy attempted to change things up by introducing Kieffer Moore and Mark Harris, but it made little difference.
By the time Rubin Colwill was introduced, Cardiff were picking the ball out of their net for a third time.
This time a cross was half cleared and fell to Mowatt on the edge of the box before he slammed it into the top corner with a half-volley piledriver. That was enough for many and fans began to drift out of the stadium with 15 minutes left to play.
It was probably a good job they did, too, given it only got worse.
Substitute Phillips was the gleeful recipient of the ball for Albion’s fourth, latching on to Grady Diangana’s cross before slotting home. Where Cardiff go from here is anyone’s guess, but they have to figure it out soon with Reading just a few short days away.
Cardiff City XI: Phillips; Nelson, McGuinness (Moore 67), Morrison, Flint, Brown; Pack, Vaulks (Colwill 75); Bacuna, Collins (Harris 67), Giles. Subs: Smithies, Bagan, Ng, Ralls.
West Brom XI: Johnstone; Furlong, Ajayi, Bartley, Townsend, Reach; Livermore (Molumby 81), Mowatt, Robinson (Phillips 65), Hugill, Grant (Diangana 65). Subs : Button, Kipre, Gardner-Hickman, Bryan. Attendance: 17,363