Buoyant Bluebirds take the Mick with four-some display
Lookman is hitting top gear as Parker men edge closer to safety mark
CARDIFF continue to ride the Mick McCarthy wave which now threatens to wash away Bournemouth on the South Coast on Wednesday.
Seven games ago the thought that Bournemouth versus Cardiff could be a play-off tussle seemed the stuff of fantasy.
But such has been the transformation of the Bluebirds under McCarthy that a decent win in midweek would see them leapfrog the Cherries.
They are unbeaten under their new boss with five successive and increasingly emphatic victories following two draws.
This result never looked in doubt from the moment
Kieffer
Moore hammered in a penalty with just over a minute gone.
Josh Murphy swept home a second goal within a minute of the restart before Preston imploded – missing two penalties inside two minutes, both superbly saved by Dillon Phillips.
That gave Cardiff the breathing space to regather their composure and they punished a feeble North End defence with further goals for Marlon Pack and Mark Harris.
Phillips has been the back-up keeper to Alex Smithies until recently but is now relishing the spotlight, as he showed with his extraordinary double penalty save.
First he denied Paul Gallagher just past the hour mark after Harry Wilson had charged into Anthony Gordon.
Then, after Aden Flint had upended Gallagher as he tried to pounce on the rebound, Phillips thwarted Ched Evans.
McCarthy said: “I’m pleased he did that because it could have been a much different press conference.
“It would have been a very nervy last 25 minutes at 2-1.”
McCarthy has been around the managerial block but added: “Seven games unbeaten and five wins – it’s the best start I’ve ever had.
“When I came in I thought we could get a tune out of these guys.
“I think it would have been beyond my wildest dreams or expectations to draw the first two and win the next five but there’s been no silver bullet here. The players have done all the hard work, all the grafting, and credit to them.”
City striker Moore had been doing very well without needing gifts soon after kick-off but Preston decided to offer one up anyway.
Jordan Storey’s hack at Sean Morrison’s ankles was pointless and so Moore’s thumping penalty was a self-inflicted wound.
Preston unravelled from that point on and boss Alex Neil said: “It was bizarre. We conceded a penalty in the first minute so we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.
“And then to give a goal away within the first 30 seconds of the second half was just incredible, it was naivety on a ridiculous scale.”
CARDIFF: Phillips 9; Morrison 7, Flint
6, Nelson 6; Ng 7, Vaulks 7, Pack 7, Bennett 7; Wilson 8 (Bacuna (69th)
6); Murphy 7 (Ojo (60th) 7), Moore 8 (Harris 77th)
PRESTON: Iversen 6; Browne 5 (Rafferty 82nd), Storey 5, Lindsay 6, Hughes 6, Cunningham 5; Whiteman 5 (Gallagher (61st) 6), Johnson 6 (Gordon
(61st) 8), Molumby 6 (Potts (72nd) 6); Evans 5, Riis 5 (Barkhuizen (46th) 6)
STAR MAN: Dillon Phillips
REF: J Simpson
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN’S fierce second-half strike gave Fulham a crucial win and ramped up the pressure on Newcastle.
Scott Parker’s men closed the gap between the two sides to just three points ahead of the Geordies’ clash with Manchester United tonight.
The pair look set for a proper slugfest over the coming weeks before a conclusion that, for now at least, looks mouthwatering.
Fulham have now lost just one of their last seven Premier League fixtures.
While only two of those games have resulted in wins, they have chipped away at the gap that had opened up between themselves and safety.
To such an extent they are now giving themselves a real chance of succeeding where they failed the season before last and retaining their top-flight status.
Fulham fully deserved their win against rock-bottom Sheffield United.
A victory here would have at least lifted the Blades off the foot of the table and given them hope, however slim, that in this bonkers season they might just be able to stay up. That now looks impossible. The Blades had a slight advantage over their hosts having played on Monday, two days before Fulham were held at Burnley.
Parker’s side had looked a bit leggy at Turf Moor and he made three changes in a bid to freshen things up a bit.
They started brightly enough, with plenty of hustle and bustle. But so too did Chris Wilder’s lads.
The Sheffield United boss had made five changes himself, most notably with John Fleck coming back in after a bout of illness and Phil Jagielka replacing John Egan who is expected to be out for a couple of months after undergoing surgery on a toe.
With Billy Sharp up front alongside Ollie McBurnie for the visitors and former England star Jagielka at the back, there was experience at either end.
And what was clear early on was the fact every player realised what an important fixture this was.
For all the energy being expended in the first half, clear-cut chances were few and far between. Fulham did look the greater threat.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was a level up composure-wise on just about everyone on show, with Harrison Reed and Andre-Frank Anguissa keeping things ticking behind him in the Cottagers’ engine room.
Ivan Cavaleiro fashioned a decent opening for Fulham before blazing over after cutting inside on to his left foot.
Soon after the ever-impressive Reed drilled a long-range effort straight at Aaron Ramsdale.
Arguably the best of the lot for Fulham in that first half was Loftus-Cheek’s header late on but he couldn’t keep it down.
It wasn’t long after the restart that the on-loan Chelsea star had an even better opening.
A neat Fulham build-up took him into a fine position and, following a bit of luck, he got his shot away. George Baldock got back to clear in the nick of time with some excellent last-ditch defending. The goal was coming, though, and when Joachim Andersen released Lookman with a brilliant long-range pass, he cut inside Ethan Ampadu and rammed a scorcher through the legs of Ramsdale.
The Blades had a very good chance to level soon after when Enda Stevens was released after good work by Sharp and McBurnie.
But his shot seemed to come off his left heel when he needed to put his laces through it and Alphonse Areola saved.
Kean Bryan’s header looked dangerous as well but was cleared, while Jayden Bogle had a chance at the death but Areloa block.
It meant Fulham held on for a vital victory in their battle to stay up.
THOMAS TUCHEL is still unbeaten as Chelsea boss – but it did not feel like it after this setback on the South Coast.
Tuchel’s Blues remain fourth in the table yet, despite coming from behind at St Mary’s, the German deemed it two points very much lost in their bid for Champions League football.
Not for the first time this season, the visitors had inspirational Mason Mount to thank as he rescued them with a second-half penalty after on-loan Liverpool ace Takumi Minamino fired Saints ahead.
But fuming Tuchel (right), who brought on Callum Hudson-Odoi at the break only to sub him 30 minutes later, said: “Clearly, this is a missed opportunity. We had the chances to make another win and it would have been deserved.
“We were good for 80 metres but in the last 20 metres I was not happy. We weren’t decisive enough and our decision making wasn’t good enough.
“Conceding that goal wasn’t a problem for me but in attack we were sloppy and missed the aggression to finish the game.”
England winger Hudson-Odoi then copped it from Tuchel as he added: “I wasn’t happy with his attitude and pressing. We demand 100 per cent in this. That’s why he had to come off.”
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And the coach was just as impressed when Mount fed over-lapping Reece James.
The England wing-back produced a beautiful chip to the far post where Marcos Alonso should have done better than volley wide. Tuchel’s yell of frustration and disgust was priceless as he slumped into his seat.
And his mood worsened the longer the half went. In the 32nd minute, he was seething in silence as the hosts struck. It was their first attack.
Nathan Redmond was the architect, threading a beautiful pass through and Minamino showed superb composure, dummying keeper Edouard Mendy before rolling in his second Saints goal.
Tuchel hauled off the ineffective Tammy Abraham at half-time for Hudson-Odoi – and was celebrating an equaliser within seven minutes.
Mount won – and coolly converted – a penalty after Danny Ings fouled him.
You expected Chelsea to steamroller the Saints thereafter but that never materialised.
Indeed, it was the home side that almost nicked it, as Jan Vestergaard’s 88th-minute header crashed against the bar.
SOUTHAMPTON: McCarthy 7; Bednarek 7, Salisu 9, Vestergaard 8, Bertrand 7; Djenepo 7, Ward-Prowse 7, Romeu
7, Minamino 8 (Tella 76th), Redmond 8 (N’Lundulu 90th); Ings
6 (Adams 85th)
CHELSEA: Mendy 6; Azpilicueta 6, Zouma 6, Rudiger 6, James
7; Kante 6, Kovacic 6 (Jorginho 76th), Alonso 6; Mount 8; Werner 6, Abraham 5 (Hudson-Odoi (46th) 6) (Ziyech 76th)
STAR MAN: Mohammed Salisu
REF: A Taylor
Southampton’s next game: Leeds, Tue (a)
Chelsea’s next game: Atletico Madrid, Tue (a)