Stunned City can’t Adam and Eve it
ADAM ARMSTRONG topped up his transfer value with two more goals as he dealt Cardiff’s dwindling play-off hopes a hammer blow.
The Blackburn striker levelled with a calm finish just before the break.
He showed even more composure to keep his head in injury time while most of those around him were losing theirs.
Cardiff had gone ahead through Will Vaulks but then rode their luck as Rovers fought back.
Tony Mowbray’s side rattled the woodwork three times.
It looked as if the Bluebirds’ blessings might hand Blackburn a third straight defeat after Joe Ralls made it 2-1 with a rare home thrust in the second half.
But when substitute Ben Brereton picked out Armstrong in the 91st minute, the striker turned inside Aden Flint and stabbed the ball under Alex Smithies for his 22nd goal of the season.
Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray was left unsatisfied with the point he felt should have been three but grateful for his talisman’s talent.
He said: “Adam Armstrong is a goalscorer and that’s the bottom line. You give him an inch, he’ll score a goal.”
Cardiff are now nine points adrift of the play-offs with just five games left and manager Mick McCarthy all but conceded they will be in the Championship again next season.
“It would require an unlikely set of events to go up,” he admitted.
CARDIFF: Smithies 5; Nelson 5, Flint 7, Brown 6; Sang 6, Vaulks 7, Pack 6, Ng 6; Wilson 7 (Williams 90th), Murphy 5 (Ralls
(63rd) 7), Moore 6
BLACKBURN: Kaminski 6; Nyambe 6, Lenihan 6, Harwood-Bellis 7, Douglas
7; Trybull 7 (Davenport 78th), Travis 6 (Downing 78th), Johnson 7 (Dolan 78th); Elliott 6 (Holtby 78th), Armstrong 8, Gallagher 7 (Brereton 79th)
STAR MAN: Adam Armstrong
REF: J Simpson