Lamouchi merry as Perry saves the day for Bluebirds
DEFENDER Perry Ng had to spend the final five minutes in goal after Ryan Allsop was sent off in added time for a reckless handball outside his area as Cardiff earned a vital three points.
Allsop, who had made two great saves during the game, came charging out of his box to smother the ball.
He claimed he had used his chest, but referee Matt Donohue had no doubt it was his hand that foiled a Bristol City attack.
Having used four substitutes in the allotted periods, Cardiff boss Sabri Lamouchi was forced to use an outfield player in goal and put his faith in Ng.
“Maybe it was my mistake to make a change before then, but this can happen. Perry made two great saves and it was unbelievable to finish the game like that,” said the Frenchman.
“Perry was confident and so I said let’s go. It was a great performance, a clean sheet, a great win – a lovely day.”
Lamouchi set his players the target of getting 15 points from their last 12 games to stay in the Championship. This was their third win in the last four games after a run of 15 without a win in all competitions before that.
Bristol City had more possession and more shots in a first half that was very much a slow burner. A cross from Mark Sykes led to a goalmouth scramble in which Cedric Kipre cleared off the line and Allsop was forced to throw himself at the feet of Anis Mehmeti to save bravely.
Robins boss Nigel Pearson said: “We had a few decent opportunities but it was one of those frustrating performances when things just didn’t go for us.
“We didn’t move the ball quickly enough and we couldn’t find enough good moments in the match.”
The second half got off to a great start for the home side when Sory Kaba headed home into the left corner as he was falling backwards to reach a Ryan Wintle cross from the right, before the outstanding Jaden Philogene hammered home the second in the 70th minute with his left foot.
CARDIFF: Allsop 7; Ng 6, McGuinness 6, Kipré 7; Philogene 8, Sawyers 6,
Ojo 8 (Colwill (86) 5), Wintle 6, Ralls 6 (O’Dowda (67) 6); Kaba 6 (Rinomhota (61) 6), Wickham 6 (Etete (86) 5)
BRISTOL CITY: O’Leary 6; Tanner 6 (Wells (61) 5), Vyner 6, Kalas 6 (Dasilva (68) 5), Pring 6; James 7, Williams 6 (Weimann (25) 6); Sykes 7, Scott 8, Mehmeti 7; Bell 6 (Connick (61) 5)
STAR MAN: Jaden Philogene – Almost unplayable down the right and the man whose goal made the points safe for the Bluebirds.
REF: Matthew Donohue 7
■ Man City have scored in 29 consecutive Premier League games against Newcastle, the longest ever scoring run for one team against another in the competition. ■ At 22 years and 280 days old, Phil Foden (33 goals, 17 assists) became the youngest player to reach 50 Premier League goal involvements for Manchester City. ■ Newcastle have lost their last three matches in all competitions by a 2-0 scoreline – the first time they’ve lost three in a row without scoring since January 2021.