Bluebirds are brought back to earth in disappointing defeat
CARDIFF City’s brief upsurge in form came to a screeching halt following a disappointing defeat at home to Hull City.
Another poor start allowed the visitors to seize the initiative, with sloppy defending allowing Keane Lewis-Potter to nudge home with just 15 minutes on the clock.
And the Bluebirds just lacked any sort of creativity, fluidity or a clinical edge in the final third and were limited to half-chances at best.
Cardiff would have been hoping to turn the stadium into a fortress, as Steve Morison said pre-match, but another flat showing is further evidence that this team has some way to go yet before they are out of the mire at the bottom of the Championship table.
The first half was, as we have become accustomed to, pretty dire to watch. It was a bitty start to the game, with both teams employing similar tactics. They both looked to play it out from the back, but lacked any sort of purpose or meaning behind any of their attacks.
The only bright moment in the early exchanges was when Isaak Davies picked the ball up in his own half and embarked on a mazy, slaloming run, beating three or four defenders in the process, before a sliding Hull City defender stopped him pulling the trigger.
Hull’s goal came by virtue of a Leandro Bacuna mistake. The midfielder sold Kieffer Moore short with a pass near the halfway line and Callum Elder intercepted and hared up the touchline. Elder’s cross was deflected out for a corner by Bacuna and then disaster struck.
Just like at Preston, the set-piece was their Achilles heel. The ball was swung in and Ryan Longman, unmarked at the front post, flicked on a header into the middle of the box. Keane Lewis-Potter was there, again on his own, and nicked in front of Bacuna to steer it home.
It was all so flat, from both sides, to be frank, either side of that goal.
The most exciting part of the half for the Bluebirds was when Will Vaulks launched a throw-in into the box, only to see it bounce and loop over everyone, including Nathan Baxter in the Hull goal, and into the net.
There were muted celebrations from the Cardiff faithful, but Thomas Bramall rightly awarded a goal kick.
Aden Flint had a shot blocked before Mark McGuinness steered a tame header into the hands of Baxter, and that was all she wrote, really.
The team, during Morison’s first home game in charge as permanent manager, went down the tunnel to boos. That gives you some sort of impression as to how the half went.
The introduction of Joe Ralls started to spark Cardiff into life after the break. He played a delightful ball down the wing to release Ryan Giles, who fizzed a cross in which just evaded Moore. Perry Ng then swung one in from the other side and Bacuna, who should have done far better, glanced a header wide at the near post.
But Hull sent a few warning shots back themselves. The set-piece once again proving problematic when George Honeyman lofted a ball to the back post, which was met by Jason Greaves who headed it back across goal.
Josh Magennis headed it from four yards out, but it clattered into the post. Minutes later, Greaves himself spurned a golden opportunity when he sent an opportunity skyward from 10 yards out.
It meant Morison had to call for the cavalry. Both James Collins and Rubin Colwill were summoned and entered the fray in the hope of injecting some more life into proceedings.
But Cardiff remained frustrated. They struggled to create consistently and the game ticked closer to the fulltime whistle without much change in the final third. It led to the home supporters getting restless, bemoaning backward passes and hitting out at the visitors’ time-wasting.
Ralls looked the most likely to score from a Cardiff perspective. He hit one shot with his right foot from 25 yards and it drew a brilliant save from Baxter. But clear-cut chances were few and far between.
The best came when, deep into stoppage time, Collins latched on to a header at the back post, but it flew into the upright.
Cardiff City: Smithies; Ng,McGuinness (Harris 85), Flint,Nelson, Giles; Vaulks (Ralls 45), Pack, Bacuna (Colwill 63); Davies (Collins 63), Moore. Subs: Phillips, Morrison, Brown.
Hull City: Baxter; McLoughlin, Greaves, Elder (Huddlestone 45); Lewis-Potter, Honeyman (Mills 90), Smallwood, Docherty, Longman; Magennis (Eaves 80), Wilks ( Williams 67). Subs: Ingram, Cannon, Moncur.