It was a gritty performance from Cardiff City but they still fell 0-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the sky bet championship. Hopes were high amongst many city fans after the 0-1 win away at Wigan on Tuesday. Personally, I thought we would get something from today but I knew it would be a very tough game against an inform Wolves outfit. And so it was...
What happened
A 26th minute counter attack goal from winger Bakary Sako ensured Wolves remained in contention for promotion with a 0-1 win over the bluebirds. City dominated early on but fell behind to a lightning counter attack after they gave the ball away on the halfway line. The bluebirds fought valiantly for the remainder of the first half but went in at the break a goal down, much to the delight of the 2000 travelling Wolves fans.
In the second half, Peter Whittingham's reckless two yellow cards meant that city played the remaining 30 minutes with 10 men. However, this did not sway them a late flurry of attack produced two goal line clearances but the ball would not go in. Controversial owner Vincent Tan marched round the pitch before the game, and was surprisingly welcomed warmly by the bluebirds faithful. He didn't make it round to my stand.
Russell Slade
The defeat was not anyone's fault, I don't think. In the first 20 minutes we looked a very good side that were perfectly capable of getting something out of Wolves. I had nothing negative to say about our tactics for once. Paul Troloppe seems to have an effect on Slade, and there is a noticeable difference in what the players want to do with the ball at times. We got the ball to the wide areas well and at times our play was nice to watch. I didn't really have a bad thing to say about Slade during the match.
His post-match comments were as intriguing and at times infuriating as ever. He said he was "pleased" with how the game went. Now don't get me wrong, I was not disappointed with the performance, but in my opinion you can never really be pleased after you have lost a game.
My verdict
In my eyes, over the last few weeks city have improved week on week. Today was another decent performance. There was less "hoof-ball" on show (which I put down to Troloppe and Slade), which is something that most of the city faithful have wanted for a few months now. We also retained the ball quite well in the first half. However, until we got desperate in the last 15 minutes we didn't create any clear cut chances that troubled the Wolves keeper. It was shots from outside the box if that at times.
The difference between Wolves and city at them moment is that they had one chance in the first half and they scored. Also, when they had a sustained period of pressure early in the second half, they created chances and looked threatening. Without being disrespectful to Wolves, they did not play well and at times looked an average side. I doubt they will go up and I really thought that we could have got something from them.
Something I always demand from a city team is that they fight till the end, and we certainly did that. It seemed that adversity spurred us on and in the last 10 minutes we certainly looked like scoring. My man of the match was centre back Bruno Ecuele Manga. He had the right balance of solid and composed. If I'm being honest he's too good for us and eally should be playing at a higher level.
The next game
Up next for city is a tricky trip to fellow strugglers Rotherham. Our opponents picked up a vital 2-1 win over Millwall on Saturday, but it was marred by crowd trouble from the travelling fans. They're managed by Steve Evans who who's Rotherham side beat Slades Leyton Orient in the play-off final last season to get to the championship.
The bluebirds will have 400 loyal fans backing them in Yorkshire, and I think we will claim a point in a 1-1 draw.
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