Blackburn Rovers were served late heartbreak in their sixth defeat of the season, as Cardiff City managed to secure their first win over the Blues of Lancashire in their last seven attempts.
Following Rovers’ fine 2-1 home victory over Millwall on Saturday, Jon Dahl Tomasson altered a winning team by making three changes. Callum Brittain, Sam Szmodics and John Buckley all came into the side as Scott Wharton, Tyler Morton and Sam Gallagher all dropped to the bench as Rovers switch to a 4-2-3-1 system, from the 5-2-2-1 system they had used at the weekend.
As both sides emerged onto the Cardiff City Stadium turf ahead of the 8pm kick-off, the world’s eyes were on South Wales as both Sky Sports and Bein Sports provided coverage of a fixture that is now a century old – with the first clash between the sides coming in 1922 – as the Bluebirds ran out 3-1 victors, but with Rovers unbeaten against Cardiff City since August 2016, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side would be looking to make it two wins on the bounce.
With everything present and correct, there was a minute’s silence to pay respect to those who sadly passed away in the recent stadium disaster in Indonesia. This was coupled by both sides donning black armbands.
After the paying of respects, referee John Brooks put the whistle to his lips as the home side kicked the tie off as they were looking for their first win in two games and their first under interim boss, Mark Hudson.
It took until the 12th minute for the game’s first attempt at goal as after Lewis Travis was dispossessed in his own half, the ball was fed to Callum Robinson who cut inside on his left-foot and tried to find the far corner, but Dom Hyam was on hand to block the effort behind for a corner which was nodded behind for a Rovers goal-kick by Callum O’Dowda.
Minute 14 saw Robinson again try his luck, but saw his second attempt dragged wide of Thomas Kaminski’s goal, as the ball slid past the far-post.
Rovers again were the architects of their own downfall as less than a minute after Robinson’s second attempt, he had a third, as he spun the Rovers defence and looked to find the far corner, but Kaminski got down early to deny the slow rolling effort.
In the 23rd minute, Cardiff were forced to make an early change after Mahlon Romeo was clattered by Ben Brereton Díaz. The full-back was replaced by Jack Simpson, which saw Perry Ng shuffle across from centre-back, to right-back allowing Simpson to sit alongside Cédric Kipré at the heart of the Cardiff defence.
Three minutes later, Sheyi Ojo slipped through Robinson along the Rovers byline, but despite nutmegging Kaminski, Rovers managed to clear the danger away and deny Cardiff the lead.
Moments later, Rovers’ press saw them win the ball back in the Cardiff half as Ryan Hedges won the ball back as Tyrhys Dolan picked up the loose ball. Although Hedges was peeling off the last man, Dolan decided to take an ‘Adam Armstrong approach’ to his next move, as he tried to chip Ryan Allsop from distance, but his effort veered high and wide.
In the 32nd minute, Sheyi Ojo became the first player to get booked after a late challenge on Harry Pickering caught the attention of John Brooks, the referee.
Moments later, Sam Szmodics was soon booked for his own late tackle as the subsequent free-kick by Perry Ng was straight down the throat of Kaminski.
John Buckley’s tackle from behind on the edge of the Rovers box offered Cardiff City the chance to take the lead in the 39th minute, from a free-kick from a very close range. Callum Robinson was the candidate who stepped up as he tried to whip the ball into the top left-hand corner, at Kaminski’s side, but it flew wide of the left-hand post.
As the 45th minute ticked over, John Brooks added on two additional minutes onto the end of the first-half. With neither side able to test their opposing shot-stopper, the whistle soon brought a sub-par first period – from a Rovers perspective – to an end.
Interim Cardiff City boss, Mark Hudson, would have been pleased with how his side had navigated the first 45 minutes, but would have wanted them to become more clinical as time went on. The Bluebirds had managed to craft a handful of chances without finding the back of the net, whilst simultaneously keeping Rovers at bay.
Jon Dahl Tomasson would’ve been rather frustrated at the break as he had watched his side fail to cause havoc at the attacking end and struggle to keep a clean-sheet at the other. The Dane would have been wanting his side to play quicker and more decisively in the second 45 minutes as well as looking to try and cut out the defensive mistakes and lapses that had nearly cost them in the first 45 minutes.
With the game close to resuming, it was Rovers who kicked off the second-half, as they looked to try and play a more exciting second 45 minutes that would hopefully see them work towards a second successive victory.
Tyrhys Dolan sped down the right-hand side in the 47th minute after John Buckley picked him out. The England youth international skipped a challenge before picking out Szmodics in the middle whose first-time effort was just about saved by the legs of Allsop.
In the 56th minute, Romaine Sawyers was booked for a late challenge on John Buckley.
Rovers made a double change in the stoppage of the foul as Tyler Morton and George Hirst replaced John Buckley and Tyrhys Dolan.
Cardiff soon made their second and third switches of the tie as Mark Harris came into the fray as Sheyi Ojo departed, whilst their third change saw Joe Ralls replace Romaine Sawyers just after the hour.
Perry Ng tried an off-balanced shot from the edge of the Rovers area in the 62nd minute, but the former Crewe Alexandra full-back’s effort ballooned over.
Minute 67 saw Rovers’ tactic altered slightly as Bradley Dack and Sam Gallagher came on for Sam Szmodics and Ben Brereton Díaz.
Joe Ralls tried to pick out the bottom corner in the 70th minute, but Kaminski got down well to deny the substitute the opener.
A fourth Cardiff change saw Callum O’Dowda depart as Jaden Philogene came on to replace the former Bristol City man.
The substitute Philogene tried to curl one in from the edge of the area in the 77th minute when Cardiff hit Rovers on the counter-attack, but his effort dribbled wide.
From the goal-kick, Rovers built-up play and managed to thread Sam Gallagher through, but the forward’s effort was dragged wide as he was forced to stay down due to Cédric Kipré’s follow through.
The game’s first goal did soon materialise in the 82nd minute, but it fell the way of the hosts as substitute Mark Harris did what he was sent on to do and put Cardiff City ahead. After Callum Robinson received the ball on the edge of the area, the former Preston North End man laid the ball off for Harris, who let the ball run across his body before releasing a lasered effort past Kaminski and into the top left-hand corner of the net.
In the 84th minute, Sam Gallagher was wrongly booked after he brought Perry Ng down, after the defender clipped the attacker initially, which led to Gallagher felling Ng, which the referee missed.
Bradley Dack was peeling off the last defender in the 88th minute when Tyler Morton picked him out, but the playmaker’s touch was heavy as he failed to get the ball under his spell and test Ryan Allsop who gathered the loose ball.
As the clock hit 90, four minutes of time were added onto the end of the game, as Rovers pushed to try and salvage a point from the affair.
The chance came in the 93rd minute, as John Brooks handed Rovers a lifeline to secure their first draw of the campaign. A deep Tyler Morton free-kick was flicked on into the path of Dom Hyam who was clipped by Ryan Allsop. Although the defender went down, Ryan Hedges kept the ball in-play at the byline and pulled it back for Bradley Dack who scored a tap-in, yet the official had already blown for the spot-kick as the ball was rolling across goal. Despite the fury from Rovers, they were awarded a penalty, which saw George Hirst step up to take it – much to the confusion of Rovers fans online – but the on-loan Leicester City forward was forced to wait a long time before being allowed to try and secure the draw for Rovers, due to Allsop requiring treatment. As the box was cleared, Hirst put the ball down on the spot and tried his luck, but his below-par penalty was sussed out by Allsop who dived to his left and produced a save to keep the three points in South Wales, as the full-time whistle soon followed.
A dismal night for Rovers was capped off by the final 10 minutes, plus additional time. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s changing of a winning team from Saturday ultimately backfired as Cardiff picked Rovers’ back-four apart and would have been frustrated had they thrown two points away. Rovers struggled to play out from the back without the technique of Scott Wharton, which saw Cardiff’s press overrun the Rovers defence on more than one occasion. Whilst fingers can be pointed at the referee for not allowing play to continue for Bradley Dack’s first of the campaign, credit must be given to George Hirst for having the confidence and the composure to step up for such a crucial penalty, despite the fact we didn’t receive the desired outcome.
After such a frustrating, but pulsating affair, Rovers have been hit for six this season, with them remaining in 6th despite six wins, six defeats and a negative goal difference of -2.
Rovers won’t have to wait long to put things right as they host Rotherham United on Saturday 8th October at 3pm at Ewood Park. After that tie, Rovers are back on the road, but make the short trip to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday 11th October at 7:45pm – a game that like tonight, will also be on Sky Sports. The Blues’ fourth game in October sees them remain on the road as they move up north to Teesside to face Middlesbrough – who are currently managerless – on Saturday 15th October at 3pm.
