Sory Kaba and Jaden Philogene blitzed Bristol City during a chaotic second half of football to ensure a rare derby day victory for the hosts.

Kaba's domineering header from a Ryan Wintle delivery saw Cardiff City race into the ascendancy, before Philogene topped off a fine personal performance with a sweetly-struck long-range strike to double the advantage.

Goalkeeper Ryan Allsopp was handed his marching orders late on, yet, despite the unlikely sight of diminutive defender Perry Ng donning 'keeper gloves, Cardiff held their own to see off a late rush of pressure and elevate seven points clear of the drop zone.

For Bristol City, it was their first league defeat in nine league fixtures and they will head back to the drawing board to reignite a bid to finish in the top-half of the table.

 

  • Pre-match

Sabri Lamouchi sanctioned bold changes from his side's 2-0 defeat at Norwich City last weekend.

Indeed, eyebrows were raised as Callum O'Dowda was dropped to the bench for the first time in league football all season, while Sheyi Ojo and Kaba both returned to the starting lineup.

On the other hand, Nigel Pearson only made one alteration in personnel from the team that started in the midweek FA Cup loss against Manchester City, with cup-tied Anis Mehmeti coming back to the fore.

 

  • Story of the match

The visitors wasted no time in asserting themselves and posed questions after merely 20 seconds, when Mark Sykes called Allsopp into action with a dangerous fizzing delivery across the face of goal.

And Sykes, who had scored five goals in his last ten outings prior to this afternoon's showdown, clearly had momentum and was involved once again shortly after, heading over from a Joe Williams cross.

Ojo soon emerged as a thorn in Bristol's side, though, as his marauding progressive runs from midfield won fouls and struck fear into opponents.

It was this confidence to get on the ball and drive into threatening areas that fashioned Cardiff's first chance of the affair, with a well-struck low-driven effort from range parried away by Max O'Leary.

But, it was symptomatic of the end-to-end showdown that was being played out that the next goalscoring opportunity was manufactured by the Robins

After Alex Scott saw his shot cleared off the line by Cedric Kipre, Mehmeti had appeared destined to score from merely ten yards out on the follow-up attempt, only to be denied by Allsopp with a gutsy, full-bodied stop.

Despite being under the cosh momentarily, Cardiff continued to execute their modus operandi to effect, and their utilisation of cross-field passes and swift attacking transitions kept Bristol on their toes.

A man renewed under Lamouchi's tuition, Philogene's transformation from a divisive forward to an energetic, enthralling wing-back was illuminated.

His ability to regain possession relieved pressure and prevented Bristol from keeping the ball moving, while his quick feet, even quicker movement and menacing deliveries into the area allowed Cardiff to play to their strengths- which, under new management, consists of quick play and physical prowess up top.

Mark McGuinness also had a succession of chances aerially, firstly heading directly at O'Leary before his second headed effort sailed high and wide from Wintle's corner.

The even nature of the contest continued after the break, however, Cardiff drew first blood through Kaba, who angled his header past O'Leary and into the Bristol net following Wintle's cross, thus descending euphoria across the Cardiff City Stadium.

As you would expect, Bristol's pressure was amplified after going one down, and they began to put the hosts on the back foot, committing more bodies forward and moving possession with an enhanced sense of speed and incision.

Allsopp stood imperious between the sticks once more, pitching out a strong hand to deny Mehmeti's looping free-kick.

With time marching on and fresh approaches required, both sides called to the bench; Pearson made two changes which explicated their all or nothing approach by bringing on strikers Harry Cornick and Nahki Wells for George Tanner and Sam Bell respectively, whereas Andy Rinomhota replaced Kaba in a defensive-minded switch for the Bluebirds.

Two further substitutions were elected moments after, with Jay Dasilva replacing Tomas Kalas through injury and O'Dowda coming on for Joe Ralls in a bid to inject more width and dynamism to Cardiff's play.

But although Bristol had made changes to attempt to restore parity- and Cardiff to simply hold firm- their advantage was doubled on the 70th minute as Philogene turned inside before hammering a powerful left-footed strike from outside the area and into the bottom right corner.

Not one to rest on his laurels, the on-loan Aston Villa prospect was equally effective at the other end, too, tracking back to shut down Bristol attacks.

One such attack saw Mehmeti played through by Scott, though, perhaps feeling the pressure of an onrushing Kipre keeping chase, the winger could only watch on in frustration as he blazed his effort into the stands.

And as a sign of the newfound comfortability that Cardiff had began to enjoy, Ojo and Connor Wickham made way for Rubin Colwill and Kion Etete, with the latter firing a speculative effort just wide of the mark moments after being introduced.

That comfortability was short-lived, mind.

With Wells hunting down a long ball into the path of goal, a lack of communication saw Allsopp rush outside the box and an accidental handball saw him dismissed, adding another twist to the tale.

After all, it would not be Cardiff to not make it interesting.

As a consequence of already using the maximum number of substitutes, the bizarre circumstances resulted in Ng deputising in net.

There was collective relief when Wells' free kick was deflected for a corner, as Ng appeared understandably dumbfounded in unfamiliar circumstances.

So, the objective for Cardiff was simple- do not let Bristol have a shot on goal.

Luckily for Lamouchi's men, they seldom threatened, with Ng clasping a Wells header before Mehmeti saw his own strike blocked on the cusp of full-time.

Cardiff diligently saw out the encounter to arrest prior derby day doom, having lost their last three previous home matches against their Severnside rivals.

And while they will no doubt remain mindful of Huddersfield Town possessing two games in hand, precious breathing room has been afforded with a seven-point cushion over the bottom three at the time of writing.

As fortunes would have it, Bristol's next match takes them to West Yorkshire on Tuesday evening, where they will aim to revitalise after losing their first league fixture since Boxing Day.

 

  • Player of the match

Today's player of the match goes to Cardiff City's Jaden Philogene.

Deployed in the right wing-back berth once again, the 21-year-old dazzled defensively and offensively, putting in arguably his finest performance in a Cardiff shirt.

He will rightly garner all the plaudits for his well-taken goal, his fourth for the club, but his positional play and tenacity was just as important as his side kept their third clean sheet in four matches.

Numerically, too, Philogene was far and away the leading performer this afternoon, achieving match-high statistics in completing four dribbles, four tackles and winning an almighty 13 duels.

 

  • Match information

Cardiff City (5-2-1-2): Allsopp; Philogene, Ng, McGuinness, Kipre, Ralls (C) (O'Dowda, 67) ; Sawyers, Wintle; Ojo (Colwill 87); Kaba (Rinomhota 61), Wickham (Etete 87)

Bristol City (4-2-3-1): O'Leary; Tanner (Wells 61), Vyner, Kalas (C) (Dasilva 68), Pring; Williams (Weimann 25), James; Sykes, Scott, Mehmeti; Bell (Cornick 61)

Booked: N/A

Sent off: Allsopp

Referee: Matthew Donohue (Greater Manchester)

Attendance: 22,156

 

 

 

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