FULL MATCH REPORT ' COVENTRY CITY V CARDIFF CITY '

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Coventry City 1-2 Cardiff City: Guido Burgstaller is the hero with first Bluebirds goal and powerful performance

14th Aug 2014

By Terry Phillips


Guido Burgstaller has the makings of a Cardiff City hero and after watching him open his account against Coventry, Terry Phillips admits he was impressed.

Coventry City 1-2 Cardiff City

Austrian international Guido Burgstaller grabbed his first goal in Cardiff City colours as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Bluebirds made hard work of booking passage to round two of the Capital One Cup.

The summer signing struck after just four minutes at Sixfields Stadium last night and livewire winger Kadeem Harris looked to have netted his first goal by doubling the visitors lead on 81 minutes but TV replays showed the ball coming off the boot of Coventry’s substitute defender Ryan Haynes.

Two minutes later Haynes whipped in a wicked cross for Shaun Miller to cut the deficit but Cardiff survived the closing moments to book an away tie at Port Vale in the next round.

Only 1,382 fans turned out for a match being played 40 miles away from Coventry and for a long time Solskjaer’s team were well on top.



The manager will be pleased with his team, particularly on their first-half display, and that Cardiff are through to the second round.

Joe Ralls, confident and silky through midfield, was man of the match and there was little doubt Cardiff deserved their win.

Cardiff made eight changes from their starting line-up at Blackburn with Matt Connolly, Aron Gunnarsson and Nicky Maynard the only survivors.

Solskjaer called up teenage right-back Jazzi Barnum-Bobb, who has impressed at development team level, and he can be delighted with his part in the victory.

The 18-year-old settled down quickly and can reflect with satisfaction on his first appearance.

Simon Moore, making his first appearance in goal, will be frustrated that his clean sheet was spoiled by Coventry’s late goal, but he, too, did well on his debut.

Before kick-off there were rumours around the stadium that Coventry manager Steven Pressley is on his way to take charge at Huddersfield Town, who play at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.

Capital One Cup round two draw: Cardiff City travel to Port Vale while Swansea City host Rotherham United

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Both Cardiff City and Swansea City face winable ties in the second round of the Capital One Cup as they both plan another trip to Wembley.

Jazzi Barnum-Bobb will hope for another League Cup outing at Vale Park

Cardiff City will travel to the Potteries to face Port Vale in the second round of the Capital One Cup.
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The Bluebirds, who were seeded in the second round draw after their 2-1 win at Coventry, will face Micky Adams' League One outfit at Vale Park.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men will be hoping for a rare run in the League Cup after making the final in 2012, where they lost to Liverpool at Wembley.

Swansea City will host Championship newcomers Rotherham United in the second round as they hope to go on another run in the competition they won in 2013.

Why Cardiff City fans should be delighted with Capital One Cup progress and what we learned from Coventry win
Aug 14th 2014


Terry Phillips was in Northampton watching every kick of Cardiff City's 2-1 Capital One Cup win against Coventry City. He he sifts through some of the game's main talking points.


Turning Point

The second goal Cardiff. It looked to have been scored by substitute Kadeem Harris, but TV replays showed the ball was put into the net by the boot of Coventry defender Ryan Haynes. At last, after struggling for so long to produce a second, City were on top. Coventry did pull one back, but the Bluebirds eased into the second round with something to spare. It was frustrating, though, waiting for that second goal when Cardiff were so much on top for most of the game.

Star man - Joe Ralls

A young man with a bright future. Smooth as silk in possession, impressive movement and passing. Part of Solskjaer’s plans, although they have a lot of midfield players and Ralls may go out on loan to gain first team experience. There is far more to come in Ralls’ development.

Biggest controversy

Around 50 fans, apparently from both clubs, stood on the hill just outside the Sixfields Stadium to protest. They chanted and held up banners. One said ‘Let down’, another ‘Fix football’. Sky Blue supporters want their team playing in Coventry again - and the Bluebirds want their traditional blue kit back. Cardiff played in red last night. The protest continued into the match and City fans inside the stadium were applauded by Coventry fans when they chanted: “We’ll always be blue”.

The two sets of fans vocally joined forces on Coventry’s behalf by singing: “We want to go home.”


Biggest gaffe

There weren’t many and the worst was Matt Connolly’s badly timed first-half challenge on Josh McQuoid which earned him a booking. That came after 19 minutes and might have made Connolly a little wary with his challenges, but he remained decisive in his tackles and produced another highly effective defensive display.

Moan of the match

Nicky Maynard needed more support. Asked to play a lone role in attack, was up against three centre-backs. Played in a two with Kenwyne Jones at Blackburn, had to adopt a totally different style against Coventry. Has had a decent pre-season, works hard and would surely have loved to play alongside a second striker, maybe Etien Velikonja, in this one.

Aron Gunnarsson could have been taken off - City were so much on top they didn’t really need his aggressive style in midfield and the Icelander could be a key player against Huddersfield.

Selection and tactics

Eight changes to City’s starting line-up at Blackburn with Connolly, Gunnarsson and Maynard the only three to play in both. Right-back Barnum-Bobb, aged 18, and goalkeeper Simon Moore both made their Cardiff debut. First start for Burgstaller, in 4-3-2-1 formation with Maynard leading the charge. Burgstaller and Kim pushed on with Gunnarsson between Ralls and Eikrem a little deeper.

Who needs to do more?

Declan John. His battle with Fabio for the first team left-back slot is heating up. Fabio did a good job at Blackburn and seems to have the edge. John was bright and effective against Coventry, but has to step up his game again if he is to edge past his Brazilian rival into the starting line-up.

Reasons to be positive

Solskjaer will hope history repeats itself. Two years ago the Bluebirds travelled to Northampton Town’s Sixfields Stadium, fielded a below strength team and lost. Malky Mackay was criticised - and then led City to the Championship title. Solskjaer included a number of development team players in his squad against Coventry at Northampton last night. Let’s hope he can repeat Malky Mackay’s success of 2013 and take City back to the top flight.

Cause for concern

The Bluebirds were well on top, but made hard work of finishing the job. Kim had chances which he missed and John smashed in a fierce drive which brought an outstanding save from Lee Burge. City have an abundance of attacking talent and I can’t see scoring being a problem this season, but they took far too long to take Coventry’s hope away.

Bluebirds through to second round of cup after away victory


Ole Gunnar Solskjær saw his Bluebirds side secure safe passage into the second round of the Capital One Cup, thanks to a 2-1 victory over Coventry City on Wednesday evening.



Cardiff City started with purpose at Sixfields, finding early joy in the right hand attacking channel. Good play through midfield saw the ball find its way out to Kim Bo-Kyung, who in turn played it central to Nicky Maynard. Poor defending saw the ball bobble beyond the striker to the onrushing Guido Burgstaller, the Austrian composing himself before drilling low into the corner past Lee Burge.



COVENTRY CITY 0-1 CARDIFF CITY (Burgstaller, 4)



The opening 15 minutes of this one were almost exclusively Cardiff City’s. Aron Gunnarsson was bossing midfield, allowing Joe Ralls to find space and dictate play from deep. Kim Bo-Kyung had two excellent opportunities from inside the penalty area having lost his marker with ease - though each time, the South-Korean placed his shot wide of Burge’s post.



Coventry’s opening first half threat came in the 24th minute, Danny Swanson momentarily finding space through the middle and breaking between City’s two centre halves. Fortunately, Matt Connolly retreated well to put in a fine tackle – no fears in his mind of disciplinary action despite having been shown a yellow card for a tackle higher up the field earlier in the half.



A minute later and City came close to extending their lead after fine link up play between Academy graduates Declan John and Joe Ralls. Ralls glided towards the penalty area before feeding the onrushing left-back inside the box. The Welsh international hit his left foot strike hard and true, though Burge did well to get a strong palm on the shot and turn it past the upright.



City still had gears, you felt, as the game drifted towards the half time whistle. The Bluebirds were dangerous down both flanks, while Coventry threatened nothing in the final third. Two minutes of injury time were played at the end of the first period at the Sixfields, after which City returned to the dressing room with a very comfortable advantage.



HALF TIME: COVENTRY CITY 0-1 CARDIFF CITY



The Bluebirds came out after the interval looking to immediately double their lead – their passing and movement too much for Coventry to handle. Kim was first to test Burge with a curling effort from outside the area; the goalkeeper pulled off a neat save, before denying a drilled Joe Ralls effort moments later.



Substitution, Coventry City: Danny Pugh replaced by Ryan Haynes (51 minutes)



Coventry’s first real shot in anger came 12 minutes into the second half. Josh McQuoid swivelled well on the edge of the area and struck first time, though his effort was wide and never really troubling Simon Moore.



Substitution, Coventry City: Billy Daniels replaced by Shaun Miller (62 minutes)



City were dominating possession, though it was the performance from right-back of young Jazzy Barnum-Bobb that was really catching the eye. The defender was establishing an excellent understanding with Kim Bo-Kyung, looking equally as comfortable going forward as he was in defence. A special evening for the youngster and exciting for Cardiff City.



Substitution, Cardiff City: Guido Burgstaller replaced by Mats Møller Dæhli (66 minutes)



Substitution, Cardiff City: Jazzy Barnum-Bobb replaced by Kadeem Harris (66 minutes)



Substitution, Coventry City: Josh McQuoid replaced James Maddison (69 minutes)



The substitutions allowed the game to open up more, and it began to look like it may suit Coventry. Despite almost total possession in the second half, striker Swanson found a direct route through to goal and should have done better with Moore staring him down, only to drag his effort wide of the ‘keeper’s far post.



Moments later and the Sky Blues had an even better chance to equalise. The City defence opened up to allow Shaun Miller a clean strike at the onrushing Moore. This time, the substitute’s strike was even less glamorous as it found its way to the back of the stand behind the goal.



But City eventually found the breakthrough they needed – and a goal that the exiting Coventry fans felt would kill off the game. Mats Møller Dæhli showed great judgment to pick up on the misjudgement of defender Jordan Willis down the right, breaking towards the left of the area, firing across goal and forcing substitute Haynes to put the ball into his own net under pressure from Kadeem Harris. A killer counter-attacking move.



GOAL: COVENTRY CITY 0-2 CARDIFF CITY (Haynes OG, 81 minutes)



Those Sky Blues supporters who left the game early though, may have wished they’d stayed longer. From the kick-off, the home side broke down the right through Ryan Haynes – the midfielder finding a superb right-foot cross for Miller to head past Moore. Atonement, perhaps, for each player after earlier errors.



GOAL: COVENTRY CITY 1-2 CARDIFF CITY (Miller, 83 minutes)



Substitution, Cardiff City: Kim Bo-Kyung replaced by Tommy O’Sullivan (84 minutes)



Substitutions undoubtedly played their part in this game opening in up in the manner it did, though nonetheless it made for an intriguing closing 15 minutes. Coventry’s small but raucous home contingent pushed their side forward, though Cardiff remained comfortable and looked like a third goal for them would be more likely on the counter. It never came though and City would go into the second round hat as ball number 25.



COVENTRY CITY: Burge, Willis, Pugh, Webster ©, Fleck, McQuoid, Swanson, O’Brien, Daniels, Clarke, Finch. Subs not used: Allsop, Thomas, Miller, Phillips, Haynes, Lawton, Maddison.



CARDIFF CITY: Moore, Barnum-Bobb, John, Connolly, Théophile-Catherine, Ralls, Eikrem, Gunnarsson, Burgstaller, Kim, Maynard. Subs not used: Wilson, Owen, James, O’Sullivan, Harris, Dæhli, Velikonja.

Att:1,382 (359)