' Match Report ' " Bluebirds throw it away "

Saturday 7th March 2015

By Steve Tucker

Cardiff City 1-2 Charlton match report: Bluebirds throw it away as lack of concentration proves costly

Cardiff City were given a harsh lesson as they threw away a lead after dominating proceedings against Charlton Athletic.

The last time these two sides met in the Welsh capital it was a historic occasion as Cardiff City were promoted to the Premier League.

There was no such drama this time around though as Russell Slade’s men sacrificed a lead to go down 2-1 against a Charlton side who, like their hosts, find themselves mired mid-table in the Championship.

A second-half strike from the Bluebirds’ Federico Macheda was cancelled out by a Tony Watt goal on 74 minutes and then, when Sean Morrison tripped Wales international Simon Church in the box with five minutes left, Yoni Buyens fired home the winner from the spot.

In a subdued atmosphere, vastly different from that incredible evening nearly two years ago, there was very little to cheer about particularly in a first-half where neither side managed to fashion much goal-mouth action.

Cardiff had to be content with a couple of corners from the returning Peter Whittingham which were headed wide by Matthew Connolly, whilst the Addicks had even slimmer pickings with Morgan Fox’s wayward shot as close as they came.

Right on the stroke of half-time Conor McAleny’s long-range shot provoked the first real save of the encounter as Stephen Henderson pushed it around the post.

The second-half provided much more entertainment. The Bluebirds started the brighter and got their reward. Craig Noone got to the byline and crossed, Kenwyne Jones knocked it back and Macheda rifled it home from eight yards out. It was the young striker’s second goal in as many games.

But the Bluebirds, who had knocked the ball around quite nicely even if they had lacked a cutting edge, were unable to hold on.

On 74 minutes former Bluebird Roger Johnson cut the ball back for Watt to side-foot home and then when Morrison bundled Church over the referee pointed at the spot and Buyens made no mistake.

The Bluebirds dropped to 15th in the table, but have a 13 point cushion over the bottom three. It was, however, another disappointing result for Slade and one that shows that ideas of the Premier League remain very, very distant indeed.

The Guardian

Cardiff City 1-2 Charlton Athletic
Russell Slade said his Cardiff side were “mugged” after Yoni Buyens’ late penalty snatched a 2-1 win for Charlton. Cardiff looked to be in total control after going in front but Tony Watt equalised before Sean Morrison clumsily bundled over Simon Church in the area on 86 minutes. “We dominated 75% of that game,” said Slade, “so it is frustrating to say the least. We should have put the three points to bed but we have to learn to manage the game for the whole 90 minutes. We didn’t clear the danger or get tight enough, and the second goal was totally unnecessary.” The win was Charlton’s fifth in their last six games. “We didn’t play well in the first half,” said Guy Luzon. “We had to change the tempo – then we played a lot better.”

Derby County 2-2 Birmingham City
Steve McClaren admitted his side shot themselves in the foot after an astonishing Birmingham stoppage-time fightback. “We only have ourselves to blame, we’ve thrown two points away,” said McClaren. “The game is 95 minutes not 91, 92 and you have to see it through. We didn’t, we were a little naive and we got punished. It’s a freak result but we can’t blame anybody. I thought the referee was poor – but that’s no excuse.” City’s manager Gary Rowett said: “It looked to all intents and purposes that the game was over but I just felt there were little moments in the last 15 minutes when you could see there might be something still in it for us. Whether we deserved it or not is not really relevant – the fact is we’ve kept going and kept believing .”

Millwall 1-4 Norwich City
Norwich piled more pressure on the Millwall manager Ian Holloway, who said the opening goal had destroyed his side’s morale. “Their first was more than a blow - we lost it from our throw-in and Jonny Howson smashes one in with their first shot on goal. Talk about a bullet to your heart, to your soul.” Holloway also explained why he had avoided standing in the home technical area: “I felt if I went out there, the fans would vent their spleen on me and that would not benefit the team.” Alex Neil hailed Norwich’s resilience after they recovered well from the midweek loss to Wigan. “We wanted a positive response as we let ourselves down during the week but all you can do is put it behind you – and we certainly did that here.”

And the rest
Lewis McGugan’s third goal in five games secured Sheffield Wednesday a 1-0 win at bottom side Blackpool. The Watford loanee struck nine minutes after the break for Wednesday, leaving Blackpool 17 points off safety with just 10 games to go, and without a win in eight.

■ Kari Arnason scored one and made another to give 10-man Rotherham a rare away win, 2-0 at Huddersfield. United’s manager, Steve Evans, raced to the away end on the final whistle to celebrate a result that put his side nine points clear of Wigan in 22nd.

■ And play-off chasers Ipswich and Brentford shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Portman Road. Daryl Murphy gave the hosts a ninth-minute lead but Jonathan Douglas levelled 16 minutes later.

Manager calls on Bluebirds to be more clinical

A disappointed Russell Slade spoke to the press and media after his Cardiff City side slipped to a 2-1 home defeat to Charlton Athletic.

The Bluebirds had performed well for large spells against the Addicks and went ahead through Kiko Macheda’s strike. However, Tony Watt’s finish and a late Yoni Buyens penalty stole the points for the visitors, leaving Slade frustrated.

“We dominated 75% of the game so it is a little bit frustrating to say the least,” said the Boss. “We’ve just got to learn to manage the game for the entire ninety minutes.

“We got ourselves into a position where we were in front, having dominated large periods of the match. From there, we should have put the three points to bed in all honesty.

“The top sides in the league, the top six, do what they’re good at for ninety minutes. For us to be successful in this league we’ve got to being doing the same thing. We are definitely doing it for longer periods now, as we did midweek away to Rotherham and for most of the match today, but it has to be 100% for the entire game.”