" CARDIFF CITY TONIGHT "
Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:03 pm
Sparta Rotterdam 0-1 Cardiff City 
The Bluebirds still unbeaten in Pre-season as Pilkington's magic strike wins the game. Macheda sent off but City come through, and Manga was taken off in a stretcher - Bad News
The Cardiff City travelling fans were not allowed in - it was all behind closed doors
City now face Premier League opposition in Watford (at home) on Tuesday evening before travelling to AFC Bournemouth on Friday evening.
The Bluebirds still unbeaten in Pre-season as Pilkington's magic strike wins the game. Macheda sent off but City come through, and Manga was taken off in a stretcher - Bad News
The Cardiff City travelling fans were not allowed in - it was all behind closed doors
City now face Premier League opposition in Watford (at home) on Tuesday evening before travelling to AFC Bournemouth on Friday evening.
Re: " CARDIFF CITY TONIGHT "
Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:32 pm
Result: Cardiff City earn narrow pre-season win over Sparta Rotterdam
Cardiff City have finished their pre-season tour of the Netherlands with a 1-0 victory over Sparta Rotterdam.
Russell Slade's side were on top for the majority of the first half, but they were unable to turn their dominance into any clear-cut chances.
The main talking point during the opening 45 minutes came early on when Bluebirds defender Bruno Manga was forced off with a leg injury.
Cardiff finally made the breakthrough on 73 minutes when Anthony Pilkington found the top corner with a 25-yard drive for his third goal in three games.
Rotterdam almost grabbed an equaliser with 10 minutes left, but Ryan Sanusi's effort came back off the crossbar with goalkeeper Simon Moore beaten.
A positive afternoon for Cardiff ended on a sour note in stoppage time as Federico Macheda was sent off for a second yellow card.
Cardiff City have finished their pre-season tour of the Netherlands with a 1-0 victory over Sparta Rotterdam.
Russell Slade's side were on top for the majority of the first half, but they were unable to turn their dominance into any clear-cut chances.
The main talking point during the opening 45 minutes came early on when Bluebirds defender Bruno Manga was forced off with a leg injury.
Cardiff finally made the breakthrough on 73 minutes when Anthony Pilkington found the top corner with a 25-yard drive for his third goal in three games.
Rotterdam almost grabbed an equaliser with 10 minutes left, but Ryan Sanusi's effort came back off the crossbar with goalkeeper Simon Moore beaten.
A positive afternoon for Cardiff ended on a sour note in stoppage time as Federico Macheda was sent off for a second yellow card.
Re: " CARDIFF CITY TONIGHT "
Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:52 pm
Second half we controlled the game. Don't know what Kiko got sent off for? Didn't see it
Re: " CARDIFF CITY TONIGHT "
Fri Jul 24, 2015 6:55 pm
Anthony Pilkington scored another goal to continue his blistering pre-season form, but the Bluebirds could be without Manga for the season opener
Cardiff City fought out a hard-earned 1-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam to make it two victories out of two on their pre-season tour of Holland.
The match was won by a wonderful second-half strike from in-form winger Anthony Pilkington, his third goal in three pre-season games, but the encounter was overshadowed by an injury to defender Bruno Manga that saw him stretchered off early on with what is feared to be a serious knee injury.
The big centre-half will have a scan in Wales on Monday, but there were real concerns here that the Gabon international could be set to miss the start of the Championship campaign.
Fellow centre-half Ben Turner is already set to miss the first few weeks of the new term following his ankle surgery and Russell Slade could find himself with a real crisis in the heart of his defence before a ball is even kicked in anger.
It was a shame for Slade and the Bluebirds because the manager again saw plenty to enjoy from his side in this friendly encounter.
As the rain drove down in the small Dutch town of Nijkerk, it looked like nothing would separate the Bluebirds and their opponents from the second-tier of the Dutch league.
That Cardiff took the win was down to one real moment of magic on 66 minutes as Pilkington, himself fighting back after a nightmare season with injury last year, struck a superb 25-yard strike into the top corner.
The Bluebirds just about deserved the victory after being frustrated and pinned back by Rotterdam for long periods of the match.
Following their 2-0 win over Israeli side Ironi Kiryat Shmona on Tuesday, Slade again shuffled his pack here looking to give his players an even amount of pitch time whilst they were out of the country.
Simon Moore played the entire 90 minutes in goal as he is readied to play the opening three games of the season due to number one David Marshall being suspended.
And it was thanks to Moore that Cardiff held on for the win, the shot-stopper had to pull off two great saves near the end, pushing one Rotterdam effort onto the bar.
The interesting inclusion was that of midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi who barely featured in his debut season following a raft of injuries himself last term.
The South African international had his own training regime this summer and here he lasted more than an hour. He did not look the most mobile at times, but did provide the assist for Pilkington’s goal at least.
Up front Slade switched things around again with Eoin Doyle coming in to partner Joe Mason from the off and just 20 minutes in it was Doyle who thought he had opened the scoring when he slipped in to glance the ball home only to see it ruled out for offside. Although it did look a very tight call.
The cross for that effort was provided by Sammy Ameobi who is in on loan from Newcastle for the season. Here Ameobi really drifted in and out of the game. He displayed some lovely touches and produced some dangerous crosses, but you get the feeling that when things get serious Bluebirds supporters might be demanding just a little bit more from the new man.
Rotterdam barely troubled the Cardiff goal in the first-half with Moore only called upon to clutch a Loris Brogno shot without too much difficulty.
The game was a stalemate for long periods with both sides finding it hard to make headway and a few opportunist strikes from distance were as direct as things got. Stuart O’Keefe let fly for Cardiff not long after the break, but the effort was always rising.
The game changed really on the hour when Slade made a raft of scheduled substitutions.
On came Craig Noone then and he certainly added a bit of fire to proceedings. With Fabio operating at right-back, after Lee Peltier was allowed to return home due to his wife being about to give birth, it was often a toss-up whether Noone or Fabio would be the more advanced Cardiff player down the right.
But it was thanks to that new impetus that Cardiff were able to see the pressure pay off when Pilkington fired home.
Late on Bluebirds striker Federico Macheda was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for blocking the ball as Rotterdam goal-keeper, Ricardo Kieboom, was going to kick it.
That seemed rather harsh in a match that was keenly contested, but was played in good spirits.
Slade himself was not in such good spirits afterwards over the concerns about Manga’s injury. But as he reflects on this trip the Cardiff manager will take positives.
It has not just been the results, but in both matches here, Cardiff have shown flashes at least that they are heading in the right direction ahead of the start of the Championship season itself.
Cardiff City fought out a hard-earned 1-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam to make it two victories out of two on their pre-season tour of Holland.
The match was won by a wonderful second-half strike from in-form winger Anthony Pilkington, his third goal in three pre-season games, but the encounter was overshadowed by an injury to defender Bruno Manga that saw him stretchered off early on with what is feared to be a serious knee injury.
The big centre-half will have a scan in Wales on Monday, but there were real concerns here that the Gabon international could be set to miss the start of the Championship campaign.
Fellow centre-half Ben Turner is already set to miss the first few weeks of the new term following his ankle surgery and Russell Slade could find himself with a real crisis in the heart of his defence before a ball is even kicked in anger.
It was a shame for Slade and the Bluebirds because the manager again saw plenty to enjoy from his side in this friendly encounter.
As the rain drove down in the small Dutch town of Nijkerk, it looked like nothing would separate the Bluebirds and their opponents from the second-tier of the Dutch league.
That Cardiff took the win was down to one real moment of magic on 66 minutes as Pilkington, himself fighting back after a nightmare season with injury last year, struck a superb 25-yard strike into the top corner.
The Bluebirds just about deserved the victory after being frustrated and pinned back by Rotterdam for long periods of the match.
Following their 2-0 win over Israeli side Ironi Kiryat Shmona on Tuesday, Slade again shuffled his pack here looking to give his players an even amount of pitch time whilst they were out of the country.
Simon Moore played the entire 90 minutes in goal as he is readied to play the opening three games of the season due to number one David Marshall being suspended.
And it was thanks to Moore that Cardiff held on for the win, the shot-stopper had to pull off two great saves near the end, pushing one Rotterdam effort onto the bar.
The interesting inclusion was that of midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi who barely featured in his debut season following a raft of injuries himself last term.
The South African international had his own training regime this summer and here he lasted more than an hour. He did not look the most mobile at times, but did provide the assist for Pilkington’s goal at least.
Up front Slade switched things around again with Eoin Doyle coming in to partner Joe Mason from the off and just 20 minutes in it was Doyle who thought he had opened the scoring when he slipped in to glance the ball home only to see it ruled out for offside. Although it did look a very tight call.
The cross for that effort was provided by Sammy Ameobi who is in on loan from Newcastle for the season. Here Ameobi really drifted in and out of the game. He displayed some lovely touches and produced some dangerous crosses, but you get the feeling that when things get serious Bluebirds supporters might be demanding just a little bit more from the new man.
Rotterdam barely troubled the Cardiff goal in the first-half with Moore only called upon to clutch a Loris Brogno shot without too much difficulty.
The game was a stalemate for long periods with both sides finding it hard to make headway and a few opportunist strikes from distance were as direct as things got. Stuart O’Keefe let fly for Cardiff not long after the break, but the effort was always rising.
The game changed really on the hour when Slade made a raft of scheduled substitutions.
On came Craig Noone then and he certainly added a bit of fire to proceedings. With Fabio operating at right-back, after Lee Peltier was allowed to return home due to his wife being about to give birth, it was often a toss-up whether Noone or Fabio would be the more advanced Cardiff player down the right.
But it was thanks to that new impetus that Cardiff were able to see the pressure pay off when Pilkington fired home.
Late on Bluebirds striker Federico Macheda was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for blocking the ball as Rotterdam goal-keeper, Ricardo Kieboom, was going to kick it.
That seemed rather harsh in a match that was keenly contested, but was played in good spirits.
Slade himself was not in such good spirits afterwards over the concerns about Manga’s injury. But as he reflects on this trip the Cardiff manager will take positives.
It has not just been the results, but in both matches here, Cardiff have shown flashes at least that they are heading in the right direction ahead of the start of the Championship season itself.
Re: " CARDIFF CITY TONIGHT "
Fri Jul 24, 2015 7:50 pm
Great to hear there's a good feeling in the camp
Re: " CARDIFF CITY TONIGHT "
Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:02 pm
Forever Blue wrote:Great to hear there's a good feeling in the camp
Re: " CARDIFF CITY TONIGHT "
Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:31 pm
Manga's injury is a big big blow .... Let's hope he's not out for months!