GREG CUNNINGHAM'S BEST GAME TO DATE

Greg Cunningham's best Cardiff City game and respect from Leicester City fans — what you may have missed from 1-0 win
By Dominic Booth

Neil Warnock's side deserve the plaudits for the way they played, but other events caught the eye too


Cardiff City's first away win of the season saw penalty-saver Neil Etheridge and goal hero Victor Camarasa grab the headlines.


Yet their 1-0 triumph at Leicester City was packed with action and incident.


Here are some things you might have missed amid all the King Power Stadium drama...


Mutual respect

Modern football often rails against a litany of negative labels.

Greed, hooliganism, abuse.


And recent racism allegations have done little to boost the game's image among the wider public, but something happened before Leicester versus Cardiff that gave a glimmer of hope in the darkness.

Neither set of supporters could forget the tragic circumstances that surrounded their meeting at Cardiff City Stadium earlier in the season.

The death of Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others in a tragic helicopter crash outside the King Power gave that game a sombre feel, though the Bluebirds greatly respected the occasion and what it meant to Foxes fans.

That respect was reciprocated before this game kicked off with the stadium announcer revealing Leicester's gratitude for how Cardiff dealt with it all. The entire stadium joined together in applause, with a genuine mutual respect between the two sides.

Of course, it was business as usual once the whistle went, but it was a nice moment nonetheless and the goodwill between the sides largely continued even during the match.


Vardy's exit a stroke of luck

Those who have studied Leicester this season will have noted that their regular penalty taker wasn't on the field to take on Neil Etheridge from 12 yards.

Vardy is normally unerring from the spot, whereas James Maddison - the man to step up in the England striker's absence - had missed his previous penalty.

Claude Puel's removal of Vardy, then, will come under huge scrutiny from Leicester afficionados. The Frenchman insisted his main centre forward was "tired", hence the decision to replace him with Kelechi Iheanacho.

But the Foxes fans were not happy.

It was a stroke of luck for Cardiff, although Etheridge deserves all the plaudits for his third penalty save of the season.


He might have been helped by Maddison's lacklustre effort - and Vardy's early exit - but the Cardiff goalkeeper is turning into something of a penalty saving specialist.

The Philippines international has earned the Bluebirds an extra five points this season.

They currently sit four points above the relegation zone.


Cunningham under the radar

For all Etheridge's heroics, Bamba's brilliance at the back and of course the incredible Camarasa, there was one Cardiff performance that shouldn't go unnoticed.

Greg Cunningham seemed to be in the right place at the right time - every time.

As well as his numerous interceptions to put out the Leicester fires, the Irishman displayed an incredible work ethic that typified the entire Bluebirds effort.

He is very much a team player, part of a Warnock-inspired collective in the Cardiff defence.

And despite coming from Preston with a reputation for no-nonsense defensive solidity, his adventure on the overlap was a much-needed new dimension that will help Cardiff compete with teams like Leicester.

It's no exaggeration to call this Cunningham's best performance in a Bluebirds shirt. He's given Warnock a real selection headache for the Tottenham match.


Referee down, but not out

Simon Hooper isn't what you'd call an established Premier League referee.

This was just his fourth game of the season officiating in the English top flight, yet he made a number of big decisions at Leicester and got most of them right.

Neil Warnock called the penalty decision "iffy", but even if it was the lightest of touches from Sean Morrison on Maddison's shoulder, it was enough to justify Hooper's decision.

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I’m not going to comment on if it was or wasn’t his best game to date. And I know he did well at times. He also almost scored an own goal from switching off for a second, and then in the second half back passed it to Etheridge when Vardy was inches away from stealing it.

Strange out of the whole 11 to shine a light on him considering those 2 mistakes which could have been costly.

He didn’t do much Better than Manga in my
Opinion, and although Manga played very well it certainly wasn’t Mangas best game.

Just find it this post odd? Idk

I thought he really struggled against albrighton first half and was saved a few times by Bamba.

Second half he got it together and controlled his man especially when the sub came on. He seems betted against pacey wingers than tricky skifull ones

I think he's a great player and doesn't get enough game time because Bennet is one of the best in the league , but I've got to say that he did happen to make a few bad mistakes during this game, namely nearly scoring an own goal and injuring Harry Arter by stepping on his ankle.
On the whole though I'd love to see him playing more and I only mention this in light of the thread subject

I think he's a great player and doesn't get enough game time because Bennet is one of the best in the league , but I've got to say that he did happen to make a few bad mistakes during this game, namely nearly scoring an own goal and injuring Harry Arter by stepping on his ankle.
On the whole though I'd love to see him playing more and I only mention this in light of the thread subject

Good points made and I see where you're coming from' particularly with Joe Bennett. Maybe the author was just looking at the relative 'newbie' in the team and how he was adapting after his move from the Championship?

I’m not going to comment on if it was or wasn’t his best game to date. And I know he did well at times. He also almost scored an own goal from switching off for a second, and then in the second half back passed it to Etheridge when Vardy was inches away from stealing it.

Strange out of the whole 11 to shine a light on him considering those 2 mistakes which could have been costly.

He didn’t do much Better than Manga in my
Opinion, and although Manga played very well it certainly wasn’t Mangas best game.

Just find it this post odd? Idk

I find your post odd too,you say he didn't do much better than Manga, although Manga played very well how does that work? If Manga played very well,and in your words,cunningham didn't do much better,but better,or at least as good as Manga, which after much confusion,he played very well then

I’m not going to comment on if it was or wasn’t his best game to date. And I know he did well at times. He also almost scored an own goal from switching off for a second, and then in the second half back passed it to Etheridge when Vardy was inches away from stealing it.

Strange out of the whole 11 to shine a light on him considering those 2 mistakes which could have been costly.

He didn’t do much Better than Manga in my
Opinion, and although Manga played very well it certainly wasn’t Mangas best game.

Just find it this post odd? Idk

I find your post odd too,you say he didn't do much better than Manga, although Manga played very well how does that work? If Manga played very well,and in your words,cunningham didn't do much better,but better,or at least as good as Manga, which after much confusion,he played very well then

That's the point I was making. He didn't do better than the rest of the team, I mentioned Manga as he's playing in the same position on the other side as a direct comparison. There's no individual posts about him. This may well have been Cunningham's best game but he wasn't sensational or in my opinion worth a mention, hence his mistakes. Which is why I find the post odd to highlight that he had his best game. Sammy Ameobi, Marouane Chamakh, Kieran Richardson and Kagisho Dikgacoi would have played their best game for us at some point during their city careers, but pretty sure it wasn't good enough to be worth mentioning. I wouldn't rate him higher than a 6 if I'm being honest. He might have got a 7 IF he hadn't made those 2 near damning mistakes.

I thought he really struggled against albrighton first half and was saved a few times by Bamba.

Second half he got it together and controlled his man especially when the sub came on. He seems betted against pacey wingers than tricky skifull ones

same here, I though he did ok..
possibly his best game for us but his other appearances didn't exactly set the bar very high

I’m not going to comment on if it was or wasn’t his best game to date. And I know he did well at times. He also almost scored an own goal from switching off for a second, and then in the second half back passed it to Etheridge when Vardy was inches away from stealing it.

Strange out of the whole 11 to shine a light on him considering those 2 mistakes which could have been costly.

He didn’t do much Better than Manga in my
Opinion, and although Manga played very well it certainly wasn’t Mangas best game.

Just find it this post odd? Idk

I find your post odd too,you say he didn't do much better than Manga, although Manga played very well how does that work? If Manga played very well,and in your words,cunningham didn't do much better,but better,or at least as good as Manga, which after much confusion,he played very well then

That's the point I was making. He didn't do better than the rest of the team, I mentioned Manga as he's playing in the same position on the other side as a direct comparison. There's no individual posts about him. This may well have been Cunningham's best game but he wasn't sensational or in my opinion worth a mention, hence his mistakes. Which is why I find the post odd to highlight that he had his best game. Sammy Ameobi, Marouane Chamakh, Kieran Richardson and Kagisho Dikgacoi would have played their best game for us at some point during their city careers, but pretty sure it wasn't good enough to be worth mentioning. I wouldn't rate him higher than a 6 if I'm being honest. He might have got a 7 IF he hadn't made those 2 near damning mistakes.

Good post.

I want (like you, I'm sure) Cunningham to come good and cement his position in the team. However, there was little in the Leicester game to suggest he'll do that anytime soon.

This is exactly why we shouldn’t give praise to a medoicre player for having an ‘okay’ game featuring 2 near match ruining mistakes from him... he goes and has his worst game of the season straight after.

He looked dodgy against Leicester and he WAS dodgy today. Let’s stop giving out false praise just because you want a signing to work out. He’s the Gary Madine Of Full backs