Cardiff City produced a commanding display against Sunderland and bounced back from their midweek defeat by Watford to earn a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light.
By Glen Williams
Joe Ralls missed an early penalty for Cardiff and it looked like it was going to be one of those days when nothing went in for them, but Mark Harris' second-half strike was enough to earn the Bluebirds a precious three points.
There was just one change for Cardiff heading into the match and it was an attacking one, with Sheyi Ojo brought in to play in the No.10 role instead of Andy Rinomhota.
It meant Cardiff started a game for the first time with a front four of Mark Harris, Sheyi Ojo, Jaden Philogene and Callum O'Dowda and, it must be said, they shot out of the traps and dominated the early chances.
The Bluebirds were all over the opposition and carved out a number of early chances, including an excellent breakaway move which saw Mark Harris slot in Ojo for a 1v1 chance, which was deflected wide. In truth, it should have been the opening goal.
But Sunderland were to ride their luck again in the 12th minute, when Danny Batth hauled down Philogene six yards from goal to prevent him from tapping in. Andy Davies pointed to the spot and brandished the yellow card, but the blue-shirt-wearing contingent inside the ground rightly questioned why the colour of the card wasn't red.
Either way, it was a golden opportunity for City to take the lead, but Joe Ralls' well-struck penalty was a nice height for Anthony Patterson, who dived to his left and parried away.
Every so often the Black Cats would produce a moment to make you sit up and take notice, like when Amad Diallo beat Ryan Wintle and hit a shot towards the bottom corner, only to see Perry Ng scrambling to get it away from the danger area at the last gasp.
But let's not beat around the bush, Cardiff were dominant and should have gone into the break in front.
Philogene was at his dancing best, creating chances for himself and others. The best opportunity for him in the first half was when he cut in from the right, beating two players in the process, before sliding a low shot towards the bottom corner, but Patterson saved well. Later in he half, the Villa loanee was found by a world-class, outside-of-the-boot ball from Niels Nkounkou before he lay the ball into Ojo's path in the box - but it was just inches away from the forward's outstretched boot.
When the half-time whistle rang out, there were noticeable boos from the home fans, who clearly knew they had been outplayed in the first half.
And the supporters weren't any happier at the start of the second half, either, when Mahlon Romeo's low cross/shot was turned in by Harris to put the visitors in front. A brilliantly-taken chance by the striker. No less than Cardiff deserved, really.
Then Cardiff rang the changes and the whole complexion of the game shifted. The Bluebirds brought on more defensive players and the Black Cats were emboldened. Out of nowhere, it soon became attack versus defence.
But through Perry Ng, Cedric Kipre and Curtis Nelson, the Bluebirds did well to snuff out the chances and cling on to that clean sheet.
Not a bad result for Mark Hudson ahead of his crunch meeting with City chiefs next week, that's for sure.
Cardiff City XI: Allsop; Romeo, Ng, Kipre, Nkounkou; Wintle, Ralls; Philogene (Sawyers 58), Ojo (Nelson 72), O'Dowda (Rinomhota 72); Harris (Watters 58, Whyte 90).
Subs: Alnwick, Sang.
Sunderland XI: Patterson; O'Nien, Wright, Batth, Cirkin; Neil (Pritchard 57), Ba (Evans 57), Roberts (Bennette 67), Amad; Clarke, Simms (Embleton 73).
Subs: Bass, Matete, Hume.
Attendance: 37,015
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