Cardiff City beaten all too easily by quality Leeds United side

Cardiff City were beaten all too easily on Saturday afternoon by automatic promotion hopefuls Leeds United. Keen to make up ground on those above, Leeds were quick out of the blocks at the Cardiff City Stadium, and they were ahead within 13 minutes after seeing early efforts thwarted by Jak Alnwick..

Crysencio Summerville, who made easy work of Perry NG for much of the afternoon, twisted and turned before crossing from the byline. Patrick Bamford saw his initial effort blocked from close range, but he was able to scoop home from a seated position.

Cardiff initially responded positively, but they were unable to create any real chances, and former Swansea City man Daniel James made it two just past the half-hour mark, drifting in to tap home from close range.

Karlan Grant was unlucky to get the Bluebirds back into the game before the break, attempting to flick the ball over Leeds keeper Illan Mesier, who raced out of his box, but the ball didn’t quite make it over the head of the Frenchman, who cut out the chance with a header. It got worse for Cardiff when Joe Ralls limped off with a muscular injury two minutes before half time, forcing Rubin Colwill into action.

The Bluebirds didn’t produce much more after the break, either, with Leeds spending much of the second period surrounding rhe Bluebirds’ box. Bulut’s men did improve a little defensively, though, largely managing to restrict the visitors to efforts from outside the box, at least until the visitors won a penalty for a trip by Mark McGuinness. Summerville hit the post from the resulting spot-kick, though.

Ollie Tanner came close with a deflected effort with just a couple of minutes to go, but shortly after, a defensive mix-up sent James through down Cardiff’s left-hand side. The Welshman crossed for Summerville, who cut the ball back, and after Bamford dummied to shoot, Georginio Rutter slotted home to make it 3-0.

The Bluebirds now turn attention to next weekend’s away clash with Plymouth Argyle, but results elsewhere mean they remain three points off the playoffs for now, albeit Sunderland play Ipswich Town on Saturday evening with the chance to extend that gap.

Erol Buut will be disappointed with how his men handled this one, but it does feel like a unique season in the Championship, with all three of the relegated teams having kept many of their Premier League-quality players, creating a gap between them and many of the other second tier sides. The Bluebirds have learned that the hard way over the last couple of weeks, first at home to Leicester and now against Leeds.