Match report and verdict from Cardiff City’s Good Friday defeat to Sunderland

Cardiff City put on a miserable display on Good Friday, suffering defeat at home to Sunderland and making it back-to-back defeats in the process.

The Bluebirds were let down by their back four, who put themselves in trouble regularly and failed to deal with the lively Adil Aouchiche and Jobe Bellingham.

Josh Bowler came close on the 10-minute mark, cutting inside and hitting the side-netting with a powerful strike from outside the area. Less than a minute later, Sunderland were awarded a penalty when Dimitrios Goutas shoved Bellingham to the ground after the midfielder was gifted the ball out of nothing. Aouchiche blasted the penalty down high and central to put the visitors ahead.

Bellingham was again at the centre of the action in the 27th minute, popping up at the back post to turn home a well-placed Aouchich cross. Cardiff were too easily opened up, and there were close calls in the lead up to the second goal.

Aaron Ramsey was brought on at the break, as was Famara Diedhiou. Bulut had little choice but to go for it in the second half, and he won’t have been impressed by what he saw from his side in the first half.

Cardiff did up the pressure but they still failed to create clear-cut chances for the most part. Ryan Wintle was also lucky not to be sent off for a rash challenge just past the hour mark. By that point, heads had well and truly dropped, making for a hard-to-watch final half-hour aside from Goutas hitting the bar with a header and Perry Ng saving a third goal with a superb sliding tackle. Ethan Horvath was also instrumental in keeping the score down.

Yakou Meite was brought on to add some physicality in the last 15 minutes, but he, like the substitutes before him, couldn’t add order to a clumsy Cardiff performance.

Verdict

Cardiff actually started well, moving the ball nicely, but after they gifted away the first goal with a combination of a poor pass and a silly push from Goutas, heads dropped. Suddenly, the Bluebirds were easily opened up, and the second goal came about all too easily. Much of the danger came from the back four themselves, with Goutas and Phillips both guilty of poor distribution.

The game was over after the second goal, in truth, with Cardiff dropping off after a flurry of pressure early in the second half. City’s system of play simply doesn’t work without distribution from the back-line, and it was sorely lacking here. A poor performance and the final nail in the coffin as far as any playoff hopes are concerned.