When Cardiff City faced Norwich City back in our Premier League season, an incredible fifty eight shots were aimed at their goal over the two matches and yet, aided by a great deal of fortune, we ended up with four of the six points on offer.
An inspired David Marshall kept things at 0-0 at Carrow Road despite the home side having thirty one goal attempts and Norwich had only four fewer efforts to score when they were beaten 2-1 at Cardiff City Stadium. For all of Norwich’s good intentions, all they could manage was a Robert Snodgrass goal in the early minutes of a game they eventually lost thanks to an inspired start to the second half by City which brought them goals by Craig Bellamy and Kenwyne Jones within the space of a minute.
My memory of those matches was that, even as a biased City fan, I had to concede that Norwich were the better side in both games, but, by the same token, the fact that Norwich accompanied us into the Championship along with Fulham at the end of that season tells you that they weren’t in the habit of having twenty five plus attempts at goal in a match – the final league table told you they were a better team than us, but not by much.
Well, last night Brentford must have felt something like Norwich did five years ago as they added twenty four goal attempts to the twenty five they had at Cardiff City Stadium back in November and yet they ended up with one goal and no points to show from the two encounters.
City’s winning run now stands at an amazing seven matches and I would say that this latest victory was the most impressive one out of that septet. Brentford are no Norwich either. They have consistently been at the top of the Championship’s goal attempts and shots on target tables over the course of this season and are regarded as a very dangerous opponent capable of beating any side in our division on their day.
They also have a touch of the Fulham about them in that, unlike some, they play the game in the way we are told it should be played. Brentford are easy on the eye certainly and, although I wouldn’t agree with them, Fulham get the award for me, there are those who say they are best visiting side seen in a league game at our ground this season.
However, when you consider how we go about our business, it easy for some, myself very much included, to forget the things we are good at and stand in awe at how these sides that are infinitely more stylish and slick than us (or at least I think they are!) weave pretty patterns in front of us – I’d say “in front” being the operative words there.
I’ve seen last night’s match labelled Beauty v the Beast in some quarters and I’d say that anyone who needs to ask which team was which cannot be much of a fan of football in general and the Championship in particular.
However, the methods may be different, but the outcomes are not too much different when in comes to us and Brentford – they may be number one when it comes to goal attempts, but we are fourth when it comes to efforts on goal and second in the on target chart.
That on target stat is significant when it comes to this season’s City v Brentford matches as well, because the sides were level at seven each in Cardiff and last night we came out on top nine to six in a match which I thought was quite similar to the one down here in some respects.
Brentford must have left Wales four months ago rueing their luck after a 2-0 loss where they had played in a full part in one of the more entertaining matches we been involved in this season and the same could apply to our 3-1 victory at Griffin Park, but my memory is that, just as last night, we caused the Londoner’s defence all manner of problems whenever we attacked, while a lot of the myriad of shots and headers Brentford had at our goal flew high, wide and not very handsome (the genuine miss of the season candidate by Brentford’s Neal Maupay in the first match between the sides got plenty of mentions in Sky’s coverage last night).
Mind you, one difference between the two matches was how they started – in Cardiff, we began well and were in front through Joe Ralls inside the first ten minutes, while Brentford tore into us from the first whistle last night.
Indeed, the hosts could have been a goal up in fifteen seconds as we backed off our opponents in a most unWarnock like manner and we had to be grateful that Neil Etheridge was not dozing like so many of his team mates were as he produced a good save to keep out a Maupay effort.
The parallels with those Norwich matches continued – Snodgrass had scored in the fifth minute of the second game and Brentford were ahead a minute earlier as Marko Grujic was robbed in possession and Maupay was, rightly, adjudged to be just onside as he moved on to a pass and exorcised at least some of his Cardiff City Stadium demons by beating the onrushing Etheridge with a good, calm finish.
City were looking distinctly wobbly at this stage – Sky’s Don Goodman chose to praise Brentford’s effective pressing of the ball with their goal rather than criticise Grujic and they consistently won balls in dangerous areas of the pitch through this method in the first quarter of the match.It also needs to be said mind that we were contributing to our own problems with some particularly shoddy passing by some of our defenders at this stage.
As someone who had said he had seen a real decline in our level of performance in our last two matches (interestingly, the generally respected XG, expected goals, stats, as used on Match of the Day, had us losing the Barnsley and Birmingham matches which flies in the face of our normal results using this method), I’ll admit I could see nothing other than a, possibly heavy, defeat at this stage – in a game which had been labelled win or bust when it came to their Play Off hopes, Brentford were looking like they would be making sure that there was no way their promotion hopes would be ending.
In boxing terms, City had suffered an early knock down and were on the ropes looking to hold on in an attempt to ride out the Brentford storm – what I had not acknowledged though was that, occasionally, we were able to get off those ropes and put together some useful little clusters of punches ourselves at times.
In a sign of things to come, Kenneth Zohore used his mixture of pace and power to brush aside a defender and put over a low cross from which Callum Paterson forced the first of a series of good saves out of Daniel Bentley in the home goal, but the keeper was really struggling from the resultant corner as Junior Hoilett’s flag kick glanced off the crossbar and over.
City were still very much second best at this stage though as Bruno Manga (playing at right back with Sean Morrison returning to central defence) picked up a yellow card for a foul right on the edge of the penalty area, but at least, there were now a few of those good defensive blocks which have typified our defending over the past seven months to suggest that our heads were clearing somewhat.
Nevertheless, it still came as something of a surprise to see us level in the twenty fifth minute. Bentley made another good save, this time from Hoilett, and, as City unusually for them opted for a short corner, the ball eventually found it’s way towards the edge of the penalty area.
If City’s equaliser came as a shock. the scorer and the nature of the goal was a bigger one as Sol Bamba took a touch and then hooked in a shot which beat Bentley all ends up for what the inspirational defender called probably the best goal of his career.
What followed was, in some ways, as impressive as anything we’ve produced this season. One of my concerns about our previous two matches was a general lack of poise and authority in our play. Yes, I accept that this is not a team that will ever find it easy to take the sting out of a game by passing the ball around among themselves like so many others do, but there should be signs that we have the belief and confidence that comes with being second in the table with games running out and on a winning run – I didn’t think those things were there against Barnsley and Birmingham, but they certainly were last night.
That is not to say that we walked all over Brentford once it got to 1-1, they were still causing us problems and the under appreciated Etheridge was still being called into action, but the home side’s pressing wasn’t quite as effective as it had been and, if they hadn’t already known it after the game in Cardiff, we were showing we had the forward ammunition to cause them problems in open play as well as from set pieces.
After ending his scoring drought on Saturday, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing could, and perhaps, should have made it two goals in two games as he moved on to a lovely Loic Damour pass, but Bentley again did well to dive at his feet and claim the ball. The winger was looking more like the man voted the Championship’s best player back in August and, with Hoilett his usual bright and sharp self on the other flank, the home side full backs had their hands full.
Two seasons ago, Kenneth Zohore, then very much a hit or miss performer, almost rescued a point for City from 2-0 down as he scored and led the Brentford defence a merry dance in one of a few displays from that season which hinted that he may have something to offer at this level and last season, he scored his first goal of his campaign on Boxing Day as he started on the transition from candidate to be loaned out to Belgian football to one of the most effective strikers in the division over the second half of 2016/17.
So, Kenneth seems to like Griffin Park and it was he, backed up by the raiding Paterson, who became the biggest problem for the home defence. However, Zohore played very little part in the goal which put City into the lead as Paterson scored at exactly the same time as he had done against Birmingham on Saturday.
City were given a hand by Brentford though with some “flakey” football that you just could not imagine coming from us. In contrast to his goalkeeping, Bentley’s kicking had been on the erratic side all night and so it proved again when he played the ball to home right back Josh Clarke in a desire to “build from the back” and put him in an awkward situation which Hoilett exploited as he burst forward past another defender and crossed into the path on the onrushing Paterson who gave the keeper no chance with a first time shot from around the penalty spot
The home side could, justifiably, claim that they were unlucky to be behind at the break, but, in a less frenetic second half, City were able to largely keep Brentford at arm’s length while suggesting that they had more goals in them as well.
When one did come, it maintained Zohore’s recent penchant for scoring the sort of typical striker’s goal that he has, at times, looked incapable of providing – Paterson and Hoilett won headers following a Bruno Manga free kick and the Dane anticipated better than Wales Under 21 centreback Chris Mepham to nudge the ball in from inside the six yard box to follow up his recent efforts against Ipswich and Bristol City from similar distances.
Zohore also had a couple of headers which could have brought goals, but City had done enough as they managed to see out a late Brentford rally and there was the opportunity to get Gary Madine, Yanic Wildschut and Armand Traoré involved again after recent absences from the team.
The home side may have been hindered by the absence of a couple of important players through injury and the return of Madine, Traore, Morrison and Matt Connolly (who was an unused sub) suggests that things are better than they were for us on the injury front, but we were still without, arguably, our three most influential central midfielders (Ralls, Aron Gunnarsson and Craig Bryson), Lee Peltier, Jazz Richards and the two Wards (no doubt someone will remind me of the names of anyone I’ve missed).
Therefore, although our opponents will, invariably, be missing players through injury, I’d say that for much of the time since October, that’s applied more to us in ninety per cent of our games. To maintain a top two challenge so long in such circumstances is astonishing for a club that does not have the spending power of the the other five clubs that currently occupy the automatic promotion and Play Off places.
While such a fine win is reason to celebrate enough, there was even more grounds for optimism despite Wolves recording their second 3-0 win (this one over Jaap Stam’s struggling Reading) in a week to send out a signal to those who are saying they will end up in the Play Offs. Meanwhile, the side which demolished them 4-1 on Saturday came a cropper to the tune of a 3-1 home defeat by unheralded QPR. Aston Villa now find themselves seven points behind us and one in front of Fulham with all three of the teams who are probably playing to earn the right to accompany Wolves into the Premier League through the automatic promotion route having nine games to play.
Of course, we still have to go to Villa amid what looks a testing end to the season, but we are now in the territory whereby calculations can be made as to how we can make sure of a top two finish and the truth is that, no matter what happens at Villa Park, if we win seven out of our last nine, we are guaranteed second place, at least. Yes, it’s still a tall order to do that, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the two sides pursuing us can afford very few further slip ups if they are to have a chance of overhauling us.
Very good summary as always Paul.
I enjoyed watching the game on tv and would agree it was a very impressive performance, every player merited a minimum 7 at least.
The Warnock game plan is effective and making a nonsense of the stats. Brentford struggled with our physicality as most teams do. Its all very well playing pretty football but at the end of the day its about putting the ball in the onion sack.
With the buffer we now have and the winning run, the team must be feeling confident they can finish the job. QPR did us a big favour, perhaps they can repeat it against Fulham.
Paul = Cracking report as always. I watched the game at my son’s house, and we both agreed that after the first few minutes, we were in for a right old pasting. Brentford were good, and were creating chances almost at will, but after Maupay’s goal, we stood firm and Etheridge was outstanding. I have the feeling that those in front of him must take great encouragement knowing that they have a very efficient last line of defence which must add to their own determination to put their bodies on the line – which they did frequently.
Bamba’s goal strike was perfection, with Paterson’s not being far behind. But as my son and I agreed, our second came out of the blue and only confirms your own view that we have an attacking ability, reinforced by statistics that show how many of our attempts are on target.
Because we never seem to win the possession statistics, the second half did cause a few anxieties, but thankfully, our Kenneth’s strength and commitment in reaching the knockdown to prod the ball home eased my worries and in truth, we may well have increased our lead had it not been for some stout Bees defending.
So a very solid performance all round, and a team spirit that commands respect. Villa’s reverse only added to our own success. Difficult games lay ahead, but if we continue to perform as we did last night, a top two spot awaits.
Thanks Paul for all your fantastic reports.
What a night for Cardiff City. Our 2 games against Brentford say everything about the Bluebirds.
Last night Clive Allen said it was a combination of Pace & Power but I would add Character, Team Spirit and an unbelievable will to win. It isn’t over but Villa have gone from Hero to Zero in 4 days.
Hi Paul, thanks again for the great report.
I was expecting a bad night at Brentford but what a really professional job the team carried out. Great result there.
I think Etheridge deserves a mention in the way he’s progressed. He’s always been a good shot stopper but his kicking was a major cause for concern and you got the feeling the defence never had much confidence in him. I saw none of this last night or the last few games and thought he had an excellent game and has improved greatly this season.
I’m a bit fed up listening to everybody (media) talking down about our style. I think the rule is that you don’t take chances and hoof it away if there’s nothing on. Maybe a bit crude but it’s for sure effective. We don’t often lose goals messing about in possession (like Grujic last night). Add to this that we are great to watch going forward and I can live with a few hoofs up the field, rather than watching pointless tippy tappy passing between the back four and midfield. Maybe check out the link to see that passing is used to measure possession a lot and you’ll see why our figures are low
http://leastthing.blogspot.dk/2012/02/how-ball-possession-is-measured-in.html
We’re not there yet but would need a major collapse now not to get promoted.
Unbelievable what NW and his staff have done considering the injuries this year.
Thanks for the report Paul. Very informative as ever.
Missed the game as no access to sky and no radio coverage due to being away. Therefore Followed via text commentary on the bbc app and after 5 mins was fearing the worst.
I should have had more faith as your report and highlights I have now seen confirmed our pace and power again saw us through.
Agree that Brentford were one of the easier on the eye teams to visit us this year but,again, no match for us once we get our power game going.
Yes we have some tough games coming up but there is some clear daylight building now and momentum on our side. Keeping everything crossed but last night and 7 on the bounce is a fantastic achievement.
Thanks Paul I though the same as you they had a “touch of the Fulham” only a touch though , it was a game I think a lot of us felt we might be beaten , well that did not happen , even after there express train start .
I felt they tried to be too clever , and did not have the physical answer to our power and strengths in the conflict of winning mucky balls .
Patterson for me is fast becoming a legend, he unsettles so many , his power in the box is massive and you see why hes in midfield as an enforcer .
I would hate to face us in defend corners ,and I’m beginning to wonder as team watch and learn more about us we maybe developing a psychological fear factor before we even kick a ball , and that is supported my by the many negative comments we are receiving from the sexier clubs and their managers.
We have developed winning mentality which will be hard to shift , we have gone through a rough patch and we know how and why so that may rule out a big dip like that again .
A win against Derby , I think may seal our destiny .
Olie please get QPR up once again on Saturday , for yer old mate Warnock
Paul,
In a dazzling report, this paragraph especially stood out: what a fine sporting analogy it is…
‘…
In boxing terms, City had suffered an early knock down and were on the ropes looking to hold on in an attempt to ride out the Brentford storm – what I had not acknowledged though was that, occasionally, we were able to get off those ropes and put together some useful little clusters of punches ourselves at times.
…’
Splendid.
In a wonderful team effort, two players stood out for me. First, Neil Etheridge.
You will recall that I stood up for this fellow when some of our MAYA brethren renounced him thrice before the cock crowed. My only complaint has been his occasional desire to find players on the touchline with his kicks, and then almost invariably find touch.*
But as a keeper, it seems to me that his athleticism is top notch, and I particularly applaud his starting positions and speed in coming out to smother emergencies. And on a quirkier note…gee, I love his …TOGS.
That pale turquoise goalkeeping kit is quite the most beautiful on display in the whole four tiers…!! And to borrow and slightly take a liberty with that catchphrase of the late Frank Carson: “It’s the way he WEARS it, sure it is…!!”
Goodness…were I forty years younger, I might even start to question my lifelong heterosexuality…!!??
And the we come to SuperCal. All my claims expressed to you on the day we signed him from Hearts, have not turned out to be even remotely hyperbolic.
Not only will he one day captain Cardiff City, he will captain his country too.
* We should though be thankful for small mercies. At least he does find touch with his inaccurate kicks: as you say, Daniel Bentley’s attempt at “playing the ball out” with a kick aimed deliberately to a teammate standing on the touchline, ended up in SuperCal scoring our second goal.
Thank you, Paul and fellow responders.
Except for the worrying opening ten minutes or so I thought we put in an excellent performance.
A couple of thoughts we need a fully fit right back please. Much as I admire Manga as a centre-back he is a rather mediocre full-back. He doesn’t look comfortable there and it seems to affect his confidence and judgement. We are doing surprisingly well in midfield during the absence of Joe Ralls, plenty of energy from all three. I think Damour is probably guilty of trying too hard, desperate to impress Warnock into making him a starter. Hoilett is probably the first name on the team sheet, he is much the most threatening attacking player in the side. Our Ken is showing glimpses of his best and I think I saw him get quite a powerful header!! on target. Menzies-Laing is a bit of an enigma, probably winning the Championship Player of the Month early in the season didn’t do him any favours, not just that it may have given him the wrong idea of his ability but it alerted other teams to the threat he posed and they endeavoured to stop him, successfully as it has turned out.
Brentford were very impressive early but as soon as we woke up and worked them out they seemed to run out of ideas and enthusiasm. They seemed to have a problem in the middle of the defence and the area just in front of that, basically where Patterson scored his goal and we had a couple of other chances that were either blocked or saved.
I would dearly love to see us beat Derby on Sunday they are one of my least favourite teams.
Too much house moving stuff going today to reply in any great detail to your much appreciated messages, but a couple of things took my eye – thanks for the link Anthony, having read that and bearing the fact that we are the team who are at the bottom of the number of passes per match stats in mind, we are always going to struggle to get more than 50/50 possession on the Opta stats.
Dai, didn’t I see somewhere that Etheridge has been a male model in his time?
One other thing, welcome on board Mike (I believe that was your first contribution on here).
Good luck with the move, Paul.
Bloody stressful.
Thanks for keeping the blog going.
With over 2 1/2 hours to waste after our early arrival at Griffin Park on Tuesday night, the anticipated road chaos not materialising, much time was available to ponder the possible outcomes of Match 37 of the 2017-2018 season. Few could have budgetted for the way the initial minutes progressed when proceedings actually got under way. After 20 minutes, foreboding must have gripped most of the Blue Army packed behind Neil Etheridge ‘s goal. Thankfully the events that unfolded in the following 70 plus minutes radically wrestled control back in a game that was well on the way to being lost and list emphatically. As the final minutes of the game ebbed away this fan had come to the conclusion that this was the performance of the season.
City again started with a 4411 formation; Brentford at 100 mph. Damour was the choice to partner Grujic in the centre of the City midfield and the customary Paterson behind Zohore. Playing a 4231 system with both full backs and both flank players hugging the touchlines two chasms of space existed down the home teams inside right and inside left channels. With Paterson ostensibly playing well forward City’s four were simply stretched and over-run by Brentford’s five. The Bees repeatedly made incisive runs, utilising the space available. One-nil down, after 5 minutes, Brentford could have had three by the 15th.
What City needed to do tactically, and did, was akin to plunging your head in an ice-cold bath to clear the head. City upped their game, Paterson dropped 10 yds deeper, thought quicker and, like their hosts, started moving the ball more quickly.
After Brentford’s very good start Bamba’s excellent strike just inside the left hand post sent a shock wave through the home team. Paterson’s late arrival into the Brentford box before coolly hitting the ball high into the middle of the goal made it 2-1 to the Bluebirds on the stroke of half time. Thankfully a superhuman effort by one and all had rescued the first half of a game that could have been out of sight had it not been for good goalkeeping and last ditch defending.
Only one more goal came during a far more assured last half of the game. Zohore darted in between Brentford ‘keeper and centre half to toe-poke the ball into the left hand back corner of the net via the left post. Absolute carnage followed between the Brentford goal line and City fans as another human pyramid of players was constructed, Bamba once again placing himself on top, to celebrate the 3-1 scoreline.
Following so soon on from the recent penalty controversy at CCS this game, too, was not without a number of incidents in the box:
– Grujic clearly handled a ball that was crossed into the penalty area
– a Brentford player on the ground handled the ball
– the Brentford goalkeeper clearly clattered into the onrushing Zohore.
In each case no penalty was awarded. In fairness to the ref he was probably unsighted for the second incident whilst the last one, which left Zohore on the deck, might have viewed as an accidental collision. The Grujic handball was, from my vantage point, a clearer matter altogether.
Again, after the game, we had the issue of an opposite manager saying that the referee had not been assertive enough in preventing City’s physical approach. The following statistics from the Fairplay League show what City fans know: City are neither overly physical or dirty. In fact City are SIXTH, one place above Wolves and only three places below Brentford (3rd). Don’t you just love managers who, through incorrect opinion, seek to justify a defeat with something like, “It wasn’t our fault. We played beautiful football but that lot of thugs got away with murder due to a weak referee.” For the record City are a tall side, athletic, powerful, close the opposition down quickly and attack with pace.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/championship/fairnesstabelle/wettbewerb/GB2
So, all visiting fans returned home to S Wales satisfied with that night’s game. Now we are just one game away from the international break and the opportunity to get more of the injured back out on the pitch for the final eight games of the season.