Meite wins it as Cardiff show signs of life.

1 Response to Meite wins it as Cardiff show signs of life.

1. Blue Bayou says:

   March 16, 2025 at 10:04 am

   When our starting 11 was announced I saw a couple of fans comments complaining that there was no pace in the team, and that it was a negative selection from Omer.
   My view though, was after too many dreadful starts to away games in 2025, Omer had taken a leaf out of the Neil Warnock away team selection, by selecting a team that would be competitive and stay in the game for the first 60-70 minutes, and then bring on some attacking subs to try and win us the game.
   While that’s ultimately what happened, there were several bumps along the way.
   While there was no shortage of effort from Ralls and Rinhomota early on, neither looked 100% fit after returning from injury and both had to be replaced.
   As is often said, many of these type of games are decided by fine margins.
   While I believe Blackburn’s goal that was ruled offside was the correct decision, it was very tight, and we’ve seen more blatant offside decisions not flagged this season.
   Similarly, as you mention Paul, Hovarth made a superb diving save to keep out a Tronstadt rasper from inside the box.
   In the second half Blackburn had lots of good possession and build-up play, but like teams who are struggling, couldn’t find the final killer pass or shot and Hovarth seemed less busy.
   I wasn’t very impressed by Blackburns defending though, and all three goals could have been defended better.
   Describing our winning goal, I see that a Blackburn journal said ‘sometimes you just have to put your hands up and acknowledge a great build-up and finish’.
   While I agree that it was a fantastic goal from our point of view, perhaps I’m being a little grumpy when I say that I wouldn’t have been happy if O’Dowda had skipped past and left our player, and then if our central defender had allowed a striker to nip in front of him to guide his header past the keeper.
   Hopefully that goal can give Meite the confidence to contribute more goals before the end of the season. He certainly seemed positive and upbeat in his post-match interview, and I always think there’s no shortage of effort from him when he plays – something we’ll need if we are to retain our Championship status.
   The final twist that went our way was the awarding and then reversing the decision to award Blackburn an injury time penalty.
   While the correct decision was ultimately made, we’ve again seen poor decisions given against us this season, so we should be grateful that common sense prevailed this time.
   Whilst this was a great and much needed win, which Omer acknowledged afterwards, there was no smiling from him, and he said that this was just the first of nine cup finals before the end of the season, so we can tick this one off and move on to the remaining eight.
   Yet again I think Omer’s got that right!