Cardiff City advanced to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup by beating Stoke City on penalties after a period of extra time didn’t separate the teams that had finished locked at 3-3 after ninety minutes of action which rather encapsulated what sort of side Omer Riza’s Cardiff are.
For the first half an hour of the game, City were were dominant as they moved the ball about stylishly and effectively. True, the home team weren’t at the races in those early minutes and, right from the start, it was an open affair between two teams who, with important midweek league games coming up, did not want the rigours of an extra half an hour if it could be avoided.
It looked like there’d be no chance of extra time in the early stages – this City squad has a higher number of talented individuals in it than ones of recent seasons have had and we got more evidence of that early on.
City, with only Andy Rinomhota and Anwar El Ghazi surviving from the starting line up for the horror show at Leeds, and Aaron Ramsey captaining the team in his first appearance in the senior team since August soon settled. The thirty four year old with bad memories of this ground (ridiculously, he was booed throughout by the home fans for the “crime” of having his leg badly broken by lumbering centreback Ryan Shawcross in a Stoke v Arsenal game at this ground fifteen years ago) and Sivert Mannsverk established a midfield superiority as, benefiting from the absence of any effective pressing from Stoke, they were able to pop the ball about as City played out from the back as effectively as they’d done all season. With their passing invariably played forward, City were able to play through the home team to get the ball into attacking areas far quicker than normal.
With Al Ghazi and Chris Willock lively on the wings, and Rubin Colwill through the middle looking more like the player who did so well back in the autumn, City were getting themselves into promising positions from minute one. There was a hint of things to come though when Lewis Koumas got free down the left too easily and eventually netted, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.the first valid chance though came for Colwill who , showing the lack of confidence when it comes to finishing that has crept into his game through the course of the season, dragged his shot wide from a promising position on the edge of the penalty area.
However, when a fluent counter attack worked him into space on the right four minutes later , Colwill cut in, beat a couple of opponents and drilled his shot low past Jack Bonham in the home goal from virtually the same position as his earlier effort.
A goal to the good on eight minutes, a surprisingly relaxed and assured City team we’re putting last week’s embarrassment behind them as they pushed for a second goal and Yousef Salech, another one making a first start, maybe should have done better as he glanced a fine Willock cross wide.
The striker didn’t have to wait long for his second goal for his new club though as Joel Bagan, partnering Will Fish at centre back played one of those very good long passes he can pick out with his left foot. This one was into the area behind home skipper Ben Gibson and, hunder pressure from Saalech, the veteran hesitated and he waited for Bonham, who was slow coming off his line. Salech then stretched to jab the ball wide of the keeper and it rolled slowly in to put City two up inside twenty minutes.
With sections of the crowd on their back, a lethargic home team were really struggling as Ramsey sent a powerful shot not too far over, but, almost imperceptibly, the game began to switch as Ramsey and Mannsverk (who I thought had a good game) started to lose their grip on the midfield.
The game then began to enter its second phase and,if the first one tended to emphasise positive traits about Riza’s Cardiff, this was more about negative aspects – in particular, its soft centre.
Although Fish and Bagan generally stood up to things well in the first half and Rinomhota had won the early rounds of his dual with Koumas, there were, nevertheless, signs that City could be got at in defence – Luey Giles, making his second start in the senior team, was having a few awkward moments and Koumas, reflecting his team’s gradual improvement, began to start troubling Rinomhota as much as anyone had done since his recent switch to right back.
City were starting to splutter and you felt they needed to get to the break with their two goal lead intact.
They couldn’t do that though as Stoke reduced the deficit on forty two minutes and while the pass from Wouter Berger through the inside right channel was a fine one, it all looked much too simple as El Ghazi, back covering for Rinomhota who been lured forward, was taken out of the game too easily leaving Koumas free to go on and comfortably beat Ethan Horvarth.
City made a change at half time. I could understand the decision to withdraw Giles as Stoke seemed to be targeting his side, but by moving Bagan to left back and bringing on Jesper Daland to accompany Fish in the middle, an effective centre back partnership was broken up and the Norwegian, who is going through an erratic spell at the moment, only lasted ten minutes before having to make way himself.
Daland could not be blamed for Stoke’s equaliser a minute into the second half as the right side of our defence went missing for a second time at the cost of a goal.
Burger was again involved with a clever dummy from a throw in that took Ramsey out of the game and enabled Koumas to move in, go by a challenge from Fish and shoot past Horvarth from eight yards – again, there was much to admire from a Stoke perspective, but it all looked a bit soft from City as they were completely undone from a Stoke throw in.
Now, with the crowd right behind Stoke and their players reacting as if they had a half time rocket from manager Mark Robins by pressing them relentlessly, City reacted in a way which was in line with the suspicion that they wilt and eventually crumble when the pressure they’re under is upped.
The way Koumas had moved ahead in his dual with Rinomhota served as a barometer for how the match was now panning out and it seemed only a matter of time before Stoke’s pressure told.
When it did, it was in a way which asked serious questions about the teams defending. Fish’s clearance of a cross from our left was not the best in that his pass asked questions of Daland, but that didn’t excuse the casual nature of his reaction as he flicked the ball up to volley a clearance and assuming he had the sort of time you just don’t get in your own penalty area. Daland was disposed by Emre Tezgel who then tripped by the City player as he tried to complete his clearance. Although some have said the penalty award was harsh, it looked a fair enough decision. to me and, worse still, Daland had injured himself in committing the foul. Daland could not continue (Riza sounded concerned about it after the game as he confirmed the club were waiting for the outcome of tests), so he was replaced by Callum Chambers. However, the lengthy delay while Daland received treatment did not affect Lewis Baker who drove his penalty low past Horvarth who got nowhere near it despite diving the right way.
City had offered nothing going forward in the first fifteen minutes of the second half and looked to be subsiding meekly to a defeat which, if not reaching Leeds proportions, could end up being a heavy one.
However, Omer Riza then made a couple of substitutions which changed the game for a second time as Ramsey and Mannsverk made way for Joe Ralls and Callum O’Dowda. Ralls slotted straight into central midfield, but his partner was Chambers who was moved from the back into the position he has been occupying in recent weeks. O’Dowda switched to left back, while Bagan went back into central defence.
Bagan’s reacquaintance with Fish tightened things up and two pairs of fresh legs in midfield helped bring about the end of Stoke’s dominance. Furthermore, O’Dowda gave City much more of an attacking threat down the left and his first contribution saw him draw a save from Bonham. When Stoke couldn’t clear successfully, Colwill worked himself space to score from a similar distance to his first goal, except this time it appeared to be with the aid of a slight deflection.
Both sides went looking for a winner after that and I’d say that City, through a Ralls shot and a Fish header, both saved by Bonham, came the closer.
Will Alvez, the loan signing from Leicester replaced El Ghazi with about five minutes of the ninety left and he increasingly troubled Stoke with his pace and trickery, but it was two very tired teams that contested both the nine mintes of added time and then extra time as Stoke probably had the better chances with a header straight at Horvarth as City showed a too common fault of not getting first contact on defensive set pieces and a shot by Berger into the side netting.
So, it went to penalties, Ralls conclusively netted first, only for Tezgel to do the same. The advantage then swung towards Stoke as Salech shot over via the crossbar only for Tatsui Seko to hit an upright with his effort. Chambers, confidently, and Willock, just about, converted City’s next two kicks and the tie took a big swing in our favour when Horvarth saved from Michael Rose, so it was left to Colwill to record a hat trick of sorts when he drove his penalty down the middle as Bonham dived out of the way to complete our win.
The under 21s still await their first league point of 2025 as they went down 2-0 at Millwall yesterday, but the under 18s are now going well and now sit second in their table. They won 3-1 against Colchester today at Leckwith thanks to goals by Dan Ola, a fit again Jake Davies and Axel Donczew.
In local football, Treherbert Boys and Girls Club are now getting the wins that tended to elude them in the first half of the season – today they beat AFC Lwydcoed 2-0. Ton Pentre were beaten 3-0 at home by Cardiff Airport and Treorchy Boys and Girls Club went down 2-1 at St Josephs.
