I honestly don’t think there’s a great deal I can write about tonight’s 0-0 draw with QPR at Cardiff City Stadium – nothing earth shattering or even original at least. The match just offered further confirmation of what was known already – although it is a bit out of the ordinary for even goal shy Cardiff City not to register a single on target effort in a match.
Thankfully, a welcome clean sheet meant that a QPR side that had won 1-0 on their last two visits to Cardiff did not repeat the feat this time. However, it’s easy to be taken in by the London team’s impressive 1-0 win at Deepdale, Preston in new manager Neil Critchley’s first game in charge, but the blank they shot here in his second one means that it’s just two goals in eight matches for Rangers now and, on this evidence, you can see why.
To be fair, the visitors did have the game’s one on target effort, a weak free kick by Chris Willock from twenty-five yards straight at Ryan Allsop and, if I was to be charitable, you could say that Ethan Laird’s mishit cross that Allsop, opting for safety, turned over his crossbar late on could count as another attempt on target.
For City though there was nothing to work Seny Dieng in the QPR goal – eleven goal attempts offers confirmation that there should have been, but, having admitted for the first time that City could go down this season following last weekend’s 1-1 home draw with Blackpool, there was nothing this evening to make me change that opinion.
This really was like a lot of games we’ve failed to win this season in that we did not get what we deserved from the ninety minutes. Yes, QPR may have forced our keeper into one or two saves, but the better chances were ours. While this was no Blackpool where a confident team used to scoring would have netted three or four, Rangers would have lost this evening against virtually every other team in the Championship if the game had panned out the same way.
The visitors’ best spell came in the twenty minutes or so leading up to the half hour mark when City struggled to cope with the running power of teenager Tim Iroegbunam. Twice Ryan Wintle fouled the Villa loanee as he made runs through the midfield to give QPR shooting opportunities from twenty-five yards out – Kennet Pall was wide with the first one and the second produced that shot from Willock which barely troubled Allsop.
The most dangerous shooting attempt from a free kick came from Rubin Colwill in the early minutes of the game. Yes, having begun to think that City were holding him back until May to protect him from his growing pains, Colwill started tonight!
You only have to have read what I’ve said up to now to realise that Colwill didn’t transform our attacking play – in fact, he probably stood out most for his defensive work and tracking back. However, his free kick was well struck, but never really looked like it was going to curl back on target after starting out a yard or two outside the post.
City’s best first half chances fell to Callum Robinson and Perry Ng from good Wintle crosses, but on neither occasion did their headers threaten the goal – Robinson also sent a snap shot from the edge of the penalty area over, but it was poor fare from both teams in the opening half.
The second half offered more – or at least it did from City. Rangers remained very passive and ended up taking off all of their front three and found themselves increasingly pushed back.
As happens quite often with this City side, they show themselves to be quite good at certain aspects of the game, but it all dissipates once things like neatness in possession and a desire to find space are transferred into our attacking third of the pitch.
Once that happens, you see wrong options taken and poor passing take over. On the occasions when this doesn’t occur and a player is presented with a decent chance, the finishing is not there as the collective lack of confidence which must follow from a scoring record as bad as ours takes over.
It was there when we were able to open up a defence that was the most impressive thing about QPR tonight. Kion Etete, set up by a combination of Callum O’Dowda and Colwill, took a decent touch, but then squeezed his shot a yard wide from about eight yards out. I wouldn’t blame Etete too much for that miss, but when he was presented with a better opportunity by Mahlon Romeo’s header shortly afterwards, his shot from twelve yards was rushed, wild and well over the bar.
It took City about eighty-five minutes to earn their first corner and the unmarked O’Dowda met Joe Ralls’ flag kick with a header that was about was a foot or two wide with replays showing that sub Mark Harris might have been able to turn the ball in if he’d made an effort to reach it.
Rangers woke from their attacking slumbers to give City one or two alarms in added time, but a pretty miserable spectacle ended goalless with the feeling persisting that some of the City sides of recent years with less individual talent than this squad would have found a way to win a match like this 1-0.
After the game, Mark Hudson made optimistic noises as far as matters off and on the pitch are concerned. The off field matter was the embargo the club are under for not paying Nantes the first portion of the Emiliano Sala fee – apparently negotiations are ongoing (he didn’t say with whom) and it seems there’s a chance of the embargo being lifted. That doesn’t sound too convincing to me, but it was compared to the on field stuff our manager came out with.
Here Hudson talked of City showing they can compete against the best teams in the division, but does he really believe QPR, with their recent scoring record, really qualify for such a description? Unfortunately, the most convincing thing Hudson said about City’s performance was that our forward players lacked belief.
Anyway, on to happier times, a further reminder that my book on our 1975/76 promotion is on sale now in paperback form or as an e book – it’s called Tony Evans Walks on Water and can be bought from Amazon at
