And another draw! A four game unbeaten run for a relegation threatened team in the closing weeks of the season should be a cause for optimism, but when the last three of the four are all draws, then you begin to see why Cardiff City’s four matches since the disastrous home loss to Luton have not produced the desired effect.
In terms of the form book, Blackburn, Sheffield Wednesday, QPR and Preston are about as good as we could have wished for in our recent run of gamers – the quartet have won just one game between them in their last sixteen, so I think you have to think in terms of opportunities wasted over the past few weeks.
That said, I thought QPR were slightly better than us in Saturday’s goalless stalemate and Preston were definitely better than us tonight, so if you look at it in terms of balance of play, it was a case of two points gained because we didn’t merit anything from either of them.
Mind you, you have to give City credit for twice coming from behind to equalise tonight, with the second one coming in the ninety fourth minute. However, on a night when none of the teams at the bottom won, it’s pretty much as you were and with us being second best for much of the time at Deepdale, you can’t really talk in terms of us failing to cash in on what happened elsewhere, it was more of a case of riding our luck to come out of it with a point.
The really big game at the bottom between Stoke and Luton ended 1-1 which was probably the best outcome for us as Luton came up with an equaliser in added time. Derby will have been happy with their 0-0 home draw with Burnley as another lowly side showed us that this season’s top four are not the winning machines that we always make them look. Hull were the night’s big losers as they went down to a 1-0 defeat at another of the Championship’s out of form teams, Watford.
Omer Riza is certainly one for a spot of squad rotation, nothing wrong with that you might think as it is part and parcel of the modern game, but there can’t be many. If any, managers out there as willing to rotate his defence as ours is. Having kept only their third league clean sheet of 2025 in their last game, Riza decided a change of personnel and formation was in order tonight as Joel Bagan dropped out and Dimi Goutas and Jesper Daland came in to partner Will Fish in a back three/five. Other changes saw Calum Chambers return to midfield as Will Alvez and Isaak Davies made way.
The reason for the change in formation was probably a desire to match up to Preston who nearly always play with three centrebacks, but it was noticeable that whereas the home side had a front two, Yousef Salech was left to fend for himself as Rubin Colwill and Cian Ashford played narrow on the right and left behind the striker.
After a low key opening period, the home side began to take a control that lasted until the closing minutes of the first half as City, with their extra defender, started to look far more porous than they had done on the weekend.
Preston were almost presented with a comical opener as Fish and Andy Rinomhota seemed to tackle each other with possession being presented to the opposition inside our penalty area. The ball then found its way to Will Keane who duly fired in from ten yards, but, fortunately, an offside flag denied him.
City did not heed that warning, although Mads Frokjaer’s through ball was an incisive one, Daland got himself into a poor position to try and deal with it and then Goutas’ attempted block only teed up Milutin Osmajic who shot powerfully past Ethan Horvarth on his near post – I don’t think the keeper could be blamed for it though.
It was the latest in a long line of poor goals given away by City and having helped their hosts on their way with their slipshod defending, City now watched Preston set up in a way which would make it very hard for them to fashion chances for an equaliser. Indeed, it was Preston who still looked the more dangerous and they would have had a second but for some vigilant defending by Fish to deny Osmajic.
Listless and unconvincing, City were being outmuscled by opponents with much less to play for than them for a second consecutive first half and their cause wasn’t being helped by the usual substandard set piece deliveries. Colwill had drawn the short straw to take over from Callum O’Dowda and he produced a wild and wooly mixture of failing to beat the first man, knocking corners well beyond the far post and one which went high enough to be called a Gary Owen on a rugby pitch!
However, Colwill came up with what was far and away City’s best goal attempt of the first half as he cut past a couple of defenders to hit a rasping shot from the corner of the penalty area which forced home keeper Dai Cornell to tip over the bar.
With Ashford also getting away a shot which flew some way wide, City at least finished the half in a more positive frame of mind even if the stats showed that we’d only won a shocking two tackles in the opening forty five minutes.
We’d been poor up to now and I thought we’d be seeing three more half time subs being introduced, but, in the event there was just one as Alvez came on for Goutas to signal an end to three at the back and a reversion to 4-2-3-1
The early signs were good from Alvez and when he burst past an opponent to knock a pass down the line for Salech, the Dane did well to return the ball to the winger who scored his first senior goal from fifteen yards with aid of a deflection which took the ball beyond Cornell.
City then went on to have their best spell of the game as Ashford shot across the face of the goal after cutting in from the right and then Chambers’ twenty yarder was turned away for a corner by Cornell at full stretch..
City’s cause was not helped by Rinomhota picking up an injury which would eventually force him off causing Chambers to drop back to replace him. Alex Robertson came on as the replacement and further subs saw Yakou Meite replace Salech, Callum Robinson on for Colwill and Isaak Davies replaced Ashford late on.
For a long time, it looked like the changes had not worked as Preston gradually took charge in midfield again and pressed forward looking for the win. Horvarth, more convincing compared to Saturday, kept out an effort by veteran Robbie Brady and Osmajic shot against the outside of the post, but the home side were again given a helping hand by our defending when they worked the ball across the pitch to Frokjaer whose cross was nodded in from close in by the unmarked Stefan Thordasson with it hard to tell if we’d pushed out looking for an offside or not – either way, the commentators on the stream I was watching were right to say it was all too easy for the home team.
This seemed like a hammer blow as City Laboured to come up with anything to suggest an equaliser. A third Preston goal seemed more likely as decent chances were coming their way and all we had to offer in return was a Meite header that Cornell was happy to fall on to make a routine save.
However, when Robertson was able to lift a lovely oblique cross from right to left, Meite popped up unmarked from six yards to equalise on the far post to maintain his record of only scoring for us in away games.
That should have been an end to things, but more indeterminate defending saw the home team banging on the door again in the couple of minutes that remained. However, Horvarth produced a fine save to deny Ryan Porteous to give us a point which may prove so vital come the end of the season even if I fight it hard to get too excited about it tonight.
On Monday, City’s under 21s travelled to Crewe to play a match which offered more evidence of just how much their season has petered out since the turn of the year. Conceding four first half goals meant the outcome was decided early, but at least goals by Morgan Wigley and Cody Twose gave the scoreline a degree of respectability.
Pride of place has to go the Welsh women’s team which, having shocked sixth in the world ranked Sweden with a 1-1 draw at Wrexham in February in their Nations League Group, repeated the achievement by drawing by the same score in the return game in Gothenburg. I’ve not seen a Welsh women’s team play better than this as an injury hit and inexperienced side played some really neat and effective football which rather put City’s offerings an hour or so later to shame.
In truth, Sweden missed some easy chances and should have won on the balance of play. The Swedes looked to have broken Wales’ spirit when they finally scored on the hour mark with a close range header from a much better corner than anything City managed. However, within eight minutes, a superb Rachel Rowe pass presented Hannah Cain with a chance she converted nervelessly to give Wales a fine point.
