Blackburn return to winning ways at struggling Cardiff

Posted Saturday, November 09, 2024 by PA

Blackburn ended a run of four games without a goal to claim a 3-1 win at Cardiff.

Andreas Weimann scored early in both halves to claim his first goals since August.

David Turnbull pulled a goal back for the hosts before Lewis Baker sealed Rovers’ first win in five games with a perfectly-placed shot four minutes from time.

Both teams were looking to bounce back from midweek defeats when Cardiff saw their three-game winning run under Omer Riza come to a halt.

The caretaker manager is still waiting to learn whether he has done enough to secure the position full-time and admitted before kick-off the uncertainty was taking a toll.

Despite three defeats in a row, Blackburn boss John Eustace named an unchanged side from the latest loss to Stoke, which meant a 300th club appearance for Harry Pickering.

Riza made three changes from the loss at Luton that ended a six-game unbeaten run but Cardiff looked for vulnerable for them, particularly the loss of experienced centre-back Callum Chambers.

Alex Robertson returned from injury to midfield but looked off the pace as Rovers threatened with every counter-attack.

Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick had to be alert to snuff out an early chance for Todd Cantwell, who soon combined with Lewis Travis for the opening goal.

Travis’ cross along the edge of the six-yard box handed Weimann an easy finish on 15 minutes.

Cantwell thought he had doubled the lead just five minutes later but was offside when he tapped in the rebound from Travis’ effort.

Cardiff dominated possession but lacked a cutting edge without top-scorer Callum Robinson.

Ollie Tanner and Rubin Colwill brought a double save from Aynsley Pears before Chris Willock pulled his shot wide after being gifted an opening by Danny Bath’s poor clearance.

Cardiff were made to pay for the miss just 60 seconds later when Rovers carved out a second for Weimann.

Pickering raced onto Travis’ through ball on the left side of the box before finding Weimann unmarked in the centre of the box for an almost carbon copy of the first goal on 53 minutes.

Willock hit the post and Colwill’s header brought an impressive save from Pears who also denied Turnbull from the penalty spot only to see Cardiff’s midfielder first to the rebound for his first goal of the season.

But Baker settled the match just eight minutes after coming off the bench with a wonderful strike from just inside the left corner of the penalty area.