Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Monday, March 6.
'Stick from fans' fired up derby display
Perry Ng revealed that receiving grief from Bristol City fans in the Ashton Gate car park after losing to them earlier on this season served to light the fire in the bellies before Saturday's win over the Robins.
The Bluebirds lost 2-0 in the away leg of the Severnside derby in the first half of the season. However, Cardiff gave as good as they got when Sory Kaba and Jaden Philogene found the back of the net to earn Sabri Lamouchi's side the bragging rights this time around.
And, speaking about the game, Ng said: “It was a very good performance. We know they’re a good team. They’re a young side with good players. I thought we dealt with it well.
“We got the goal and I felt we always felt comfortable about winning the game from there.
“It was horrible at their place earlier on in the season. The fans, after the game, were giving us stick in the car park. We owed them one. Thankfully, we gave them it today. The atmosphere was bouncing. It was a really good win."
Of course, Ng finished the game in goal after Ryan Allsop received a straight red card late on in the match.
After taking the gloves, the defender, who had to make only one routine save, said: “I’ve always fancied myself as a bit of a ‘keeper in training, so I thought ‘why not?’ None of the other lads seemed to fancy it.
“I was relieved when the free-kick hit the wall. I knew he was going to whack it at me. The other one was a simple catch. Thankfully I kept hold of it. It’s a unique clean sheet!"
U21s draw in Reading
Jai Semenyo struck late for Darren Purse's under-21s to earn a toughly-fought 1-1 draw against Reading this afternoon.
Purse named a team which included the likes of Joel Bagan, Vontae Campbell, Eli King and Chanka Zimba, while Lennon Peake, who last month signed from West Ham United, was named on the bench for the first time.
However, the Bluebirds fell behind before the break when Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan, who himself has four first-team appearances to his name this term for the Royals, put the hosts ahead.
But with just three minutes left on the clock, the Bluebirds got back on terms when substitute Semenyo converted from a dangerous cross into the box.
The result means Cardiff remain in fourth place, level on points with third-placed Reading, while Bristol City and Millwall occupy the top two spots in the table.
Cardiff U21s: Dennis; Campbell, Benjamin, MacNamara, Bagan; Jefferies, King, Antwi, Pritchard, Jefferies; Zimba.
Subs: Thomas, Semenyo, Barton, Nyakuhwa, Peake.
Kaba open to Cardiff return
Sory Kaba has left the door ajar to a return to Cardiff City next season after realising his "dream" of playing in the English Football League.
Kaba was a deadline-day loan signing from Midtjylland in Denmark, with Cardiff keen to add a bit more stature and physicality to a forward line that was losing too many aerial duels.
The Guinea international has certainly brought that. He has bought into the club ethos and appears to have endeared himself to supporters with his interaction and clear personality on and off the pitch.
He will have done himself no harm on Saturday, either, netting the first goal in a 2-0 Severnside derby win over Bristol City, his second goal in six games for the Bluebirds.
And when asked if he would be interested on returning to south Wales for the 2023/24 campaign, Kaba replied: "Yeah.
"For now I am just focusing on doing good here. My dream was coming to English football and I am very, very happy Cardiff opened the door for me.
"So, I will give everything until that moment and we will see what will happen. But for me, my dream was always to play in England."
Women thump TNS
Cardiff City women thumped The New Saints 5-1 to continue their mightily impressive unbeaten season.
The Bluebirds fell behind early on Sunday afternoon, thanks to a goal from Helen Evans. However, Zoe Atkins, Danielle Broadhurst, Siobhan Walsh, Rhianne Oakley and Eliza Collie all hit back for City in the resounding win.
“The game went pretty much how we thought it would go,” head coach Iain Darbyshire said.
“TNS deservedly went ahead. We weren’t quite at it; we were second to the ball and it took us a while to wake up. When we did, we got the two goals with two great finishes. At half-time, we stressed that we needed to up the standard and to stick to principles, make sure we do the right things and we controlled that second-half wonderfully.
“It’s probably the fourth time in the last month where we’ve had to show a bit of character. We’ve got great resilience, but it’s not a habit I want to keep relying on. We’ll be working on that, we need to start games a little bit better.
"We had a lot of fatigue from last week’s game and we haven’t been able to rotate as much as we like. It’s all part of the business end of the season and we’ll make sure we’re ready for it.”
Pundit's verdict on Bluebirds
Former striker turned pundit Sam Parkin lauded the new "balance" which has underpinned Cardiff's resurgence over the last four fixtures.
Cardiff have won three and lost one of their last four games as they open up a six-point gap to the drop zone. And Parkin, who played for Swindon Town and Ipswich Town among others, has been impressed by the Bluebirds under Lamouchi.
"I think there is a really good balance to the side now," Parkin said on ITV's EFL highlights show.
"Three competitive midfielders, attacking wing-backs, Philogene, most tackles, most dribbles, most touches, just his end product he's had to improve on, but he did that."
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