Cardiff 0-0 QPR: Bluebirds held in frustrating stalemate

Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers failed to boost their respective safety and promotion bids in a 0-0 draw on Boxing Day.

Cardiff, who were winless in their previous four Championship games, created the better chances but never came close to arresting the slump which has left the Bluebirds looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone.

Kion Etete was guilty of squandering the hosts' best chances while Callum O'Dowda sent a header wide in the closing stages as Cardiff's wait for a first Boxing Day win since 2012, and a first home win since October's victory over Rotherham, continued.

The result sees 20th-placed Cardiff open up a two-point cushion on the bottom three, while QPR climb to seventh but remain outside the play-off places on goal difference, with new boss Neil Critchley extending his unbeaten start by claiming a fourth point from six available.

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Cardiff frustrated by QPR in stalemate

On a cold, wet night both teams were strong at the back, but pretty ineffectual up front. There was only one shot on target in the first half and a mere four touches in the respective boxes.

QPR midfielder Tim Iroegbunam picked up a yellow card in only the fourth minute for a cynical tackle from behind on Mahlon Romeo as he drove towards the box. That gave Wales' World Cup player Rubin Colwill the chance to shoot for glory, but his free-kick from a good position went wide of the right-hand upright.

Hudson handed the 20-year-old only his second start of the season and also welcomed Jayden Philogene back to the starting line-up after undergoing surgery on a hernia.

Ryan Wintle went into referee Keith Stroud's notebook for a push on Iroegbunam in the 32nd minute, but from a great position just outside the D, Ken Paal failed to hit the target or force a save.

Rangers felt they should have had a penalty for shirt-pulling by Romeo on Jimmy Dunne, yet the officials were having none of it. Cardiff then ended the half with the best chance of the opening 45 minutes when Wintle sent in a ball from the right that Perry Ng met but headed wide.

The second half started brightly for both teams and Cardiff striker Kion Etete had a couple of chances to break the deadlock. His first effort hit the stanchion just to the right of a post after turning smartly in the box.

His second miss came on the hour mark when a back-post flick across goal by Callum Robinson, from a ball into the box from the left by Joe Ralls, found Etete only for him to blast his shot over the bar.

Critchley rolled the dice on 72 minutes when he changed his whole frontline, taking off Albert Odomah, Chris Willock and Lyndon Dykes and replacing them with Tyler Roberts, Olamide Shodipo and Moroccan World Cup star Ilias Chair.

It was a gamble that did not bear fruit and the game petered out into a lacklustre goalless draw, leaving Cardiff two points above the drop zone in 20th.

What the managers said...

Cardiff's Mark Hudson: "I look up not down and there isn't much between the teams at the top and where we are. They are a good side, and they came into the game on a high after their 1-0 win at Preston. We went toe to toe with them and we're disappointed not to have come away with three points.

"Kion Etete had two good chances and Callum O'Dowda had another right at the end. We just need a bit more belief in front of goal. We created the better chances, worked hard, displayed endeavour and togetherness and showed a willingness to fight. We need to carry that on because we've got two tough games coming up."

QPR's Neil Critchley: "I'm not delighted, just satisfied with a point. I didn't think we were at our best and you can look at the game in two ways: it's either a point gained, or two points missed. In the first half I thought we had good control of the game without threatening the goal too many times. It was us deciding what was happening on the pitch.

"We asked the players to do certain things in the second half to give us a better chance of winning the game, but we didn't do that. You have to give credit to Cardiff for improving their game in the second half, but some of that was down to our poor play. That meant we were inviting a little bit of trouble. We defended well as a team and it's another clean sheet. We gave away very few chances, but we didn't create too many ourselves."

Player of the Match - Callum O'Dowda

What's next?

Live EFL

Both sides are back in Sky Bet Championship action on Thursday, December 29. QPR host Luton in a 6pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports Football from 5.30pm. While Cardiff head to Coventry in a 7.45pm kick-off that is live on Sky Sports Football Red Button and the Sky Sports app.

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