Cardiff City vs Reading. Sky Bet Championship.
Cardiff City StadiumAttendance18,879.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Cardiff City and Reading at the Cardiff City Stadium as a 91st-minute goal from Romaine Sawyers helped Sabri Lamouchi's Bluebirds to a valuable win on home soil
Saturday 18 February 2023 15:02, UK
Romaine Sawyers scored the goal that earned Cardiff their first home win for 111 days as they beat Reading 1-0 at Cardiff City Stadium.
The Bluebirds fans had to wait until the 91st minute for their team's 19th shot of the night to break the deadlock and it pushed new boss Sabri Lamouchi's men five points clear of the relegation zone.
Their last triumph in the Welsh capital had been 10 matches ago - nine in the league and one FA Cup tie - on October 29 against Rotherham.
For Lamouchi, the third manager at the club this season, his first away win at Birmingham on Tuesday night was quickly followed by his first at home.
As for Paul Ince's Reading side, they will feel hard done by having survived for 90 minutes at a time of suffering so many injuries. Having ended a run of five games without a win with a 2-1 home triumph over Rotherham earlier in the week, which took them 11 points clear of the drop zone, this was a point lost at the death.
Reading's only real attack in the first half came in the 23rd minute when Andy Carroll flicked on a ball to put fellow front runner Femi Azeez into space on the right side of the Bluebirds box. His cross was aimed at Carroll, but Tom McIntyre got in front of him and headed over.
Scott Dann picked up a yellow card for pulling back Kion Etete as Cardiff flooded forward. That gave Perry Ng a chance to emulate his sensational free-kick from the Birmingham game and he almost did it again. He got the ball over the wall from 25 yards out but saw his shot hit the side netting having just missed the top right corner of Joe Lumley's goal.
Reading started the second half more brightly and pushed Cardiff deeper into their half.
They won a couple of corners and free-kicks and almost took advantage of a slip by Ryan Allsop as he attempted to clear a back pass in the 67th minute. The Cardiff keeper's air shot gave Yakou Meite the chance to dive in at the loose ball, but even though he got to it Allsop was able to save his blushes.
Cardiff got their second wind late on and twice hit the woodwork in the 74th and 77th minutes. Top scorer Callum Robinson curled a right-footed shot from inside the 'D' onto the crossbar and then Sheyi Ojo bounced a shot on top of the bar and away.
They kept going and got their reward in stoppage time when Amadou Mbengue's clearance dropped to Sawyers, whose bouncing half-volley from 20 yards through a crowd of players left Lumley wrong-footed and helpless.
Cardiff's Sabri Lamouchi:
"It was the first one at home for me and the second one after Birmingham, so it was really important for us. I'm so proud of the players because we created a lot and deserved the three points. We deserved to score in the first half, but we didn't start as well in the second.
"We never panicked though - even when Ryan Allsop, our goalkeeper, lost control of the ball - and stayed focused to the last minute."
Reading's Paul Ince on Darren Bond's failure to send off Mark McGuinness for a foul on Amadou Mbengue:
"It was a blatant red card and like any red card it changes the game. The referee has absolutely bottled it. It's the same referee we had for our home game against QPR when we should have had a penalty. We will be told on Monday they're sorry and he made a mistake. But that's no good to us.
"You have to get those big decisions right and it's a different game if he makes the right decision. Normally, I back my players, but we were poor from the first minute to the last. We never really got into a rhythm and didn't put in enough effort. But it all goes back to that diabolical decision by the referee and he needs to be made accountable for it."
Both teams are next in action at 3pm on Saturday February 25. Cardiff travel to Carrow Road to take on Norwich, while Reading host Blackpool at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
