Cardiff City 0-2 Sheffield United: Kieffer Moore double fires Blades to victory

Championship leaders Sheffield United extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with a comfortable 2-0 win at Cardiff.

Former Bluebird Kieffer Moore struck twice in the second half to ensure the Blades maintained a three-point advantage over Leeds at the top of the table.

Moore has made a habit of scoring at the Cardiff City Stadium having previously netted for the hosts, Wales and Ipswich last season and was on target again, this time for the Blades.

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The visitors had dominated the contest but had little to show for it until Moore, back in the starting XI, struck on 65 minutes, controlling Alfie Gilchrist's cross on his chest before scoring in the far corner.

Having broken the deadlock, the Wales striker grabbed a second just eight minutes later, beating Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick at his near post from the edge of the box.

He was immediately substituted by Chris Wilder, denying him a hat-trick, but Moore had proved the difference for United for the second game in a row.

His goals also left Cardiff in the relegation zone, only off the bottom on goal difference.

Facing the leaders was already hard enough for a Bluebirds side gripped by a seven-game winless run but their concerns worsened even before kick-off.

Wins for Portsmouth and Hull meant the Bluebirds dropped into the bottom three and were without key midfield pair Callum O'Dowda and captain Joe Ralls through injury.

But they still managed to frustrate Sheffield United during a goalless first half of few genuine scoring opportunities.

A five-man defence guarded by holding midfielder Manolis Siopis kept the Blades at distance and limited the visitors to speculative efforts.

Gus Hamer's snap shot across the face of the goal was narrowly wide while Tom Davies' goal-bound effort was blocked by Jesper Daland.

At the other end, Michael Cooper was rarely troubled in the United net as Cardiff continued to lack any bite in attack.

Yakou Meite came closest when his effort was pushed around the post by Cooper early in the second half.

Davies continued to look Sheffield United's most likely scorer as he was twice denied by Alnwick, the first from distance and the second from a close-range header.

But Moore scored for the second game in a row to clinch a deserved win.

The managers

Cardiff's Omer Riza:

"It was a tough game. We contained them to go in 0-0 at half-time and thought we could get a draw or win out of the game.

"But then a moment of real class from Moore with the goal puts us on the back foot. The second goal comes from us trying to get something out of the game.

"We worked hard and the boys showed good intensity levels. It's a disappointing but the better team won and we have to keeping trying to pick ourselves up."

Sheffield United's Chris Wilder:

"To get to 50 points at this stage of the season is incredible. We're getting stretched a little bit at the moment with six senior players out, but this young team keeps doing what they do.

"They play with freedom, they play with that control and when they have to defend they're proud of their clean sheets.

"But these are the games that you have to embrace where you are in the league and enjoy the pressure that comes with everyone expecting you to win.

"We had to get so many things right and I thought we were really good. The pitch was slow, Cardiff sat back and hardly moved but were dangerous on the counter-attack.

"But we were disciplined, we controlled the game and couldn't overcommit and we gradually broke them down. It was incredibly pleasing.

"This team keeps finding a way to win. We may be short on numbers right now but we're never short on character and belief."

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