THE GAME
Scott Sinclair in the thick of the action
Both sides made changes for this Carabao Cup tie, 11 for Cardiff and six for Rovers and it was the home side that came out on top, thanks to second half goals from Mark McGuinness and Rubin Colwill.
There wasn’t too much by way of goalmouth action in the opening 45 minutes; a Wilfred Kanga shot was deflected behind for a Cardiff corner after 20 minutes, while Josh Griffiths saved comfortably from Colwill.
The best chance of the first half fell to Promise Omochere who hit a first time shot wide, when well placed, following a move involving Scott Sinclair and Luke Thomas.
The game changed on the hour mark, shortly after the home side made a triple substitiution and they went on to make the breakthrough with 68 minutes on the clock when Ollie Tanner’s corner found McGuinness whose powerful header crossed the line before being cleared.
Immediately afterwards Jamie Lindsay saw a shot saved by Jak Alnwick, but Cardiff might well have increased their lead had it not been for fine saves by Josh Griffiths from Andy Rinhomota and Eli King.
Colwill wrapped things up a minute into time added on when he was left unmarked at the back post and knocked the ball home following a cross from Kieron Evans.
THEY SAID WHAT?
‘A counter attack against us ended up in a corner and there was poor marking on the back of that for their first goal and then there’s an uphill battle. Throughout the evening I just didn’t think we had enough in us to create.’ (Rovers manager Matt Taylor)
‘It was disappointing to lose the game as we were confident we could get a result. It didn’t happen for us , but there are a number of positives we can take from the game. The first goal was crucial, though, and once they scored we were pushing forward and leaving gaps for them to exploit.’ (Rovers defender Michael Forbes)
‘First half today, it wasn’t exactly what we want to show, we played too slow. Second half was much better and we tried to play quicker and stretch the game, and then we created chances to score.’ (Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut)
