I wasn’t sure if I’d get to this game as we had a fairly tight train connection in London on the way back from our Belgium trip. It went ok though and I was back in the house by six o’clock. I picked up Harry and we were at the Riverside in plenty of time.
A quick glance at the team news revealed that Roberts was still in goal, so presumably Steffen wasn’t yet fully fit. I was happy enough with that as Roberts has done well in the games that he has played. The other talking point was Wilder’s persistence with McGree in the number ten role. I sort of understood this when the transfer window was open, if he was trying to make a point that we needed another striker. However, with the deadline passed it’s time to revert to his regular system of two hard-pressing strikers that are replaced by another two front men when they tire.
The first half performance was flat, so flat that we went in at the break three-nil down. We had plenty of possession but never looked like creating anything worthwhile whilst Cardiff seemed likely to score whenever they broke up field.
A few people around us left at half-time and others followed them early in the second half. Watmore added some urgency to proceedings when he came on and notched a consolation with fifteen minutes to go. Muniz then quickly added a second goal and suddenly it was game on. We pushed for an equalizer, but Cardiff held on for the points.
Tags: Cardiff City, Middlesbrough FC
Trail of the Lion King 
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