Match Report | Birmingham City 0-2 Cardiff City
Sabri Lamouchi's men took all three points from Tuesday evening's clash with Birmingham City, with late goals coming from Perry Ng and Callum Robinson.
The Bluebirds boss made four changes to the side that faced Middlesbrough on the weekend, with Ng, Andy Rinomhota, Ryan Wintle and Kion Etete coming into the starting eleven.
There was also a space on the substitutes bench for Connor Wickham, who officially became a City player on Tuesday afternoon.
In a first half of few opportunities, the Bluebirds created several half-chances to take the lead. Sory Kaba saw an acrobatic effort go wide of goal, with Wintle poking a deflected strike straight at John Ruddy.
At the other end, the hosts came closest through Auston Trusty, who headed wide of Ryan Allsop's upright from a corner.
The second period brought a more open contest, with spaces appearing in both halves of the pitch. Kaba came close on two occasions, firstly with another overhead kick which flew wide, before a volley which went over the crossbar.
Bluebirds boss Lamouchi made three changes after 73 minutes, with Wickham, Callum Robinson and Jaden Philogene introduced. The former almost made an instant impact on his debut, striking low from a tight angle to force Ruddy into a stop.
The key moment came six minutes from time. Callum O'Dowda drove up the pitch and won a free kick in a dangerous area, which Ng stepped up to take.
The defender executed a perfect set-piece, finding the top corner with a superb effort to give the Bluebirds a valuable lead in front of 850 travelling fans.
City dug in to protect their lead, with vital defensive interventions from Philogene and Joe Ralls, the latter sliding in to clear certain danger, whilst Troy Deeney put the ball in the back of the net from an offside position.
Helping the Bluebirds move up the pitch inside six minutes of stoppage time, Robinson got himself on the scoresheet in the final moments. The forward weaved inside three Blues defenders before poking the ball past Ruddy and into the top corner.
The final whistle signalled a first league victory since November 5th for City, who now face Reading on home soil on Friday, 17th February, 8pm kick-off.
FINAL SCORE: Birmingham City 0-2 Cardiff City
Birmingham City: Ruddy, Colin, Sanderson, Dean (James 86'), Trusty, Bielik, Mejbri (Hall 72'), Bacuna (Gardner 72'), Chong (Longelo 72'), Jutkiewicz (Deeney 72'), Hogan.
Subs not used: Etheridge, Friend, James.
Cardiff City: Allsop, Romeo (Philogene 73'), Ng, Kipré, McGuinness, O'Dowda, Sawyers, Wintle, Rinomhota (Ralls 86'), Kaba (Wickham 73'), Etete (Robinson 73').
Subs not used: Alnwick, Simpson, Ojo.
