Cardiff City were defeated by Luton Town on Tuesday evening.
Omer Riza made 4 changes to the the side that started on the weekend, with Aaron Ramsey, Will Fish, Alex Robertson and Will Alves all returning to the starting XI.
In a half that contained limited chances for either side, it was the Bluebirds who had the first clear cut opportunity of the match.
After 19 minutes City had a well worked corner routine that almost led to a goal, Robertson played it short to Ramsey whose cross found Dimitrios Goutas free in the box, but the Greek international’s shot narrowly missed the target.
City had another opportunity not long later when Rubin Colwill found Yousef Salech in space on the edge of the area but his shot sailed just over the bar.
Luton looked to take the lead after 30 minutes when Liam Walsh fired goalwards, but Ethan Horvath was able to superbly parry the ball away from danger.
The Bluebirds started the second half strong, Robertson’s free kick was headed away by a Luton defender, but Calum Chambers was ready at the edge of the area to fire home and give City the lead.
The Hatters found the equaliser six minutes later, after a City clearance was met by Jordan Clark who dispatched his volley into the top left corner.
City looked to retake the lead when Salech found substitute Sivert Mannsverk in space with some clever footwork, but the Norwegian midfielder's long range effort curled narrowly wide of the post.
The Bluebirds continued pushing forward; Perry Ng first had an effort denied by Thomas Kaminski before Chambers rattled the crossbar with a powerful volley moments later.
Luton extended their lead in the 79th minute, Goutas got a touch on a Luton cross but was unable to properly get it out of the danger zone and Thelo Aasgaard capitalised.
Despite late attacking pressure from City, the Bluebirds were unable to find the leveller and were defeated at Cardiff City Stadium.
FINAL SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 1-2 LUTON TOWN
Cardiff City: Horvath, NG, Goutas (Méïté 85’), Fish, O’Dowda, Chambers, Ramsey (Mannsverk 49’), Robertson (Robinson 69’), Colwill (Willock 69’), Alves (Davies 69’), Salech. Subs not used: Turner, Daland, Bagan, Ashford.
Luton Town: Kaminski, Bell, McGuinness, Aasgaard (Burke 86’), Morris (Bowler 75’), Adebayo (Brown 58’), Clark, Walsh (Nelson 58’), Jones, Makosso, Doughty (Alli 58’). Subs not used: Krul, Andersen, Brown, Fanne, Nordås.