Match Report | Derby County 0-1 Cardiff City
Cardiff City ended their 2021/22 campaign with an away victory against Derby County on Saturday afternoon.
Jordan Hugill’s second half goal proved the winner at Pride Park against the Rams, having been set up wonderfully by young Bluebirds Eli King.
Steve Morison made two changes to the side that drew against Birmingham City last time out, with King and Aden Flint coming into the starting lineup.
Following a period of play going back and forth between the two sides early on, Derby County picked up a majority of possession for most of the opening half, though they weren’t able to create any clear-cut chances to find an opener.
Liam Thompson’s strike from 20 yards out proved to be the first chance of the match with 35 minutes played, though Dillon Phillips was on hand to dive low and palm the curled effort away.
Continuing to mount pressure on the Bluebirds, Phillips was once again called upon to pull off a save five minutes later, this time by Tom Lawrence’s ranged strike. At full stretch, City’s number 1 pushed the shot away, moments later putting in a key block to deny Louie Sibley at close range after the ball found the forward at the back post.
At the other end, City’s calls for a penalty-kick were denied by the referee after Jason Knight collided with Jordan Hugill inside the area.
After the interval, it was the visitors who quickly managed to find the opener. On the counterattack, Cody Drameh found Eli King, who held the ball up terrifically before picking the perfect pass to Hugill. The striker made no mistake at the edge of the six yard box, striking home to put City ahead.
Looking for a quick response, the hosts pushed up the pitch, with substitute Luke Plange’s cross finding Craig Forsyth.
Taking a powerful shot on goal, Phillips jumped to make the save and deny the hosts once more, handling the effort well.
The Bluebirds held onto their one-goal lead for the remainder, as the Rams continued their offensive. Sibley came close to finding an equaliser in injury time, though the effort was blocked inside the area.
With seconds remaining, Curtis Davies remained onside to receive the ball inside the City area, but his shot towards the near post was denied by Phillips.
With the final whistle blown, the Bluebirds earned a final three points to end the 2021/22 Sky Bet Championship season.
FINAL SCORE: DERBY COUNTY 0-1 CARDIFF CITY
Derby County: Allsop (Roos 72'), Knight, Davies, Cashin, Forsyth (Ebosele 65'), Bird, Thompson, Ebiowei, Morrison, Sibley, Lawrence (Plange 59'). Subs: Stearman, Watson, Aghatise, Cybulski.
Cardiff City: Phillips, Drameh, Denham (Colwill 46’), Flint, Nelson, Bagan, Wintle, King (Davies 62’, Watters 78’), Ng, Harris, Hugill. Subs: Luthra, McGuinness, Semenyo, Davies, Watters, Collins.
