Hull City were the victors against the bluebirds on Saturday, September 28th, 2024.
Omer Riza's first City side saw Callum Robinson return to lead the line following a recent groin injury, with Rubin Colwill in support.
The Bluebirds started strongly with a number of quick opportunities. Wingers Anwar El Ghazi and Callum O'Dowda saw efforts drift off target.
It was City who opened the scoring with Robinson scoring his second of the campaign. El Ghazi played Callum in behind the home back-line, and City's No.47 made no mistake with a powerful strike beyond Ivor Pandur.
The elation was stifled quickly though, as the home side levelled four minutes later. Mohamed Belloumi's dangerous low strike evaded those in the box and found its way into the bottom corner of the net.
Following the two goals, the game continued in an end-to-end fashion, with the Bluebirds having joy from their press on the hosts.
Perry Ng, scorer of two wonderful free-kicks in the past, tried to replicate one of those after half an hour, but his strike went wide on this occasion.
The game's third goal came after 35 minutes, and it was the home side celebrating - the dangerous Belloumi with a clinical chipped finish from Mehlem's through ball.
City were forced to make a change before the interval with Will Fish seemingly struggling with a knock. Ng moved into the centre of defence, with Andy Rinomhota coming off the bench to take over at right-back.
The Tigers came out for the second half in determined fashion and scored a third six minutes into the half, but there was a big touch of fortune to the goal. The impressive Mehlem again with an assist, this time for Óscar Zambrano, who saw his shot beat the helpless Jak Alnwick thanks to a big deflection.
El Ghazi and Colwill peppered the home goal in the second period, but Pandur made a number of strong stops.
Ollie Tanner, Chris Willock, David Turnbull and Wilfried Kanga were introduced as the Bluebirds looked to find a way back into the match. Kanga managed to break in behind in the 79th minute, but he was unable to get a shot away on that occasion. Fellow substitute Rinomhota also tried to find the net on two occasions late in the game, but his efforts failed to test Pandur.
As the Bluebirds committed men forward, the hosts found space in behind on the counter and were given a chance to net a fourth from the penalty spot after the referee spotted an alleged foul by Ng. Bedia secured the points with a good spot kick.
For the Bluebirds, focus immediately turns to Tuesday's huge clash at CCS against Millwall.
Hull City: Pandur, Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Mehlem (Alzate 81'), Bedia, Omur (Kamara 72'), Drameh, Zambrano (Simons 72'), Slater (Palmer 72'), Belloumi (Millar 59'). Subs Not Used: Rushworth, Giles, Burns, Burstow.
Cardiff City: Alnwick, Ng, Fish (Rinomhota 39'), Chambers, Collins (Tanner 61'), Robertson, Ralls, El Ghazi (Kanga 73'), O'Dowda (Turnbull 73'), Colwill, Robinson (Willock 61'). Subs Not Used: Horvath, T. Davies, Giles, Ashford.