U23 Match Report | Sheffield Wednesday 0-3 Cardiff City
Cardiff City's U23 side continued their winning start to the campaign with their first away victory of the season on Friday afternoon.
Steve Morison made three changes to the starting lineup, including a competitive debut between the sticks for summer signing Rohan Luthra.
The Bluebirds' trip to Hillsborough Stadium saw them try to take an early lead, though the hosts initially held fast against the visitors.
Kieron Evans probed throughout the opening encounters, trying to poke holes in the opposition defence early on.
Evans was rewarded for his efforts just past the half hour mark, as he struck home wonderfully into the top corner. Teammate Chanka Zimba doubled the lead within 60 seconds, as his shot flew in off the post, putting City in the driver's seat for the remainder of the half.
After at the interval, Wednesday were more resilient, tightly packing around City when they were in possession. The third goal was something that nobody could do anything about, however: Evans, given a free-kick from over 20 yards out, took it directly, with a pinpoint strike flying in at the top right corner of the net.
With City comfortably ahead in the dying moments, the Bluebirds claimed yet another three points for their tally.
U23 FINAL SCORE: SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 0-3 CARDIFF CITY
Sheffield Wednesday: Render, Dawodu, Aguas, Hughes, Agbontohoma, Brennan, Adedoyin, Glover, Bonnington, Trueman, Farmer. Subs: Hall, Zottos, Trialist, Davidson, Thompson.
Cardiff City: Luthra, D'Almeida, Semenyo (Leahy 76'), Jones, Denham, Connolly, King, Patten, Zimba, Davies (Ashford 75'), Evans. Subs not used: Turner, Bakare, Pritchard.
U23 | What a win for the #Bluebirds! 💙
— Cardiff City Academy (@CF11Academy) September 10, 2021
3️⃣ well earned points on the road, with @KieronEvansx and @ChankaZimba's names on the scoresheet!#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/RWUCNw2LAZ
Following the final whistle, Lead Coach Steve Morison discussed the outing.
"It was an excellent performance," began Steve. "We should have been well out of sight in the first half, and were nearly caught out with some set pieces, but on the turnover we were excellent and deserved to go ahead like we did.
"We stood up top the pressure in the second half, and Kieron Evans put the icing on the cake with that free kick. Two goals for Kieron and another for Chanka with a clean sheet to boot, it was a good day at the office. We're really pleased with everyone, and hopefully we can keep it up in the coming weeks."
Kieron Evans was also pleased with the team's display against the Owls, adding: "It was another good performance, and of course it was good to add another clean sheet, which is important.
"I'm delighted to have scored two, to be honest. I just need to keep scoring and assisting the team where I can, and that all I can hope to do! We have some tough games on the horizon, so hopefully we can just keep kicking on as we have been recently."
