Happy birthday, Warnock: Five things learned from Cardiff 2-1 Wolves

in , , , , , , ,

Cardiff City earned their third win of the season after coming from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1.

Despite dominating the game early on, Cardiff went behind after 18 minutes, with Matt Doherty firing in from a corner.

Wolves’ lead would last until midway through the second half as Aron Gunnarsson drew Cardiff level with his first goal of the season.

And Junior Hoilett completed the comeback with a fantastic curling effort from the edge of the area, leaving Rui Patricio no chance as it sailed into the top right corner.

Here are five things we learned from Friday night’s clash

1. Wolves’ problems go on

After a promising start to the season, winning four of their opening eight games and losing just once, Wolves have been brought back down to earth in their last five matches. Four defeats and a draw have seen Nuno Espirito Santo’s men slowly slip down the table and towards the eventual relegation battle many fans would have hoped they would steer clear of this season.

But after an hour, things looked to be going well, with Wolves being largely outplayed by their hosts but still holding the lead through Doherty’s first-half finish. But then, Cardiff started to make their dominance count and Gunnarsson drew the Bluebirds level.

For a Wolves side who had struggled to really create a good link between midfield and attack, trying to secure a first win in six would have been a daunting task. And it was made even worse when Cardiff took deservedly took the lead through Hoilett’s brilliant curling effort from outside the area.

To make matters worse, the defeat ended Wolves’ 44-game unbeaten run in matches they have scored the first goal – a streak stretching back to February 2017.

Things don’t ease off for Wolves either, with their next game at home to Chelsea in midweek.

2. Hoilett gives Warnock the perfect early birthday present

Neil Warnock celebrates his 70th birthday on Saturday and will be able to do so knowing his side have earned just their third win of the Premier League season.

Cardiff were well deserving of their win, giving former Championship rivals Wolves a tough game, not allowing their opponents to play their attacking football.

But it took a moment of magic from Hoilett to gift Cardiff the win, and the Canada international was fully deserving of it.

From the start, he continuously tested the Wolves full-backs with his pace and direct style of play, and was Cardiff’s best offensive output at times.

Alongside Gunnarsson, Hoilett had the joint-most shots of any Cardiff player, and created one chance for his team-mates.

But it isn’t just this season in which Hoilett is proving his worth for Cardiff. Since the start of last season, Hoilett has been directly involved in more league goals (10 goals, 11 assists) than any other player for Cardiff.

3. Adama Traore fails to make chance count

Adama Traore is an interesting young player, so full of potential which is yet to be truly shown.

The Spaniard is so skillful on the ball and has pace in abundance, completing 29 take-ons in the Premier League prior to Friday’s match, the fifth highest in the division.

But, given just his second league start of the season, Traore once again showed why he has been frustrating for fans to watch in his two Premier League stints with Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Wolves.

For all his dribbling abilities, Traore has very little end product due to a mixture of poor decision making and over-trying when it matters most.

If there was a moment which summed up Traore’s game perfectly, it would be in the first half when Wolves broke on the counter attack with the winger on the ball. Making his way into the Cardiff half, the Spaniard had one defender to beat and an open pitch wide ahead of him. But, instead of beating the defender as we know he can, he kicked the ball straight into his opposition and wasted a chance to put Wolves 2-0 up.

Another moment came just minutes after half-time as he broke once again, with two team-mates ahead of him to pass to – one clear out wide to stretch the play and another marked by two defenders. Traore passed to the latter and the move eventually broke down.

The Spaniard was taken off with 15 minutes to go as Wolves looked to try a new approach, with Morgan Gibbs-White coming on.

4. Cardiff’s set piece problems show again

Cardiff dominated the first half and had the much better chances to score compared to their opponents. But they went in at half-time a goal down and it was a story Bluebirds fans should be used to by now.

With their own defence being given a rare moment’s reprieve, Wolves won a corner after Sol Bamba did well to shut down an Adama Traore attack.

The ball was swung into the box and Neil Etheridge did well to save Raul Jimenez’s initial header after the forward had got away from Ecuele Manga. But Matt Doherty was quickest to react to the save, getting slightly ahead of his marker, Aron Gunnarsson, to fire into the roof of the net from close range.

It was the seventh goal Cardiff have conceded from a set-piece this season, the joint-most in the Premier League alongside Newcastle United.

This isn’t something Cardiff should be having a problem with, with Bamba and Manga winning 84 aerial duels between them prior to the match, but the Bluebirds’ defensive structure seems to go out of the window when faced with a deadball situation and it is in danger of seriously hurting Neil Warnock’s men.

5. Direct football brings more potential annoyance to viewers

When Wolves were promoted to the Premier League, they did so with exciting attacking play and vowed to continue that style this season. At the start, they did so to an extent, winning admiration from the neutrals who were happy to see a newly-promoted side trying to play football rather than frustrate opponents.

But the big problem with this was it left Wolves open a lot and the defeats started to rack up with Santo’s side losing five of their opening 13 Premier League games.

Against Cardiff on Friday night they were up against a side built on tough defending and direct football, and Wolves struggled to apply their own style. This resulted in two teams trying to play long-ball direct football with little luck.

Between them, over the course of the match, the two sides managed 598 pass attempts (Cardiff 294, Wolves 304) but completed just 390 of them (Cardiff 181, Wolves 209).

That meant both teams’ finished with a total pass completion of less than 70%, something which will have annoyed any neutral fans watching.

Not that Cardiff fans will care one jot, getting the precious three points.

The post Happy birthday, Warnock: Five things learned from Cardiff 2-1 Wolves appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2U2D0Sn
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)