Cardiff City End Season In Style With Three-Goal Away Win

Joe Bennett. Pic: Getty Images.

Cardiff City End Season In Style With Three-Goal Away Win

Huddersfield Town 0, Cardiff City 3

More than 500 Bluebirds fans sang and cheered their way through Cardiff City’s final Championship fixture of the season.

Huddersfield Town have qualified for the play-offs, but they were left gasping at the way manager Neil Warnock’s team tore them apart.

Cardiff supporters, many of them wearing fancy dress, chanted ‘Let’s all have a disco’ as their team romped to victory in the Yorkshire sunshine.

Joe Bennett, a full-back pushed forward into midfield for this game, scored twice with Kenneth Zohore the other scorer.

The power and movement of Zohore was a constant threat to Huddersfield, who have achieved their highest League finish in 45 years in fifth place.

They now play Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off semi-finals and will be without Wrexham-born former Wales international goalkeeper Danny Ward, who was sent off during the first half.

In the other play-off clash Reading take on Fulham.

Cardiff won away for the first time since Valentine’s Day in February and they are 12th in the Championship table.

They went ahead after seven minutes when Zohore scored with a left-foot shot into the bottom right-hand corner. Anthony Pilkington created the shooting chance.

Huddersfield had Ward dismissed after 20 minutes for deliberate handball outside the penalty area when he denied Zohore a second goal and substitute Joel Coleman took over with Sean Scannell making way.

Bennett made it 2-0 with 29 minutes gone, assisted by Zohore, and he fired another left-foot shot into goal to complete the scoreline (71 minutes).

Cardiff started at a high tempo, but stayed calm and composed throughout the 90 minutes.

Goalkeeper Brian Murphy scarcely had a shot to deal with, while Cardiff sent on Peter Whittingham for Pilkington and earned a deserved win.

The Bluebirds ended their season in style, earning their biggest away win since December 2012.

They were second from bottom when Warnock took charge and have climbed steadily away from danger.

Hopes are high that with Warnock in charge City can launch a promotion challenge in 2017-18.

Huddersfield Town: Ward, Smith, Hefele, Schindler, Lowe, Hogg (Whitehead), Mooy, Scannell (Coleman 21), Brown (Wells 67), van La Parra, Quaner. Subs not used: Holmes-Dennis, Cranie, Payne, Lolley.

Cardiff City: Murphy, Peltier, Morrison (capt), Connolly, Richards, Gunnarsson, Ralls, Bennett, Pilkington (Whittingham 63), Zohore (Lambert), Hoilett (M Harris 67). Subs not used: Noone, Halford, Amos.

Referee: Jeremy Simpson.

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