By Gareth James

Mark McGuinness was at the centre of a red card row as Cardiff City boosted their relegation battle with a dramatic 1-0 win at home to Reading.

Bluebirds defender McGuinness was shown a yellow card for a lunging foul on Amadou Mbengue in the first half, but Reading manager Paul Ince was left furious with referee Darren Bond for not showing a red.

It proved a significant decision as Romaine Sawyers smashed home a 91st minute goal from the edge of the box to hand Cardiff priceless back-to-back victories, moving them five points clear of the relegation zone.

“It was blatant red card and like any red card it changes the game,” said Ince.

“The referee has absolutely bottled it. 

“We will be told on Monday they’re sorry and he made a mistake. But that’s no good to us. You have to get those big decisions right.”

“There has to be VAR in the Championship because if this was the Premier League that would always be a red card.

WHAT A HIT! #CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/LXVnuEwHW0

— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) February 17, 2023

“The referee has made a massive mistake tonight and I’ve seen enough of those from our players.

“We have to also look at ourselves because we were poor from the first minute to the 95th, we looked tired, out-of-sorts and I was dumbfounded by some of their decisions.”

Frenchman Sabri Lamounchi, Cardiff’s third manager of a troubled season, had achieved his first victory at Birmingham City in midweek. 

But this win will feel more significant as it was the club’s first at home for 111 days and it lifts them to 20th in the table, five points clear of the bottom three teams who all have two games in hand.

Cardiff had plenty of opportunities to take the lead in the first-half, but were unable to seize any of them.

Lamouchi said: “I’m so proud of the players. It’s unbelievable what they’ve done this week, taking maximum points from the two games.

“You could see we played with so much more confidence after the win at Birmingham but we couldn’t find that last pass.

“But we were so focused right to the last minute. We didn’t panic, we created a lot and deserved the three points.

“This is an exciting challenge but not an easy challenge,” he added. 

🗣️ "He absolutely bottled it, got it completely wrong."

Paul Ince was not happy with the referee following Reading's late defeat to Cardiff 😬🟥 pic.twitter.com/jdcgyxmXiJ

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 18, 2023

“I said yes to it for two reasons: it’s an important club, Cardiff. And for the squad, because I believe in these players and their quality. 

“It’s just finding the right way to talk with them and the right way to play. It was the perfect plan in Birmingham and tonight, I am very happy for that.

“I’m really happy. Now I’ve won away and at home. So now we just need to focus on game after game. 

“Our goal is still to save the club. But with this mentality, all together, we will do it. With this squad and mentality, we will do it.

“Every game in is tough in the Championship. We play four games in March, seven in April. Crazy. 

“We need to get points like tonight and like at Bir

Spotted at Cardiff City Stadium tonight. pic.twitter.com/v7xE0TzeZv

— Glen Williams (@GlenWilliams12) February 17, 2023

mingham and we will prepare the next one, Norwich.”

Both sides had brought winless sequences to an end with victories in midweek, but it was Cardiff who appeared the more energised.

Reading’s only real threat in a lacklustre first-half was a header from Tom McIntyre that floated harmlessly over the bar.

But the visitors felt aggrieved when McGuinness was shown only a yellow card, rather than a red, for a reckless lunge at Mbengue.

Cardiff gave a home debut to substitute Connor Wickham, their recent free agent signing, just before the hour mark but their service to the striker lacked quality.

Reading sent on Yakou Meite and the striker almost gave his side an undeserved lead when Cardiff goalkeeper Ryan Allsop swiped at fresh air when attempting his clearance.

Allsop recovered just in time, but the error was illustrative of an increasingly scrappy contest.

Callum Robinson came close to rising above that standard late on, but his shot from 20 yards crashed against the crossbar.

Finally, Sawyers struck with a low shot that went through a crowd of legs and past Joe Lumley.