Cardiff City 0, Newcastle United 2
Peter Whittingham looked distraught when he left the Cardiff City Stadium pitch after just over an hour of the Championship clash with Newcastle United.
‘Whitts’ may well have been making his last home appearance for the Bluebirds after more than a decade, well over 450 first team appearances and 98 goals in all competitions.
The midfield playmaker has had talks on a new contract, but nothing has been agreed and the former Aston Villa man could be on the move this summer.
While Whittingham sat watching the final half an hour, Cardiff captain Sean Morrison was in the wars against a Newcastle team already promoted and now chasing the Championship title.
It was Morrison’s foul which led to City conceding the first goal and he blocked goalkeeper Allan McGregor’s view when Newcastle made it 2-0.
Centre-half Morrison shoved Christian Atsu to the ground after 55 minutes and the Ghanaian international jumped up to produce a moment of Premier League quality in an otherwise scrappy match.
Atsu clipped his free-kick over the defensive well and into the top corner from 20 yards, almost passing the ball into goal and leaving McGregor helpless.
Isaac Hayden added the second on 65 minutes, smashing a low shot into the corner. McGregor, unsighted as Morrison tried to block the ball, scarcely moved as it flew into the corner.
Almost 5,000 Newcastle fans were in Cardiff, lifting the attendance to more than 23,000. They sang and cheered their way through the 90 minutes.
This was a 10th successive League win for Newcastle against Cardiff, while the Bluebirds suffered only their second home defeat in 11 fixtures (7 wins, 2 draws).
City manager Neil Warnock will reflect on the chances missed by his team. None dragged a shot wide at the far post and then fired high over the bar from five yards. The winger really should have hit the target on both occasions.
Bruno Manga, too, missed when he had an outstanding chance. Noone’s corner picked out Manga, who out jumped defenders and headed over from 10 yards after 69 minutes.
Cardiff defender Jazz Richards was fortunate to avoid a red card after 80 minutes when he threw himself into a tackle on Atsu. Referee Graham Scott took his time, talking to Cardiff captain Morrison and then opted to book Richards rather than send him off.
Cardiff have won 14 of their 35 matches since Warnock took charge and they are comfortably in mid-table, but Newcastle had the quality to win convincingly.
Warnock made six changes to his team from the previous fixture, a goalless draw at Wigan, with McGregor, Whittingham and Zohore among those restored to the starting line-up.
Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez also switched things around with five players including Jack Colback and Daryl Murphy in the starting line-up.
Captain Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey were among those to drop out.
The Bluebirds now have one Championship match left this season and that is against Huddersfield Town away next weekend, while Newcastle, who could still be crowned champions, finishing against Barnsley at home.
Cardiff City: McGregor, Richards, Morrison, Manga, Bennett, Halford (Ralls 63), Hoilett, Gunnarsson, Whittingham (Pilkington 64), Harris (Noone 24), Zohore. Subs not used: Peltier, Connolly, Lambert, Murphy.
Newcastle United: Elliot, Yedlin, Mbemba, Clark, Dummett, Atsu, Hayden, Colback (Shelvey 73), Perez (Sterry 90), Diame, Murphy (Mitrovic 66). Subs not used: Lazaar, Haidara, Gouffran, Darlow.
Attendance: 23,153.