By David Williams
Sabri Lamouchi took no prisoners after Cardiff City’s defeat at Preston North End – accusing his players of “stupid mistakes” after they lost 2-0.
The defeat might have been costly had any of the clubs beneath Cardiff picked up points, but all three of those in the relegation zone lost, so the gap remains at six points.
Bluebirds boss Lamouchi proved he is not one for hard luck stories as he accused his players of decisive errors which enabled Preston to add to Tom Cannon’s goal with another for Ched Evans after Cardiff goalkeeper Jac Alnwick was sent off.
“I’m very disappointed, because after the first half we were in the game, we created chances,” said Lamouchi.
“It’s not easy to play here, we know that, but we started well. The second half, even after a few good minutes and [Sory] Kaba’s chance, we lost our mind and made stupid mistakes.
“Unfortunately, if you don’t absolutely concentrate until the end, it’s the Championship. After an hour, we could say a point is fair for both teams – but the game is 90 minutes.
I was sitting right behind that. I cannot believe Woodman saved it.
Kaba with the sweetest connection on a volley ever, belting it towards the far side of the goal. Woodman flies through the air to tip it around the post. Unbelievable save #CCFC #Bluebirds https://t.co/OiIAqqxTP8— Glen Williams (@GlenWilliams12) March 11, 2023
“I was disappointed [about the first goal], just 30 seconds before, [Cedric Kipre] was in attack. He wanted to make the difference, to score, but in our situation, we have to stay in our position and not give anything to anyone until the end.
“We make a few mistakes in the second half and didn’t make these mistakes in the first half.”
Cannon opened the scoring with a blistering second-half strike and Evans sealed the points at the death after Alnwick was sent off for a rash lunge, to extend the Lilywhites’ unbeaten run to six games.
Lamouchi insisted Alnwick was not to blame for his red card, which came after Cardiff played themselves into trouble with poor passing from their own throw-in.
He added: “We could have avoided putting our goalkeeper in trouble. He’s very disappointed but it’s not his fault. We gave him a very bad ball – how could he play it?
“We need to move on and fortunately we have a game in three days at home again. We need to think about our mistake and focus on the next one.
“Some people want to look behind, but I want to look forward. I’m very disappointed.
“After the first half, we were in the game. We created chances. It’s not easy to play here but we started well. We need to be more determined, more concentrated, more killer.”
Preston manager Ryan Lowe said: “I just want to win as many games as we possibly can and see where it takes us.
“We’ve got a small target of points that we’d like to get to before the international break. If we feel there’s a right challenge we can go and do, then we’ll sit down and we’ll all agree on something that we might be able to do.
“But I’m not getting carried away with it. What’s most pleasing for me is to win two back-to-back home games at Deepdale, which we haven’t done for a while.
“The attitude and the application in training the lads give us on a daily basis is fantastic.
“In the defensive unit, there’s a couple in there who were written off at Preston North End before we came, and it just shows the belief that you have in the players. A top goalkeeper helps as well. The defensive unit has been different class.”