CARDIFF. Middlesbrough had a surprising win over Cardiff City with a 2-0 win with a goal from M. Payero (74′) and a penalty scored byA. Sporar (35′).

The match was played at the Cardiff City Stadium stadium in Cardiff on Saturday and it started at 11:30 am local time. The referee was Jeremy Simpson with the assistance of Lee Venamore and Akil Howson. The 4th official was Charles Breakspear. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was cold at 12.7 degrees Celsius or 54.9 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 71%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

None of the teams had an upper hand in terms of ball possession. Cardiff City was in possession of the ball for 52% of the time vs. Middlesbrough that controlled the ball for 48% of the time.

Attitude and shots

Middlesbrough was more aggressive with 66 dangerous attacks and 22 shots of which 7 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Middlesbrough won the contest.​

Cardiff City shot 7 times, 1 on target, 6 off target. On the opposite side, Middlesbrough shot 22 times, 7 on target, 15 off target.

Cards

Cardiff City received 3 yellow cards (A. Flint, M. McGuinness and M. Pack). Talking about the opposition, Middlesbrough received 1 yellow card (U. Ikpeazu).

Standings

After this contest, Cardiff City will stay with 11 points to stay in the 21st place. Regarding the opposition, Middlesbrough will have 21 points like Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield Town, Stoke City, Millwall and Blackpool to stay in the 6th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Championship, Cardiff City will play away against Stoke City on the 30th of October with a 4-4 head to head record.

Middlesbrough will host Birmingham City on the 30th of October with a 11-6 head to head in favor of Middlesbrough (5 draws).

Cardiff City – Formation

Cardiff City started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

The manager Mick McCarthy decided to play with the following team: Alex Smithies (6.7), Perry Ng (6.2), Aden Flint (7.3), Mark McGuinness (5.8), Ciaron Brown (6.6), Will Vaulks (7.0), Marlon Pack (6.1), Ryan John Giles (7.2), Rubin Colwill (6.4), Mark Harris (6.0) and James Collins (6.8).

The home team had on the bench: Dillon Phillips, Isaak Davies (6.5), Eli King (6.6), Kieffer Moore (7.1), Kieron Evans, Sean Morrison and Curtis Nelson.

Substitutions

Cardiff City made 3 changes: P. Ng for K. Moore (46′), W. Vaulks for E. King (79′) and M. Harris for I. Davies (80′).

Best player: Aden Flint​

The most impressive player for Cardiff City was Aden Flint.

His rating is (7.3) with 24 passes (54% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 12 duels out of 19. He hit the woodwork once times.

Middlesbrough – Formation

Middlesbrough started with a 3-4-1-2 line-up (3-4-1-2).

Regarding the opposition, Neil Warnock played with: Joe Lumley (7.3), Paddy McNair (7.2), Sol Bamba (8.5), Lee Peltier (6.8), Jonathan Howson (7.1), Marcus Tavernier (7.5), Matt Crooks (6.6), Onel Hernández (6.5), Martín Payero (8.0), Uche Ikpeazu (7.1) and Andraž Šporar (8.2).

The following players were sitting on the bench: Duncan Watmore (6.4), Isaiah Jones (6.7), Williams Kokolo, Luke Daniels, Josh Coburn (6.5), James Léa Siliki and Toyosi Olusanya.

Substitutions

Middlesbrough made 3 changes: O. Hernandez for I. Jones (63′), A. Sporar for D. Watmore (81′) and U. Ikpeazu for J. Coburn (85′).

Best player: Sol Bamba​

The player that probably impressed the most for Middlesbrough was Sol Bamba even if he didn’t score any goal.

His rating is (8.5) with 6 passes (33% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 10 duels out of 13.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Championship.​

• AFC Bournemouth – Huddersfield Town – 3-0
• Birmingham City – Swansea City – 2-1
• Blackburn Rovers – Reading – 2-0
• Blackpool – Preston North End – 2-0
• Cardiff City – Middlesbrough – 0-2
• Coventry City – Derby County – 1-1
• Luton Town – Hull City – 1-0
• Millwall – Stoke City – 2-1
• Peterborough United – Queens Park Rangers – 2-1
• West Bromwich Albion – Bristol City – 3-0