Keogh stuns 10-man Millwall
Barron sent off for visitors as Bluebirds end mini blip
Last Updated: September 25, 2010 8:22pm
Keogh: Match-winner
An 89th minute goal from Andy Keogh helped Cardiff end their recent blip as they defeated 10-man Millwall 2-1 on Saturday.
The Bluebirds had lost their previous two league outings heading into the fixture, and they suffered a setback when Scott Barron opened the scoring on 10 minutes.
But Jay Bothroyd soon levelled matters before Liam Trotter was handed his marching orders prior to the interval for a professional foul.
And with just a minute left of normal time, Keogh struck to lift Cardiff to second in the table ahead of the 3pm kick-offs later in the day.
Injuries
Cardiff, still without the injured Craig Bellamy, Michael Chopra, Danny Drinkwater and Seyi Olofinjana, struggled to get into their rhythm in the opening quarter, giving possession away cheaply.
And Millwall capitalised fully on their sloppy play when they broke the deadlock after just 10 minutes.
Kevin Lisbie found Barron in a good position and he fired low past Tom Heaton from the left-hand side of the six-yard box.
The visitors continued to hold the upper hand until the home side equalised in the 24th minute.
Lee Naylor's long throw found Whittingham and his stab goalwards was blocked as far as Bothroyd, who duly found the bottom corner from close range.
That was the first of what could have been a quickfire hat-trick for the Bluebirds frontman, although Lisbie and Trotter were both giving the Cardiff rearguard plenty to think about at the other end.
However, Jackett was soon forced to reconsider his side's approach when Trotter received a straight red five minutes before the break.
Headache
But he was spared further half-time headache in injury time when Forde produced a great save to keep out Whittingham's penalty after he had been brought down by Darren Ward.
Cardiff failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority in the opening 20 minutes of an ordinary second half, with Millwall working hard and looking more likely to add to the scoreline.
That prompted Dave Jones to introduce Jason Koumas which certainly put City on the front foot, Mark Hudson seeing his header blocked by Paul Robinson and Whittingham blasting over.
Neither Forde nor counterpart Heaton had been forced to make a single second-half save as the game approached the final 15 minutes.
But as the clock ran down Cardiff forced the issue and Keogh was on hand to head home Bothroyd's cross.
Matches
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npower Championship
Table
npower Championship
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff City | 46 | 87 |
| 2 | Hull City | 46 | 79 |
| 3 | Watford | 46 | 77 |
| 4 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 46 | 75 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 72 |
| 6 | Leicester City | 46 | 68 |
| 7 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 68 |
| 8 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 67 |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 65 |
| 10 | Derby County | 46 | 61 |
| 11 | Burnley | 46 | 61 |
| 12 | Birmingham City | 46 | 61 |
| 13 | Leeds United | 46 | 61 |
| 14 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 60 |
| 15 | Blackpool | 46 | 59 |
| 16 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 59 |
| 17 | Blackburn Rovers | 46 | 58 |
| 18 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 58 |
| 19 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 58 |
| 20 | Millwall | 46 | 56 |
| 21 | Barnsley | 46 | 55 |
| 22 | Peterborough United | 46 | 54 |
| 23 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 51 |
| 24 | Bristol City | 46 | 41 |
