Cardiff City vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
Cardiff City Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Cardiff City and Preston at the Cardiff City Stadium as goals from Kieffer Moore, Josh Murphy, Marlon Pack and Mark Harris secured the win
Saturday 20 February 2021 18:34, UK
Cardiff moved within three points of the Championship play-off places and maintained Mick McCarthy's unbeaten start as manager with a 4-0 thumping of Preston.
Kieffer Moore's early penalty and second-half strikes from Josh Murphy, Marlon Pack and substitute Mark Harris earned the Bluebirds a fourth successive victory to take them within touching distance of the top six.
Cardiff goalkeeper Dillon Phillips crucially saved two penalties in two minutes to deny the visitors a route back into the game and condemn them to a fourth defeat in five matches.
Former Bluebirds defender Greg Cunningham and Emil Jakobsen came into the Preston XI in place of Tom Barkhuizen and Scott Sinclair, but they were powerless to stop their side getting off to the worst possible start against the unchanged Bluebirds.
Only 56 seconds had elapsed when Jordan Storey made contact with Sean Morrison instead of the ball with an attempted clearance, and referee Jeremy Simpson pointed to the spot.
Moore stepped up to take the penalty and found the top corner to give Cardiff a second-minute lead with his 14th league goal of the season.
McCarthy's men began the second half in the same vein as the first as they struck quickly again to put the game beyond the Lilywhites.
Harry Wilson sprung to life after the restart to win the ball from Ben Whiteman before driving towards goal and finding the run of Murphy.
The forward, who had found game-time hard to come by under Neil Harris, rewarded his new manager's faith by taking the ball away from Storey and finding the bottom corner after just 39 seconds of the second half.
Neil's side had two golden opportunities to get themselves back in the game, but Phillips made himself the hero by saving two penalties in two minutes.
The first came when substitute Anthony Gordon went down in the box after colliding with Wilson, but Phillips dived to his right to keep Paul Gallagher's kick out.
The penalty-taker raced to recover the rebound only to be hacked down by Aden Flint, who fumed as Simpson awarded his third penalty of the afternoon.
Ched Evans this time took responsibility, but the end result was the same as Phillips made another reaction save.
And Cardiff made them pay as they went down the other end in the 71st minute to wrap up their fourth straight win.
Sheyi Ojo pounced on a mix-up between keeper Daniel Iversen and Liam Lindsay and crossed for Moore, who had his header saved by Iversen but the Preston 'keeper was powerless to stop Marlon Pack from finding the net with a follow-up.
Lindsay was at fault again seven minutes later when his back-pass was cut out by Harris, who calmly finished to complete the 4-0 rout.
Cardiff's Mick McCarthy: "I put my arm around him to start with, I felt he needed a bit of loving to be quite honest. He was a £12million player, you don't become that and then something that's a bit-part player and can't play. And, do you know what? He has bought into every single thing I have asked of him and tried to help him with. And I'm glad he's reaping the rewards, he's a lovely kid.
"This is the best start I've ever had at a club. When I came in I looked at the squad and thought we could get a good team together, that we could get a tune out of these guys. I think it would have been beyond my wildest dreams or expectations to draw the first two and win the next five. You always hope to do it and plan to do it."
Preston's Alex Neil: "It was bizarre. We conceded a penalty in the first minute after trying to play short in our own bottom channel and gave away a throw-in, so we gave ourselves a mountain to climb. And then to give a goal away within the first 30 seconds of the second half was just incredible, it was naivety on a ridiculous scale.
"Then at 2-0 we gave ourselves an opportunity that we missed and then another one that we missed, which really summed it up. The game finished 4-0 but it didn't feel like a 4-0, not in a million years. I've been involved in them where one team is very dominant, but we caused our own problems."
