Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City at the John Smith's Stadium on Tuesday night | Callum Robinson, Dimitrios Goutas, Yakou Meite and Perry Ng score in emphatic Bluebirds win.
Tuesday 24 October 2023 23:28, UK
Cardiff ended a mini blip in some style thanks to a convincing 4-0 victory at Huddersfield.
Erol Bulut's side had taken just one point from three Championship games prior to the trip to the John Smith's Stadium.
But they crushed Huddersfield with a clinical overall performance as Callum Robinson, Dimitrios Goutas, Yakou Meite and Perry Ng all found the net.
The Terriers had no answer to the Bluebirds' slick effort, particularly in the first half.
Cardiff got themselves off to a dream start as they opened the scoring after only 90 seconds.
The ground was swiftly silenced as Josh Bowler pulled a cross back for Robinson, who finished with a cheeky back-heel, albeit via a hefty deflection off Matty Pearson.
It was clearly a big blow for Darren Moore following his first win as Terriers boss at the weekend, but his team were quickly looking for a leveller.
Delano Burgzorg twice went close for the hosts.
Despite the Terriers' encouraging response, they fell further behind with only 12 minutes on the clock.
This time it proved to be a gift of a goal as Goutas was left unmarked to head home skipper Joe Ralls' corner from close range.
It could have got even worse minutes later.
Karlan Grant was left in space inside the Huddersfield box, but his strike flicked off Town's Ben Wiles before fizzing inches over the top.
The Terriers were probing for an opening and a potential way back into contention, but they did not look nearly as dangerous as Cardiff.
Robinson wasted a terrific chance, while Bowler forced Lee Nicholls into a smart near-post stop.
Meite then made it 3-0 just before the interval as he slammed home confidently after Ralls' corner was not cleared by a hesitant defence.
Four interval changes from Terriers boss Moore indicated how he saw the game going, but Cardiff remained firmly in control.
Kian Harratt curled an effort wide for the hosts, but Huddersfield's night took a further nosedive in the 55th minute.
Ng curled home a sweet 20-yard free-kick following a clumsy foul on Robinson.
Sorba Thomas forced Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick into a flying save as the Terriers valiantly responded, but by the hour mark many home fans had begun to head for the exits.
Substitute Kyle Hudlin curled a decent effort inches off target for Huddersfield, but Cardiff responded on the break as they almost made it five through replacement Ollie Tanner.
Huddersfield midfielder Jack Rudoni thumped the crossbar late on.
Huddersfield's Darren Moore:
"Let's not dress it up, that just wasn't good enough. We've conceded early on, and we've never really recovered from that.
"I think all the goals came from set-plays too, which is a big disappointment.
"I made the changes at half-time and changed the system around, but despite one or two chances in the second half, the final touch in the opposition penalty area just was not there.
"There are areas we need to look at going forward. Certainly goals can happen in football, but most of them were unavoidable. We have to take responsibility for that.
"Goals change games and breed confidence, and we need that tonight. But there was a bit too much hesitancy I thought.
"We took the plaudits and the pats on the back after beating QPR on Saturday, but we did not deserve anything like that tonight.
"It's been a disappointing night all round, but we've got a big game at Leeds this weekend to focus on now."
Cardiff's Erol Bulut:
"It's too early to talk about that, anything can happen at this stage of the season.
"Everything can still change, we've still got a long way to go in front of us this season.
"We've had really good performances earlier this season and not got the results we've deserved.
"Against Swansea and against Ipswich we played really well, but then last week against Blackburn, that was just what I didn't want to see.
"Tonight was much more what I expect. Against the ball and with the ball we were so much better, and to be honest, it probably should have been more than four goals we won by.
"I'm satisfied of course, but if we'd have been a bit calmer in front of the goal, we would have scored more. Confidence is great in the dressing room.
"Defensively we were strong too, and a clean sheet away from home is good. We've been good offensively, though, so we need to carry this momentum on now."
