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There was a sense that the damage had already been done to Cardiff’s faltering bid to avoid relegation, with a run of just one win from their previous 13 matches leading to their second managerial sacking of the season as Omer Riza was dismissed a week earlier.
Wales captain Aaron Ramsey was brought in as caretaker boss with three games left, a desperate roll of the dice from the club’s
The Bluebirds made the worst start to a league season in their history and have been playing catch-up ever since, never fully able to pull away from the Championship’s relegation battle.
Cardiff re-entered the bottom three after Derby’s midweek win over Preston and headed to London with key midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Joe Ralls injured and ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
The Bluebirds tend to find London
With this draw, the Bluebirds extend the gap between themselves and the relegation zone to two points, but Derby County could close it when they play their game in hand at home to Preston North End on Wednesday.
As for the Owls, they stay 12th in the table, five points adrift of the play-off spots.
This result was of no real use for either side and their respective aims at
Riza has been in charge of Cardiff since replacing Erol Bulut on a temporary basis in September before being given a deal until the end of the season in December.
The 45-year-old enjoyed an excellent start to his tenure, winning four of his first seven games.
But the former Watford coach has only picked up four more victories in his next 24 matches.
Riza brushed off the boos on Tuesday,
At this advanced stage of a season, matches like these – between two teams sat uncomfortably close together towards the bottom of the table – can be unbearably tense.
And while there were undoubtedly nerves on both sides, the first half was so severely lacking in quality or meaningful incident that it was almost completely devoid of feeling.
Robinson managed two shots for Cardiff, one wide and the other comfortably
Horvath is likely to step in in midweek, the fixture with the Tigers coming ahead of Friday’s FA Cup fifth round trip to Premier League Aston Villa.
Riza will also be without defender Goutas who was sent off for bringing down Bali Mumba as he went through on goal. The Cardiff manager said he had not watched the incident back so gave no suggestion the club would appeal the dismissal.
The Bluebirds were eager to rediscover the form which had inspired an eight-match unbeaten run before their 7-0 demolition at Leeds a fortnight ago but, other than Callum O’Dowda’s tame effort against his former club in the first minute, Omer Riza’s side started sluggishly here.
The same was true of Bristol City, only two points adrift of the play-off places coming into this game but lacking imagination as they failed
Bottom side Cardiff City finally secured their first win of the Championship season at the eighth attempt as they beat Millwall.
Perry Ng scored just the third goal of the managerless Bluebirds’ league campaign as he powered in a first-half header from Joe Ralls’ corner.
That lead would only have lasted five minutes had Callum Robinson not cleared Romain Esse’s header off the line, but Cardiff had chances to extend
There are voices calling for Bulut to be the latest victim of an autumn overhaul given the stark reality of the league table.
Cardiff fans were hoping the recent international window would give Bulut and his coaching team time to work with the squad in the hope of an upturn at Derby County.
The 1-0 defeat at Pride Park saw more metaphorical knife-sharpening among the faithful judging by some of