By Gareth James
Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut heaped praise on his players after watching his team bounce back into the Championship play-off places with a thumping 4-0 win at Huddersfield.
The Bluebirds ended a three-game winless streak in some style with their biggest win of the season.
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.
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Bulut said: “Today we saw a really, really good Cardiff City. What we asked from the players, they did it well.
“Second half we knew the opponent would come with long balls but we were prepared for that. We worked really hard, it was a really good game from us.
“Last game we were not aggressive enough, too far away from the opponents. And offensively, with the ball, we didn’t create enough. Today, in an away game, to score four goals and it could be much more… but okay, I am satisfied with four goals.
“We had a really good run, with four wins in a row. But I said always it can change very quickly. We had two games we didn’t want. Now we come back with a victory today but we have to go again.”
Cardiff City in the first half against Huddersfield pic.twitter.com/X4uIwWIohF
— CCFCxAR10 (@CCFCxAR10) October 24, 2023
Huddersfield manager Darren Moore admitted: “We had a nightmare start – you don’t want to concede a couple of goals in the first 10 minutes.
“Cardiff have got some good players and they grew in confidence. They started moving the ball round on a slick, greasy surface tonight and caused us problems to get to grips with them in the first half.
“Second half I wanted to change the shape. We had one or two chances to get back in the game but it went away from us. We didn’t get the right touch in their penalty area.
“The most disappointing thing, usually [goals from] set-plays come from a lack of concentration. We certainly had people in the right places but we just didn’t get the first contact. It’s just a bad night at the office.”
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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 but 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.
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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.
Yakou Meite is a game changer.
— ccfcinsider (@ccfcinsiderr) October 24, 2023
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.
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