By Jake Maddaford
Cardiff City manager Omer Riza called the result “exactly what we needed” and praised Callum Robinson after the Bluebirds secured a vital 2-1 victory against fellow Championship relegation battlers Derby County.
The result sees Cardiff move up to 18th, four points clear of the relegation zone, now occupied by Derby. And Riza acknowledged how vital the result was to his side.
“This was a really important game,” Riza said.
“We said the other day that Swansea and Millwall were tough games, but this is exactly what we needed.
“This is the first time we’ve managed to give ourselves some space, now other teams around us have dropped points.”
Despite the positive result, Riza did notice a few negatives in his side’s performance, especially in the first half
“There are still elements that we need to be doing better to make life easier for ourselves.
“In the first half, we weren’t winning our battles. They won the first and second balls, and they didn’t allow us to get into the game.
“We showed a lot more composure in the second half. We had to change our mindset, and we got our rewards for it.”
With just over an hour gone, Callum Robinson proved yet again he’s the man of the moment for the Bluebirds, after his first shot was denied by Derby goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, he was on hand to net the rebound and give the hosts the lead.
This was the striker’s third goal in his last two matches, his 11th in total this season, and its importance was acknowledged by Riza.
“His attitude and character have been brilliant,” he said.
“We know what he can do and he’ll score if you give him a chance.
“He’s on 11 goals now, there’s teams at the top of the league who don’t have strikers on that amount.
Full time and Cardiff make it 8 unbeaten and move 4 points clear of the relegation zone. pic.twitter.com/Q51seOpCqV
— DragonSports (@DragonSportsWal) January 25, 2025
“He’s in a good place at the moment and we’re fortunate to have him, but he needs to keep going.”
Before their fans could stop celebrating, Cardiff would double their lead after Robinson found Anwar El Ghazi, who had only been on for eight minutes, who rolled it into the corner to give the hosts a cushion.
“He’s been disappointed and frustrated that he hasn’t been playing.” Riza said of the Dutchman’s lack of minutes.
El Ghazi has made 12 starts for the club this season and made seven more appearances from off the bench, which is where he began against Derby.
“We’re a group of players who all want to do well for each other, and he’s done exactly that,” added Riza.
From a Derby point of view, manager Paul Warne felt his side were unlucky to come away empty handed from the Welsh capital.
“I felt like we were on top in the first half. It might be unpopular, but I also thought our goal was onside,” Warne commented.
“It’s really disappointing because as a whole, my team were really confident. But when you play away you have to weather a storm and unfortunately, we didn’t.
“I think we didn’t do a lot of wrong today, we just seemed to get punished for whatever we do at the moment.”
Like Cardiff before, Derby now occupy one of the three places in the relegation zone. Warne was optimistic that given the low number of points separating the teams near the bottom, that the visitors can move out.
“In years gone by, people have said if you get 50 points, you’ll be fine. I personally think that it’ll be more this season,” Warne added.
“All the teams down there, none of them are idiots, and no team wants to fall out of the championship.
“I do think it will go right to the wire.”
Given the fact that there are only five points separating Cardiff in 18th and Luton in 23rd, any two of those teams in between could be sat in the relegation zone this time next week.
Given the unpredictable nature of the Championship, you would need a crystal ball to look into the future to see who will get relegated.
Anyone would do well to correctly guess the teams at this point.
