By Gareth James
Omer Riza accused his Cardiff City players of lacking of bravery after they lost 2-1 at fellow Championship strugglers Portsmouth.
The result leaves the Bluebirds still in a relegation dogfight, just two points above the drop zone and still with just one away win all season in the league.
On the day the Welsh Rugby Union parted company with Warren Gatland, Riza said: It was like a rugby match and we didn’t stand up to the challenge.
“I thought a few players froze in the moment again. In general, we weren’t good enough. We lacked execution, we lacked bravery. We were second to a lot of stuff tonight.
“We made it hard for ourselves early on; to go two down again is hard work.
“I thought after 20, 25 minutes we were better, created opportunities, got a goal, so we stayed in the game.
“But we didn’t start well enough, we didn’t start aggressive enough. We weren’t doing the basics really well.
“I’ve told my players that we can play better than that.”
Defeat on the road.#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/T4PTKvggA4
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) February 11, 2025
Conor Shaughnessy claimed his first goal of the season as Portsmouth boosted their own survival hopes by leapfrogging fellow strugglers Cardiff in the table.
Colby Bishop poked Pompey into an early lead at Fratton Park before defender Shaughnessy headed home to double the advantage with just 17 minutes on the clock.
Callum O’Dowda quickly halved the deficit but the Bluebirds were unable to find a leveller as they slipped to consecutive league defeats on the back of a 7-0 thrashing at leaders Leeds.
Victory for John Mousinho’s men ended a four-match winless run to lift them to 18th place – two points above the visitors and four clear of the relegation zone.
Manager Mousinho said: “My nerves are all right; just my brain is a bit frazzled by some of the things we did.
“But we’ve come away with three points, so that’s the most important thing.
“I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve taken the three points. There’s some frustration in parts of the performance.
“I didn’t think Cardiff did more than us and I thought we created by far the better chances. We deserved to score more than them.”
THERE’S THE WHISTLE. #Pompey pic.twitter.com/xSD1KuURcc
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) February 11, 2025
Cardiff’s recent seven-match unbeaten run was emphatically ended at Elland Road in their last league outing before they edged past Stoke on penalties to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Bluebirds boss Riza, who watched the game from the stands as he completed a three-match touchline ban, would have again been fearing the worst as the lively hosts raced out of the blocks.
Pompey striker Bishop claimed the ninth-minute opener, taking a touch inside the box before clinically stabbing his fifth goal of the season into the bottom-right corner following a pass from Josh Murphy.
Winger Murphy then forced a fine diving save from City goalkeeper Jak Alnwick with a curling effort before whipping in the resultant corner for towering centre-back Shaughnessy to nod home and open his account for the campaign.
Backed by a vocal home crowd, Portsmouth, who produced a positive display during Saturday’s 2-1 loss at promotion-chasing Sheffield United, were in complete control.
Yet Cardiff capitalised on their first notable attack of the contest to dampen the mood just five minutes later when O’Dowda found space at the back post to head Andy Rinomhota’s cross into the bottom-right corner.
Omer’s post-match reaction is available to watch on @CardiffCityTV #CityAsOne
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) February 11, 2025
Bluebirds left-back Joel Bagan prevented Bishop restoring the hosts’ two-goal advantage following an error from Alnwick and was then twice denied by Pompey goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid at the other end.
Following an end-to-end opening period, the second half was a far tighter affair.
Bishop was denied by Alnwick shortly after the restart, while Murphy later fired over from a free-kick as the hosts sought to seal victory.
Callum Robinson thumped a volley straight at Schmid three minutes from time as Cardiff threatened to snatch a point before some last-ditch defending denied Portsmouth a third, moments later.
After Bishop’s initial effort was deflected on to the crossbar by a Bluebirds defender, the follow-up attempt was blocked on the line.
Home supporters were forced to endure a nervy finale – including five minutes of added time – but Pompey hung on for an important three points.
