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Cardiff City 0 - West Bromwich Albion 4
Brendan Clegg:Well I know Cardiff aren’t very good at the moment but this was still a great result. We seemed to get the balance of when to play right. Some of that came from the starting lineup and we were more creative and possession based thanks to Robbo starting. Hugill and Grant were also understandable given the late flurry last Friday. I can't speak for the first 15 minutes or the goal because, like many others I saw on social networks, having forked out for the game on the official club site I then couldn't access it. The usual shambles. But from when I was able to get in we looked pretty good - no nonsense at the back and some decent attacking play that generally resulted in an attempt at goal. We also stood up to the size and physicality of Cardiff really well - players like Livermore and Ajayi especially enjoying the battle. I think scoring first and early really helped us - we're not a team that scores and then needs to hang on for the match. Early goals make the way we try to play a lot easier. One lapse nearly cost us when Bartley got stuck under the ball and blocked their player from running through but, in the circumstances, it was a smart foul to take a yellow for. The last 15 minutes of the half were a bit tough as Cardiff threw everything at us but we rode it out. Second half we came back into it and scored after decent work down the left - not sure how Robbo missed be their defender spooned it home for us. That looked like job done and then Big Val made some nice early changes to get Phillips and Diangana on. It really worked for us as their energy and movement exposed Cardiff time and again as they looked to push on and try and get back into it. Mowatt's goal was a stunner - better than Blackburn for me and the guy can certainly volley a ball. Clean as a whistle into the top corner from over 20 yards out after good work again from Zorro on the right. The final goal was all about energy and speed of thought - Cardiff were gassed and through their lack of concentration we clinically took them apart with a quick free kick, a good scamper and cross from Grady and Phillips following in. Credit to the manager - he got this one spot on and our possession stats show that it wasn't kick and rush. I think Stoke on Friday will be a much tougher match but one we can look forward to if we're going to play like this.
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