Cardiff City exited the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, despite a late comeback effort under the lights at CCS.
Among the six changes to the starting XI that featured over the weekend was Noah Anyadike, who broke the Club record for youngest player at 15 years and 98 days old.
City had the better of the opening exchanges, forging early chances through direct crosses into the area. The greatest opportunity came in the first ten minutes, as Callum Robinson – making his first start of the season – ran along the goal line before cutting a low cross that evaded Daniel Grimshaw’s reach and was very nearly poked home by toe of the onrushing Isaak Davies.
David Turnbull and Alex Robertson each saw shots from distance go just wide of the mark as City varied their attacking efforts in the following moments of play
With chances being shared as play continued, the visitors took the lead before the half-hour mark. Following Pelle Mattson's deflected shot going just wide of the City goal, fellow Dane Mathias Kvistgaarden’s headed effort from the resulting corner-kick put the Canaries ahead.
The Bluebirds maintained their control of possession despite going behind and stuck to their task as they looked for an equaliser.
Played down the right, Davies worked well to create a chance with another good cross, forcing a block to win a corner-kick. Callum Robinson also tried his luck on goal with a well-placed shot from the edge of the area, though it was held by Grimshaw.
Following the interval, both sides continued to battle and create chances at either end of the pitch. With an early opportunity for the visitors seeing a stray headed effort crash off the City crossbar, the Bluebirds responded with attacks of their own following Rubin Colwill’s introduction. Turnbull was again involved, this time doing well to bring down a through ball at the edge of the area and striking on the half volley, though Grimshaw was once again equal to it.
With City boss Brian Barry-Murphy turning to further reinforcements for the final 20 minutes, the hosts increased the pressure and looked to convert with a slew of chances being created. Jack Moylan went alone early after his introduction and saw his shot well blocked inside the area, while Yousef Salech was as ever an imposing aerial presence as he led the hosts’ front line.
Ante Crnac scored a contentious second for the Canaries with ten minutes remaining, sliding home at the end of a low cross following Joel Bagan’s dispossession, with calls for a foul on the City left-back waved away.
While the Bluebirds found an injury-time response in Salech, whose terrific strike halved the deficit, there wasn’t enough time on the clock for City to fashion a sought-after equaliser, with the final whistle confirming the hosts’ exit from the competition.
Cardiff City: Trott, Bagan, Turnbull (Moylan 67’), Willock, Robertson, J. Colwill, Ng, Davies (Ashford 67’), Anyadike (R. Colwill 55’), Kpakio, Robinson (Salech 67’). Subs: Tyrer, Scanlon, Moreno, Giles.