City extended their unbeaten league run to 12 matches with a dominant 4-1 win over AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday night.
Brian Barry-Murphy made two changes to the side that beat Luton Town 3-1 on Saturday, as Will Fish and Ryan Wintle came into the starting XI.
The visitors created several early chances as they looked to make an impact under the lights. Callum Maycock looked set to find the target after latching onto a loose ball, but Alex Robertson produced a sliding block to keep the Dons out. Alistair Smith then tried his luck from range. However, his effort was comfortably caught by Nathan Trott.
Moments later, City went close. Omari Kellyman worked his way into the box and curled the ball towards the far corner, but was denied by Nathan Bishop in the Wimbledon goal.
The Bluebirds then began to steadily take control of the game. A well-worked move saw Kellyman find Joel Colwill, who created space for himself. His cutback found Perry Ng, though the defender couldn’t redirect his strike on target. Kellyman then went close himself as he fired over from Ollie Tanner’s low cross.
With 22 minutes played, City’s early pressure paid off. A move straight off the training ground got the hosts off the mark as Robertson’s corner was pulled back to Colwill, whose first-time strike flew into the back of the net, giving the Bluebirds the lead.
City thought they’d doubled minutes later as Joel Bagan slipped Colwill through, who made no mistake, finding the back of the net. However, the flag was raised for offside on the City midfielder. Despite City’s first-half dominance, Wimbledon levelled the score just before the break as Matty Stevens turned home Steve Seddon’s free-kick.
The first chance of the second half fell City’s way. Tanner forced a mistake and drove forward with pace, beating several players before unleashing a powerful strike, but his effort curled just past the post. Bagan then went close as his strike deflected just over the bar.
From the resulting corner, the Bluebirds doubled their lead. Tanner found Ng, who was completely unmarked, and he headed the ball home with ease. Wimbledon almost hit back instantly as Smith played Stevens through, who just missed the target.
The end-to-end start to the second half didn’t stop as City added a third only a couple of minutes after their second. This time Ng returned the favour, finding Tanner, who, on the half turn, struck first time, beating Bishop at his near post.
City thought they had a fourth as Ng tucked the ball home, but the offside flag was raised. The pressure continued from City, as Tanner was then denied a second after a fine low save from Bishop, and Kellyman’s effort stung the hands of the visitors' keeper.
With three minutes of normal time to go, City made sure their unbeaten run would continue as they added a fourth. Substitute Callum Robinson slid Kellyman through, who drove into the box and comfortably curled the ball into the far corner.
The Bluebirds are back on the road this Saturday, travelling to Home Park to face Plymouth Argyle in a 12:30pm kick-off.
FINAL SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 4-1 AFC WIMBLEDON
Cardiff City: Trott, Ng, Fish, Chambers, Bagan, Wintle, Robertson (Turnbull 65’), J. Colwill (R. Colwill 65’), Tanner (Robinson 74’), Willock (Ashford 65’), Kellyman (Scanlon 90’). Subs Not Used: Lawlor, Kpakio.
AFC Wimbledon: Bishop, Ogundere, Johnson, Seddon, Tilley, Maycock (Bauer 74’), Smith (Nelson 86’), Hippolyte (Reeves 74’), Nkeng, Browne (Hackford 74’), Bugiel (Stevens 37’). Subs Not Used: McDonnell, Asiimwe.