The Bluebirds were beaten by Portsmouth on Saturday, September 5th, 2026.
Brian Barry-Murphy made three changes from the side that were defeated at QPR in midweek with Krystian Bielik, Chris Willock and David Turnbull coming in for Rubin Colwill, Cian Ashford and Calum Scanlon.
The Bluebirds went close to opening the scoring inside three minutes. Bielik's header from Joel Bagan's left footed free-kick went inches wide of the mark. Former Portsmouth man Alex Robertson saw a shot saved four minutes later.
Despite City's bright start, it will have been John Mousinho and his Pompey side who were more satisfied with their first half display, as the hosts took control of the game. Nathan Trott was needed to keep the scores level after 17 minutes, making an excellent diving stop to keep out Tyrese Shade's effort.
Sadly for City, there was nothing Trott could do just after the half hour mark as Pompey took the lead. Defender Conor Shaughnessy rose highest to meet Shade's impressive long throw, heading his team into a one goal advantage.
The Bluebirds struggled to threaten against an ever-confident Portsmouth side and went in at the interval one goal behind.
City could, and probably should, have levelled the encounter after 52 minutes as Ollie Tanner headed into the side netting at close range. BBM's side were punished for this miss instantly as the hosts went up the other end and added a second goal. Forward Marko Milovanović adding the finishing touch to an excellent cross to double the lead of his team.
The Bluebirds continued to push forward despite the setback of the second goal. Tanner, Willock, Yousef Salech and Joel Bagan all saw efforts go close.
City were fortunate not to concede again though, as Milovanović showed his clinical touch for a second time. A debatable offside call though went the way of the Bluebirds, with the effort ruled out.
Our push for a goal saw spaces open up and Pompey went close to a third when the dangerous Abu Kamara cut in from the right and powered at goal, but his strike cannoned out off the woodwork.
While Perry Ng, Jack Moylan and Rubin Colwill all took shots at goal during the 10+ minutes of added on time, they came and went without Portsmouth’s goal being breached. The hosts taking all three points from the encounter.
FINAL SCORE: PORTSMOUTH 2–0 CARDIFF CITY
Portsmouth: Bielica, Arthur, Shaughnessy, Pack (Mohamed 90+4’), Segečić, Kamara, Meghoma (Swanson 65’), Shade (Kavuma-McQueen 69’), Shein (Adams 65’), Devlin, Milovanović (Bishop 69’). Subs Not Used: Schmid, Poole, Bailey, Kenny.
Cardiff City: Trott, Bagan, Osho, Bielik (Scanlon 90+1’), Moylan, Salech, Tanner (Ashford 83’), Turnbull (J.Colwill 64’), Willock (R.Colwill 64’), Robertson, Ng. Subs Not Used: Tyrer, Turner, Tankiewicz, Kpakio, Robinson.