Cardiff City 3-1 Coventry City: Moore inspires Bluebirds

Cardiff continued their recent revival under new boss Mick McCarthy as Wales striker Kieffer Moore inspired his side to a 3-1 win over Coventry.

Moore finished superbly to give Cardiff the lead before tapping home a second after a huge defensive mix-up to put Cardiff 2-0 up at the interval.

Josh Murphy added a third moments into the second half as the Sky Blues were caught by a quick freekick routine.

Dominic Hyam scored a consolation goal for the visitors on 78 minutes.

The win sees Cardiff rise to seventh in the Championship, while Coventry slip to 20th.

Cardiff were 15th when McCarthy took charge on 22 January, 13-points adrift of the play-off berths and looking with concern over their shoulder, but can now look forward to an unlikely bid to extend their season, having moved within six points of managerless Bournemouth.

The Bluebirds made two changes for their first match against Coventry in almost nine years, both enforced, after they suffered a pair of injuries in their midweek win at Rotherham.

Midfielder Joe Ralls and forward Sheyi Ojo were both absent, with Marlon Pack and Murphy replacing them.

The visitors named an unchanged side from their draw with Watford last time out, with Mark Robins hoping to combat a Cardiff side in their best form of the season.

Manager McCarthy has never enjoyed a better start as a manager with the Bluebirds entering this one unbeaten in four since he succeeded Neil Harris, collecting eight points from a possible 12.

This was the first league meeting between the sides in the Welsh capital in nine years, with Oliver Norwood earning the Sky Blues a point that day with an equaliser five minutes into stoppage time in a 2-2 draw.

Cardiff enjoyed the brighter start on a freezing day in the Welsh capital and thought they had taken the lead on 12 minutes when Aden Flint tucked the ball home from Moore's header, but the goal was rightly ruled out for offside.

However, there was no stopping the Bluebirds just past the half hour mark when their forwards combined brilliantly to cut Coventry's defence to shreds as Murphy's controlled pass found Moore who confidently cut inside and beat his marker before smashing the ball past goalkeeper Marko Marosi.

Marosi could do nothing about the first goal but was culpable for Cardiff's second on 39 minutes when he made a complete mess of trying to punch clear a Will Vaulks throw, allowing Moore a simple tap-in from close range.

The visitors did not threaten the Cardiff goal until the stroke of half-time and when they did, in-form midfielder Callum O'Hare fired just wide.

However, hopes of a comeback were extinguished when Perry Ng's quick freekick caught Coventry cold after the break and Murphy raced clear to fire home.

The visitors thought they had a goal back from a well taken freekick, but Leo Skiri Ostigard struck the underside of the crossbar with a firm header that bounced back out.

Coventry responded well to going three behind and might have scored on 64 minutes, but Maxime Biamou fired just wide before Michael Rose' header was easily held by Dillon Phillips.

Phillips also did well to deny sub Tyler Walker with his legs on 76 minutes as Coventry at least showed good spirit in a contest where they dominated possession.

Dominic Hyam then fired home as Cardiff failed to defend a set-piece with the goal the least the visitors deserved for a battling second half display.

Cardiff City manager Mick McCarthy told BBC Sport Wales:

"I am very pleased, three wins on the bounce is great in this league.

"It wasn't a great performance, but it was a great result.

"They were playing through us, we didn't pass the ball well enough, but in the end we got the goal and goals do change the course of games.

"After beating Rotherham in midweek it's been a great week for us."

Coventry manager Mark Robins said:

"I thought it was the poorest performance of the season. We didn't show our ability to fight against a team that fights.

"We've allowed them and the referee's allowed them to kick Callum O'Hare off the pitch, and we only reacted with 15 minutes to go and that's not good enough.

"The chances they had and the goals they scored were given to them by us and you can't do that and expect to win games or even draw them.

"It wasn't good enough today, I'll stick up for everybody but there needs to be more scrapping from minute one to earn the right to play… it was just too easy for them today and that's something I'm absolutely angry about."