Cardiff City 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers: Chairboys all but relegated from Championship

Kieffer Moore's goals took his tally to 23 for Cardiff and Wales this season

Wycombe Wanderers will need a miracle to avoid Championship relegation after their defeat at Cardiff City left the Chairboys on the brink of an instant return to League One.

They fell behind to Kieffer Moore's superbly-taken goal before captain and ex-Cardiff player Joe Jacobson levelled with a penalty before half-time.

Moore struck his second after the break to earn Cardiff victory.

But Derby's home loss to Birmingham means Wycombe are not officially down.

However, if Gareth Ainsworth's side are to survive they must win both their remaining games and hope Derby lose both theirs - and turn around a goal difference deficit of 13.

With Derby losing, this was a painful missed opportunity for Wycombe, their final realistic shot at survival gone.

They came into the match just about clinging on to their Championship status, wary of the fact that they would be relegated if their result in south Wales was bettered by Derby against Birmingham.

It was a remarkable feat in itself that Wycombe had given themselves even the slimmest hope of staying up.

Having won promotion to English football's second tier for the first time via the League One play-offs last season, the Chairboys had been widely tipped to make an instant return.

Relegation had seemed inevitable for much of this campaign with Ainsworth's side cut adrift at the bottom of the table - but three wins in their past five matches had given them an outside chance of pulling off the most improbable of escape acts.

And while their survival prospects are still remote, they are not yet impossible.

For Cardiff, by contrast, this was a match of little significance. With promotion and relegation out of the equation, they already had one eye on next season and manager Mick McCarthy handed 18-year-old Rubin Colwill his first start.

The attacking midfielder was immediately involved, threading a fine through ball in the third minute to Josh Murphy, whose low shot was saved by David Stockdale.

Cardiff took the lead in impressive fashion midway through the first half, as Moore picked up possession on the right-hand touchline and cut inside before steering a firm left-footed shot into the bottom far corner.

Moore and Colwill aside, the home side did not offer much as an attacking threat, while their defenders were kept busy by an industrious Wycombe team.

Ainsworth's men harassed and closed down their opponents, and one instance of their harrying led to their equaliser.

Wycombe midfielder Fred Onyedinma dispossessed a dithering Perry Ng and advanced into the Cardiff penalty area, where he was brought down by Sean Morrison. Referee Matt Donohue pointed to the spot and Jacobson scored against the club he supported as a boy.

Wycombe celebrated the goal in a manner which suggested they believed they could still salvage their survival, and they threw players forward in search of a second-half lead.

But they were dealt a body blow with 20 minutes left as Cardiff regained the advantage. Leandro Bacuna lifted a cross towards the back post, where Ciaron Brown nodded the ball back across goal to Moore, who drilled his low shot through a crowded penalty area and into the net.

As news filtered through of Derby losing to Birmingham, Wycombe tried desperately to find an equaliser, with goalkeeper Stockdale going up for several corners.

Cardiff substitute Will Vaulks was sent off moments after coming on in added time, the Wales midfielder shown a straight red card for a high tackle on Curtis Thompson.

But that came too late for Wycombe, whose scrambled efforts in the closing stages were in vain. Barring the most improbable turn of events in the remaining two rounds of fixtures, Wycombe's first stint in the Championship will last just one season.

Wycombe 'want to come back' - reaction

Cardiff City manager Mick McCarthy paid tribute to striker Kieffer Moore on BBC Radio Wales:

"He's been terrific. When he hasn't scored, he's been on the pitch nearly every minute of every game, so the shift he puts in every week is amazing.

"He knows we haven't got a direct replacement, he's going to play all the games. But he doesn't take his foot off the gas, he keeps going.

"He's a real threat, a very effective centre-forward."

Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth:

"If that's it, then the positive for us is the chance to get another promotion on our CVs next season.

"We don't want to finish bottom, and that's our next challenge. I want to come back to this level.

"I don't regret anything. I stand here as the manager of Wycombe Wanderers who didn't quite do enough to keep us in the Championship, but I looked oblivion in the face at Torquay seven years ago.

"Every day since has been a pleasure."