Championship Cardiff City 0 Middlesbrough 2 Full time

Middlesbrough's Matt Clarke (left) challenges Aaron Ramsey of Cardiff

Cardiff City remain winless and bottom of the Championship after losing 2-0 at home to Middlesbrough.

The Bluebirds woke the game from its first-half slumber with a flurry of chances early in the second half as captain Aaron Ramsey hit the post.

But Boro struck against the run of play as centre-back Matt Clarke thudded in a header from a Finn Azaz corner.

The visitors scored their second with eight minutes left as Ramsey deflected Aidan Morris’ shot into his own net.

A third defeat from their first four league matches of the season keeps Cardiff at the foot of the Championship table, while Boro’s second win lifts them up to sixth place.

Having scored just once so far, Cardiff’s goal difference is now -9. Even at this early stage of the campaign, there are some concerning signs.

As for Middlesbrough, they were by no means at their fluent best but, having drawn and lost two of their past three games in all competitions, these three points were welcome however they came.

Neither side made much of an impression during an uninspiring first half, with efforts on goal limited to two long-range shots from Azaz which were both comfortably saved by Ethan Horvath.

Boro looked the likelier of the teams to grab hold of the game, with Azaz and his midfield colleagues bypassing their counterparts with some intelligently threaded passes – but there was precious little attacking quality on show at either end before the break.

Having used his substitutes to excellent effect during last weekend’s derby draw at Swansea, Cardiff manager Erol Bulut turned to his bench at half-time and introduced Ollie Tanner, who made an immediate impact.

The winger, who teed up fellow substitute Callum Robinson for his equaliser at Swansea, beat Neto Borges and found Ramsey, whose goalbound shot hit Boro’s Luke Ayling and bounced off the post before somehow failing to nestle into the net.

A minute later, Ramsey was denied again as his powerful strike was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Seny Dieng.

But just as Cardiff were enjoying their best spell of the game, they fell behind.

Horvath scrambled to his left to superbly save from Azaz’s low shot and, from the subsequent corner, Clarke made it two goals in two Championship games with a thumping header.

That took the wind from Cardiff’s sails and, although Bulut brought on the likes of Robinson and Rubin Colwill to revive their hopes, the home side struggled to create clear chances from that point.

Boro sealed victory with a somewhat contentious goal, with Cardiff’s players claiming that Alex Gilbert was offside before passing to Morris, whose shot was heading wide before hitting Ramsey and going in.

Post-match reaction

Cardiff manager Erol Bulut:

“We didn't take our chances to score. I think first half it was a game where both sides didn't create chances. Second half, first 10-15 minutes, we had three or four positions to score.

“Then you concede a goal from a set-piece, then an own goal which is unlucky, but when we get a chance to score you have to score. This is a problem we have right now.

“How we spoke always about statistics, because statistics are nothing, we can speak about statistics and then everything is different. You have to score goals. And if not you have to run behind the result to get it done. And it's not easy against a quality team.”

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick:

“It was a really good win. It was a bit different to the other games we’ve had, not as many shots or chances, but there were a lot of good things in the game.

“The pitch was slow so it wasn’t easy to play quickly but I thought the boys did that well, largely. There was a five-minute spell [at the start of the second half] we had to weather. Other than that I thought we were good.

“To get rewarded for the time we spend on set-pieces was really pleasing. After a strange week with the [transfer] window and the result we had in midweek [losing 5-0 to Stoke City in the EFL Cup], the boys dealt with that ever so well. I’m really proud of them.”