Cardiff City lost their opening three home league matches of the season
Bottom side Cardiff City finally secured their first win of the Championship season at the eighth attempt as they beat Millwall.
Perry Ng scored just the third goal of the managerless Bluebirds' league campaign as he powered in a first-half header from Joe Ralls' corner.
That lead would only have lasted five minutes had Callum Robinson not cleared Romain Esse's header off the line, but Cardiff had chances to extend their advantage.
Rubin Colwill was denied three times by Millwall goalkeeper Lukas Jensen – most spectacularly from the Wales international's delicate free-kick – while Yakou Meite could not convert Ollie Tanner's cross with the goal at his mercy.
Despite an anxious wait for the final whistle, however, those misses did not prove costly as the home side triumphed in their second game under interim manager Omer Riza.
Cardiff remain at the foot of the Championship but this precious win at least takes them to within two points of safety, albeit with the four teams above them playing on Wednesday.
And given how dire the previous seven games had been – the six defeats making it their worst ever start to a season – this victory was arguably just as important to lift morale.
Defeat left Millwall 15th in the table after an unhappy return to south Wales for their manager and ex-Bluebirds boss Neil Harris.
This season was meant to be one of celebration for Cardiff in their 125th year but they came into this match at a dreadfully low ebb, having collected just one point and two goals from their opening seven games.
Much as the home fans tried to lift their team, there was an unshakeable flatness about the early exchanges.
Millwall managed a couple of shots – Casper de Norre pulling one wide and Esse firing straight at Jak Alnwick, while Cardiff briefly threatened with a Dimitrios Goutas header that flew over and a deflected Robinson effort which Jensen held.
The game seemed to meandering in a familiarly bleak direction for the hosts until they lifted the gloom six minutes before the break as Ralls' left-footed corner from the right was glanced in by Ng.
Bluebirds fans ironically chanted "We've scored a goal", such was their pleasant surprise at seeing their team lead for just a second time this season.
But they survived a scare when Esse's header was cleared off the line by Robinson.
Cardiff looked to capitalise on their rare advantage in the second half and, two minutes after the interval, Colwill was denied twice in quick succession by Jensen's double-save before his curling free-kick was brilliantly tipped over.
Riza's men thought they had the three points wrapped up when Tanner found Meite with a low cross from the right but, just a few yards from goal, the substitute could not connect with the ball and fell over.
Millwall barely threatened after the break, but came close in the fifth and final minute of added time when Duncan Watmore's close-range backheel was saved by Alnwick.
The home crowd held their breath for a moment at that point but were able to roar in delight – and relief – at the final whistle.
Post-match reaction
Cardiff interim manager Omer Riza:
"I think relief [is the overriding emotion]. When you haven't won a game in seven, it's frustrating, it's disappointing for the fans, the club, players, staff.
"So to get that win today against a team that's so hard to play against, we had to match that. The boys were solid and dealt with a lot of problems.
"We managed to get that goal, hold on and come away with the three points so I'm really happy."
Millwall manager Neil Harris:
"I thought we massively helped Cardiff. That was our worst league performance of the season, without a shadow of a doubt.
"Stats don't lie that Cardiff have been the lowest scoring team and worst performing team in the division. Individually and collectively, we were poor.
"You can't give poor goals away. A Neil Harris team and a Millwall team can't get sucker-punched on set-plays. That gave Cardiff confidence and belief and we just didn't react accordingly."
