Andreas Weimann has scored more goals against Cardiff City than any other club
Austrian forward Andreas Weimann scored twice as Blackburn Rovers claimed a deserved 3-1 victory at Cardiff City Stadium.
Weimann scored from close range to cap a fine Rovers move as the visitors led at half-time.
The striker doubled his tally after the interval by again tapping home unmarked as Blackburn ended a run of three successive away defeats.
The Bluebirds got back into the contest with David Turnbull scoring the rebound after seeing his initial penalty saved by Aynsley Pears, but Lewis Baker’s late goal after he beat the Cardiff offside trap wrapped up the result.
In a game where clear-cut opportunities were few and far between at either end, it was the sharp finishing from former Bristol City striker Weimann that proved the difference in the Welsh capital.
Weimann has now scored seven goals against Cardiff in 14 appearances, the most goals he has scored against any club.
The striker's double completed a bad week for Cardiff who have now suffered back-to-back defeats after their recent revival under interim boss Omer Riza.
Riza warned after the 2-1 comeback victory over Norwich City last weekend that their recent winning run would end eventually and it duly did in midweek with his side beaten 1-0 at Luton Town.
He made three changes from that defeat, while Rovers boss John Eustace named the same side that lost 2-0 at Stoke City, with Harry Pickering making a 300th career appearance.
Blackburn have not had a lot to shout about on the road in recent months, having won only three of their previous 20 away league matches, but they have enjoyed a good recent record against Cardiff who had won only one of their last 13 matches against them.
Rovers’ away-day struggles were certainly not in evidence as they took the lead in eye-catching style as an excellent, sustained period of possession saw them sweep the ball from defence to attack, culminating in Lewis Travis crossing for Weimann to tap home.
The visitors thought they had a second goal five minutes later, but Todd Cantwell’s tap-in from a Jak Alnwick save was rightly ruled out for offside.
Cardiff, who were seeking a fifth successive home victory, did threaten through talisman Rubin Colwill, but his long-range effort on seven minutes and a sharp chance in the penalty area on 29 minutes were both saved by Pears.
Welsh boxing world champion and former Cardiff City women’s player Lauren Price was paraded before fans ahead of kick-off, with the Bluebirds needing to show some fighting spirit themselves after the break as they looked to maintain their recent fine home form.
The Bluebirds did start the second half on the front-foot with Turnbull and sub Yakou Meite both seeing long-range efforts saved by Alnwick, but they soon fell 2-0 behind.
Rovers scored from their first attack of the second half as Travis split the Cardiff defence with a pass that found Pickering in space and he provided the cross to present Weimann another tap-in.
Cardiff pushed to get back into the contest but were twice denied by Pears who got down well to save Chris Willock’s shot, before he acrobatically repelled a Colwill header.
The Bluebirds kept coming and got back into contention when substitute Joe Rankin-Costello clattered into Callum O’Dowda in the box.
Turnbull saw his initial penalty saved by Pears, who was helpless to prevent Turnbull from slamming home the rebound as it fell kindly.
The Bluebirds fans sensed another rousing comeback could be on the cards but they were hit on the break when sub Baker beat the Cardiff offside trap and fired across goal, with Alnwick perhaps feeling he might have done better as the ball crept into the corner of the net.
Cardiff City interim boss Omer Riza told BBC Sport Wales:
"It’s football, ups and downs, wins and losses. Today the first half was unacceptable and I told the players that. You can’t start games slowly thinking everything is going to be easy.
"We lacked intensity and urgency in the first half. We were our own worst enemies.
"In the second half the reaction was better and we tried to pressurise them, have the ball a lot more. Did we have the quality we needed? Not really.
"We got back in the game and were pushing and the crowd were up but we got hit by a sucker-punch because of the things we haven’t done well, tracking runners and stopping the opposition from scoring.
"Overall, it was disappointing."
Blackburn Rovers boss John Eustace told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"I thought we were excellent. We dominated the game in the first half with great possession football.
"We scored a fantastic goal in the first half... it was a goal of real quality with 40-odd passes. We knew Cardiff would put us under pressure.
"We scored the second at the right time and then gave a soft penalty away and gave Cardiff a lifeline.
"But the character we showed to get the third goal and the way we defended our box was excellent."
