Cardiff City 0-1 Nottingham Forest (EFL Championship) 25.02.20

They say in Sabri we should trust and after last night’s text book Nottingham Forest performance we must now all trust the Frenchman as he looks to deliver promotion at the City Ground and Premier League football for the first time since 1999.

From team selection to pre-match mind games, defensive organisation to counter attacking clinicallity (not yet a word but it will be under the Forest revolution) the Reds ticked every box in Lamouchi’s gameplan. Quite simply another tactical masterclass from the Manager, another three points on the road, another 0-1 and another clean sheet, if Carlsberg did Tuesdays in Cardiff that is exactly what the Manager would have wanted.

The Coach bluffed the concern on injuries to Ameobi and Grabban who in the end were fit enough to start, he played up the fact Forest usually struggle in Cardiff and that the match would be as tough an away day as the team have faced thus far.

In truth, everything played perfectly in to the Reds hands from Cardiff’s direct approach dealt with superbly by Forest’s colossal centre half pairing of Worrall & Figueiredo to the team breaking up play and counter attacking, usually starting with Ben Watson and in the second half Alfa Semedo, pushed from defence in to attack by Bruno Ribeiro or Matty Cash and ending in the 49th minute for example with Grabban sliding into the late running Tiago Silva for the matchwinner.

From that moment on there was only going to be one winner.

The Reds in fact had the better of the first half chances too. Ameobi cut inside to see his left foot shot from the edge of the area rustle the side netting whilst Grabban played in by Lolley dragged his shot wide.

In the second half captain Ben Watson broke up play as he has done all season before feeding simply in the centre circle to Tiago Silva, the little magician curling a sweeping pass to Grabban out right who took two touches before crossing low and hard for the Portuguese Playmaker to time his run to perfection and place into the top corner with a fabulous first time finish.

After that Cardiff huffed with their best opportunity perhaps coming through Danny Ward when the otherwise impeccable Figueiredo slipped allowing the striker to run through before cutting inside and thankfully shooting straight at Samba. Forest had a further chance to double their lead when Grabban, held up in true style before playing in Semedo only for the Portuguese midfielder to blast hard at the Goalkeeper Smithies who kept out. At the other end Glatzel shot from distance at Samba who turned round the post dramatically but in reality an easy save and an easy evenings work for the Frenchman in goal.

After the match Coach Sabri delighted with the outcome stated “It was a fantastic performance and a great result and I think the lads deserved this victory. Everyone gave 100% effort, everyone took the right decisions and I loved the attitude and the commitment from my players. We deserved all three points and the clean sheet tonight I think.”

The first win in Cardiff for ten years, another win on the road with over half of the points achieved by Forest this season now coming away from the City Ground. The Reds might not always be the best to watch but certainly when it comes to getting their tactics right they are a force to be reckoned with and one that will almost certainly be still around kicking and fighting in the promotion push come the 2nd of May.

Cardiff City: Smithies, Sanderson (Bacuna 81), Morrison, Nelson, Bennett, Vaulks, Pack (Ralls 71), Hoilett, Paterson, Murphy (Ward 71), Glatzel.

Forest: Samba, Cash, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribeiro, Yates (Semedo 46), Watson, Silva (Walker 90), Lolley, Ameobi (Diakhaby 81), Grabban.

Venue: Cardiff City Stadium (21,273)

*Main image @NFFC Forest celebrate another away victory to spur on the clubs promotion push.