Wednesday Fulham Stuff (11/04/18)...

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Slavisa Jokanovic still insists second place is in Cardiff's hands after Fulham make it 20 unbeaten

Cardiff City have a game in hand on Fulham and Jokanovic insists the pressure is still on the Bluebirds

Slavisa Jokanovic insists the race for second place is still in Cardiff City's hands - despite Fulham moving into the last automatic promotion spot tonight.

A single Stefan Johansen goal made sure the Whites extracted revenge over Reading for last season's play-off defeat, while also extending the unbeaten run to 20 AND taking second place from the Bluebirds.

However, Neil Warnock's men still have a game in hand on Fulham but the pressure is on his side after they dropped out of the top two with a second defeat in two games, losing 1-0 to Aston Villa on Tuesday night.

But Jokanovic wants his side to continue putting Cardiff under pressure, starting with the west London derby against Brentford on Saturday.

He said: "I don't know how they feel, we catch our first target and we must be quiet and try be ready for next step.

"You must ask them, because I don't know how they are in good momentum or not, I didn't watch the game.

"Everything is in their hands and we will try make it our job, it's natural that we try and put them under pressure and we will try for our side to win the next game.

"End of the season, they will play five games and we will have four, it's possible many things will happen and we will need to be ready for next step and try.

"If we do it or not, I cannot answer you."



https://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/slavisa-jokanovic-still-insists-second-14516145

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Championship Review: Fulham replace Cardiff in second as McCarthy leaves Ipswich
Cardiff City dropped out of the Championship's top two after defeat at Aston Villa, with Fulham moving above them after beating Reading.

Fulham moved above Cardiff City into the Championship's second automatic promotion place after the two teams were on contrasting sides of 1-0 scorelines on Tuesday.

Neil Warnock's side went down to Jack Grealish's late stunner at Aston Villa, while Fulham prevailed by the only goal at home to Reading, Stefan Johansen proving the match-winner.

he results leave Fulham one point better off with four matches remaining, although Cardiff can console themselves with the knowledge they still hold a game in hand.

Elsewhere, Ipswich Town won 1-0 at home to relegation-threatened Barnsley but it was announced after the game that manager Mick McCarthy - who was due to leave the Tractor Boys at the end of the season - will instead depart the club with immediate effect.

GREALISH SCREAMER DOWNS BLUEBIRDS

Villa kept their own, albeit faint, top-two hopes alive as they maintained their five-point gap to Fulham, and the decisive goal was worthy of winning any game.

With five minutes to go, a looping clearance fell to Grealish, who smashed a 25-yard first-time volley in off the right-hand post to seal all three points.

Cardiff have now taken just one point from three matches as Warnock's men wobble at the most inopportune of moments.

LIONS ROARING AGAIN

The final play-off place now belongs to Millwall, who won 2-0 at struggling Bolton Wanderers to leapfrog Middlesbrough after Tony Pulis' side went down 2-1 at Sheffield United.

Neil Harris' side have now won nine and drawn two of their past 11 games, after Tom Elliott and Ben Marshall secured victory at Bolton, who remain two points clear of the drop zone.

Boro's reverse - thanks to Lee Evans' first-half brace at Bramall Lane - means the Blades are one of seven sides separated by five points battling it out for the two play-off berths realistically still up for grabs.

MCCARTHY BOWS OUT EARLY

It had already been confirmed that McCarthy would leave Portman Road when his contract expired at the end of the campaign, but the former Republic of Ireland boss decided enough was enough four games ahead of schedule.

"I said I would see the season out but it's been a new experience and it's not one I have been enjoying to be honest," he said.

"I have continued to do my job to the best of my ability but there is something missing and I'm not comfortable with that."




https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/championship-review-fulham-replace-cardiff-in-second-as-mccarthy-leaves-ipswich?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=sportskeeda

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Aston Villa 1-0 Cardiff City: Grealish's sensational late strike snatches all three points for Villa as Bluebirds begin to surrender control to Fulham

Goal: Grealish (85')

Attendance: 32,560

Cardiff City suffered another bitter blow in their bid to land an automatic promotion spot with late defeat to Aston Villa.

Jack Grealish struck a stunning volley with just five minutes remaining to hand his team all three points and to deliver another significant blow to Cardiff City's automatic promotion hopes.

The Bluebirds had their chances throughout the evening but they found Villa keeper Sam Johnstone in fine form.

The Manchester United loanee pulled off a number of brilliant saves to keep out efforts from Callum Paterson and Kenneth Zohore, and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was desperately unlucky to see his first-half effort come back off the post.

And it offered Aston Villa a platform to take control in the latter stages of the game with the introduction of striker Jonathan Kodjia making a big difference.

However, it was young midfielder Jack Grealish who got the crucial goal, smashing in a volley from the edge of the box via the upright with just five minutes remaining.

The goal left Cardiff with virtually no time to respond and with Fulham leading elsewhere, Warnock's men have surrendered second place.

The Bluebirds do have a game in-hand but Fulham, arguably with the easier of the run-ins, are now a point clear with a superior goal difference.

Aston Villa have an outside chance once again, now sitting five points behind second-placed Fulham, but with only four games remaining, it looks virtually impossible for Steve Bruce's men to make the cut.

Man of the Match – Sol Bamba

The reliable centre back barely put a foot wrong in a difficult night for Cardiff City against a very good Aston Villa outfit.

Bamba did a job on Lewis Grabban before doing well to cope with the introduction of the pacey Jonathan Kodjia, while his partner Sean Morrison struggled to make the adjustment.

The Ivorian stood his ground throughout and he seemed to time every challenge to perfection, something we've said plenty of times this season.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is another who deserves a mention for an impressive display out wide. The same can't be said about Junior Hoilett, and Aron Gunnarsson in the middle struggled again.

Final Word

Are the wheels coming off? Let's not be that dramatic, but Cardiff City fans will be fearing the worst after successive defeats against promotion rivals.

Cardiff have their chances and they paid the price for missing them at Villa Park, and it leaves their control of second spot hanging by a thread – keeping in mind that game in-hand.

Aron Gunnarsson looked second to every ball in the midfield and Junior Hoilett looks a shadow of the player who has been so crucial in Cardiff's promotion bid so far.

A sensational goal won this one, but there are also questions to be asked about Warnock's late changes – perhaps they should have been made while Cardiff were on top – and the Bluebirds certainly have questions to answer in another tough away trip on Saturday, against Norwich.



http://www.insidewalessport.co.uk/aston-villa-cardiff-city/

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Johansen steers Fulham into second
by Dan on April 11, 2018

A solitary first half strike from Stefan Johansen proved enough for Fulham to overcome Reading at Craven Cottage this evening – and courtesy of Jack Grealish's late winner for Aston Villa – leapfrog Cardiff City into second place in the Championship. Slavisa Jokanovic's men moved above the Bluebirds on goal difference after extending their remarkable unbeaten league run to twenty matches, although they were never fully comfortable against the struggling Royals.

Whether the Whites were feeling a little leggy after their weekend exploits at Sheffield Wednesday or the pressure of being right on Cardiff's tail took its toil will remain unknown, but it was Paul Clement's side who had the best of the first 25 minutes of this encounter. The visitors, struggling battling to secure their place in the division after coming so close to winning promotion last season, made an enterprising start and spurned several opportunities to take a shock lead. Icelandic striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson punished some early hesitancy in the Fulham defence to sprint onto a forward ball and touch a finish past Marcus Bettinelli, only for Tim Ream to hook the ball away off his own line.

The Royals passed up an even better opportunity a couple of minutes later. Bodvarsson was involved once again with the former Wolves forward finding space down the left to fire in a cross that caused chaos in the Fulham box. Mo Barrow completely miscued his shot but the ball fell inviting for Dave Edwards, whose instinctive effort was bravely blocked by Denis Odoi. Fulham's only semblance of a threat had come from Ryan Sessegnon, whose low cross was scrambled behind by a stretching Liam Moore – so it came as a bolt from the blue when they went in front on 25 minutes.

The ever-impressive Matt Targett produced a peach of a cross from the left that located Stefan Johansen six yards out and the Norwegian midfielder tucked home the simplest of finishes for his eighth goal of the season. The goal seemed to settle a frantic Fulham side – and Aleksandar Mitrovic soon went close with a couple of headers in quick succession. The Serbian headed a Targett corner straight at Vito Mannone and then glanced a glorious free-kick from Johansen fractionally wide of the far post. A minute before the break the on-loan Newcastle striker again towered above the Reading defence but this time ballooned his header high over the bar.

Reading were reinvigorated after the interval and began the second half intent on pushing Fulham back. Bodvarsson almost latched onto an underhit backpass from Ream but Bettinelli scampered out of his area to avert the danger and, with former Fulham man Sone Aluko buzzing down the right flank with intent, Clement's side always posed a threat. Mitrovic spun his man and slammed a shot against the post with Mannone beaten, but both that effort and Johansen's follow up would have been ruled out by an offside flag.

Clement sent on John Swift to try and give his side more creativity in midfield and Liam Kelly's devilish delivery from a free-kick almost prized open the Fulham defence, but, in a game that suddenly become far more open, Johansen wasted a couple of wonderful chances to put the hosts out of side. The first was all his own work when his driving run took him past a couple of Reading defenders but wasn't matched by the quality of a scuffed finish that trickled wide, before Mannone made a magnificent save to thwart his low shot from Targett's cross.

Whilst it was still 1-0, Reading remained well truly in the contest. A rare mistake from Ream almost allowed Barrow to nip in ahead of Bettinelli but, despite Clement sending on both Yann Kermogant and Chris Martin, it was the home side who finished the stronger. Lucas Piazon went close to scoring against his old club but Mannone juggled his ambitious free-kick, whilst Tom Cairney and Mitrovic both had shots blocked at source.

Jokanovic introduced Neeskens Kebano for the final ten minutes and, like at Hillsborough, the substitute almost had an instant impact. He produced a mazy run into the box that befuddled a couple of Reading defenders before shooting just wide of the far post and then narrowly failed to find Mitrovic with a cross. The Serbian then stabbed wide from an inviting Sessegnon centre with six minutes remaining, before Chris Gunter slid in to deny the persistent forward the clinching second goal.

Reading sent Liam Moore forward for to join Martin and Kermogant in a frenzied finale, but their attempts to rescue a point when undermined in stoppage time when Leandro Bacuna was sent off for a wild lunge at Sessegnon on the halfway line. This wasn't the commanding performance that Jokanovic would have craved, but grinding out a crucial victory could prove invaluable, especially coupled with Cardiff's late capitulation at Villa Park. With four games to go, Fulham are in the ascendancy.

FULHAM (4-3-3): Bettinelli; Fredericks, Targett, Odoi, Ream; McDonald, Johansen (Norwood 89), Cairney; Piazon (Kebano 79), R. Sessegnon, Mitrovic. Subs (not used): Button, Christie, Kalas, Fone, Kamara.

BOOKED: Targett.

GOAL: Johansen (25).

READING (4-2-3-1): Mannone; Gunter, Richards (Martin 75), Ilori, Moore; Bacuna, Kelly; Aluko, Barrow, Edwards (Swift 59); Bodvarsson (Kermogant 69). Subs (not used): Jaakkola, Holmes, van den Berg, Clement.

BOOKED: Richards.

SENT OFF: Bacuna (90+3).

REFEREE: Lee Mason (Bolton).

ATTENDANCE: 19,272.



http://hammyend.com/index.php/2018/04/johansen-steers-fulham-into-second/

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Cardiff City drop out of automatic promotion places after losing to Aston Villa
Cardiff City drop out of the Championship's automatic promotion places after a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

It was Cardiff's third successive game without a win thanks to a late Jack Grealish goal.

Cardiff defeated Villa 3-0 earlier in the season but after failing to win their previous two games they lacked the cutting edge to remain in second position behind Wolves as Fulham moved above them following their 1-0 win over Reading.

With so much at stake the game it was a fierce contest but Villa produced a battling performance to edge home to keep alive their own promotion ambition.

As to be expected with so much at stake neither side stood on ceremony. Both teams had a positive attacking attitude as they attempted to break each others resistance.

Villa had a big let off in the 15th minute when young Axel Tuanzebe was caught in possession by Nathaniel Mendez-Laing who broke clear down the right but watched as his low raking drive hit the foot of the far post.

Tuanzebe was injured in the incident and Villa drafted in the James Bree, who made his first appearance at Bolton last month.

In a frantic all-action game Mendez-Laing emerged as Cardiff's main threat with the highly charged Welsh club showing a lot of aggression in an attempt to break Villa's resolve.

It was far from a classic and Cardiff had an escape following a Snodgrass corner when Albert Adomah bobbled an effort just wide through a packed defence.

Grealish was a marked man with Aron Gunnarsson carrying out his job to perfection as Villa's attack struggled to find a flowing game against their tenacious opposition.

Early in the second half Cardiff slowly emerged as the more dangerous as they began to launch a series of attacks to pressurise the Villa rearguard.

Only an outstretched foot by Sam Johnstone prevented Kenneth Zohore from opening Cardiff's account shortly before Villa drafted in last season's leading marksman, Jonathan Kodjia.

Kodjia made an immediate impact with a fine solo jinking move which ended in him forcing Neil Etheridge to make a point blank save.

Grealish, for once, escaped Gunnarsson's close attention to send Conor Hourihane clear only for the Irishman to push his shot wide as he was closed down by Etheridge.

Johnstone came to Villa's rescue to keep out a real block-buster from Mendez-Laing before Villa clinched the game in the 85th minute when Grealish produced a swerving shot which cannoned off the post and into the net.



http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2018-04-10/cardiff-city-drop-out-of-automatic-promotion-places-after-losing-to-aston-villa/

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Match Report: Aston Villa 1-0 Cardiff City

Cardiff City slipped to an unfortunate defeat to Aston Villa despite a strong away performance at Villa Park.

Having soaked up the hosts' pressure in the first-half, the Bluebirds had the better of the opportunities, striking the woodwork and testing Sam Johnstone on a number of occasions.

But Jack Grealish's volley five minutes from time settled the encounter in the home side's favour.

Neil Warnock made two changes for the game as Marko Grujić and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing returned to the starting line-up.

Lewis Grabban had the first opportunity of the match, hitting the side netting from close range with just two minutes on the clock.

While Villa racked up plenty of first-half possession, City almost opened the scoring as Kenneth Zohore fed Mendez-Laing, who burst through on goal before seeing his effort rebound off the post.

The Bluebirds were then twice unlucky not to take the lead on the stroke of half-time, as Villa scrambled clear Sean Morrison's effort in added time, before Callum Paterson's fierce drive was parried away by Johnstone.

After the break, Grabban again had the first sight of goal, but this time headed comfortably wide of Neil Etheridge's goal.

Villa's best chance of the second period fell to Conor Hourihane, as he latched onto Grabban's superb pass, but side-footed the ball past the post.

Johnstone was by far the busier 'keeper as he then had to react quickly to keep Zohore off the score sheet.

The Bluebirds then turned to Gary Madine off the bench, and another big chance followed, as Junior Hoilett found Mendez-Laing. The winger cut inside superbly before his rasping effort was again kept out by Johnstone.

The game's decisive moment came five minutes from time as Grealish's volley from just outside the box found the back of the net via the inside of the post.

While City fought valiantly for a response, Paterson's late header flew agonisingly over the bar, with the Bluebirds unable to draw level.

Full-Time: Aston Villa 1-0 Cardiff City

Aston Villa: Johnstone; Elmohamady, Jedinak, Chester, Tuanzebe (Bree, 26); Snodgrass, Whelan, Hourihane (Samba, 88), Adomah (Kodjia, 60); Grealish, Grabban.

Subs not used: Bunn, Lansbury, Onomah, Hogan.

Cardiff City: Etheridge; Peltier, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett; Grujić, Gunnarsson, Paterson; Mendez-Laing (Pilkington, 90), Hoilett (J. Ward, 88), Zohore (Madine, 68).

Subs not used: Murphy, Traoré, Ecuele Manga, Bryson.



https://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/news/2018/april/match-report-for-aston-villa-vs-cardiff-city-on-10-apr-182/

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Fellow strugglers rival West Ham for Moyes' prime defensive target

West Ham boss David Moyes is seeking significant improvements to his defensive ranks this summer after a poor campaign has left the Hammers flirting with relegation, though a recent upturn in form has pushed them five-points clear of the bottom three.

Moyes is already preparing for another campaign in the top-flight and is widely linked with the services of Fulham's Ryan Fredericks, who is poised to be available on a free transfer in the coming months when his deal with the Championship promotion-chasers comes to a close.

However, West Ham won't be alone in the hunt for the full-back and The Daily Mail states fellow Premier League strugglers Southampton and Swansea City are also keen on landing the 25-year-old.

Fredericks has been a mainstay in Slavisla Jokanovic's side this season, making 39 appearances in the Championship alone, and has contributed with nine assists for his side- more than any other player in the West London club's ranks.



https://foreverwestham.com/2018/04/blog-topics/fellow-strugglers-rival-west-ham-for-moyes-prime-defensive-target/