Bluebirds defeat Leeds in Wales.
Sky Bet Championship
Cardiff City 3 (Zohore 28, 59, Hoilett 37) Leeds United 1 (Roofe 67)
Leeds United suffered a second defeat as Warnock’s Cardiff City ran out 3-1 winners in the Welsh capital.
Leeds made five changes from the side which beat Ipswich Town at the weekend, Gaetano Berardi, Pontus Jansson, Mateusz Klich, Stuart Dallas and Kemar Roofe all returned to Thomas Christiansen’s starting line-up for the Whites.
United threatened inside four minutes, Ezgjan Alioski fired a long range low effort, which went just wide of the Cardiff goal.
The home side threatened from a corner 12 minutes later, Sol Bamba headed back across goal, before Bruno Ecule Manga’s header deflected just over the bar.
Klich was guilty of losing possession in his own half and the Whites were made to pay. Junior Hoilett, who stole the ball, broke into the Leeds box before squaring to Kenneth Zohore who tapped home.
Cardiff doubled their lead in the 37th minute, with Hoilett finding the right corner with a long range strike, which gave Felix Wiedwald no chance.
Zohore almost added a second when he was played into the Leeds box, but he couldn’t find the target with his effort.
In first half stoppage time, Leeds’ task got harder when Liam Cooper, who had already been booked, mistimed a tackle on Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and was given his marching orders by referee Kevin Friend.
The home side thought they had added a third following the sending off, when Sean Morrison tapped home a cross, but he was flagged for offside.
Half Time: Cardiff City 2-0 Leeds United
Leeds made one change at the break, with Matthew Pennington replacing Pablo Hernandez as Christiansen looked to shore up the defence of his ten man side.
The Whites had a great chance to pull a goal back in the 54th minute. Berardi broke into the Cardiff box, he could have squared to Kemar Roofe, but instead shot at goal and was denied by Neil Etheridge. From the rebound Alioski was again denied from the edge of the box, before Dallas headed just wide.
However, four minutes later, Cardiff extended their lead, following a well worked build up, Zohore tapped home from six yards.
Leeds continued to rally though and pulled a goal back when Roofe shot from range and his deflected effort found the back of the net via the post.
Loic Demour and Hoilett both forced Wiedwald into saves late on, as it proved to be a disappointing night for the Whites
Full Time: Cardiff City 3-1 Leeds United
Cardiff: Etheridge, Peltier, Bennett, Morrison, Ecule Manga, Zohore (Ward 76), Bamba (Halford 90), Mendez-Laing (Feeney 85), Damour, Bryson, Hoilett. Subs not used: Tomlin, Connolly, Murphy, Bogle.
Leeds: Wiedwald, Ayling, Cooper, Jansson, Berardi, Phillips, Klich (Vieira 67), Hernandez (Pennington 45), Dallas, Alioski (Grot 62), Roofe. Lonergan, Lasogga, Saiz, Sacko.
Referee: K. Friend
Booked: Phillips, Cooper (Leeds)
Sent Off: Cooper (Leeds)
Venue: Cardiff City Stadium
Attendance: 27,160