Cardiff City manager Omer Riza has urged his squad to take the momentum from their FA Cup run into the league as they continue to battle relegation.
The Bluebirds find themselves in the lower reaches of the Championship but eased their relegation fears with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Hull City on Tuesday night. This saw them move up to 19th, although they are just six points above Plymouth Argyle in 22nd.
The FA Cup offered the Welsh-based outfit some solitude from their league exploits. They reached the fifth round by dispatching of Sheffield United and Stoke City, setting up a televised clash with Premier League giants Aston Villa.
Unai Emery showed he wasn’t taken his lower league opposition lightly by naming the likes of Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Ollie Watkins in the starting lineup. Despite a spirited showing, a double from Asensio eventually secured the Villans a place in the quarter final.
Riza Now Focused On Survival
Riza landed the job until the end of the season after impressing during an interim run between September and December. His team have lost just twice in the league since the turn of the year, easing fears of a drop into League One.
Safety is far from assured yet though, with the 45-year-old hoping his players can take their performance against a team playing in the Champions League into the remainder of the campaign. Speaking after the game, he said:
“I was very pleased with the boys. We had a gameplan to try to contain Villa, and stop them from causing us problems.
“We tweaked a few things at half time, and I thought the boys were excellent. They worked really hard out of possession, they showed the levels of concentration and focus which is key to not conceding goals.
“Villa’s two goals were little sucker punches that caught us at the end. It was disappointing from our point of view, but it’s Aston Villa, they’re a strong side.
“We’ve had a good run in the Cup, and I think it’s given us a bit of momentum in the league as well. We’ll take that into the league now.”
Writer’s View
Although Cardiff rarely threatened against the might of Aston Villa, it was still a positive performance which will give them confidence. They have proven tough to beat over the past couple of months which will stand them in good stead for the remainder of the season. Their focus will be avoiding relegation, but they should survive that reasonably comfortably based on this showing.
