Cardiff manager Omer Riza hailed the professionalism of his matchwinner Yakou Meite after the Ivory Coast forward struck with his first touch to earn a vital 2-1 victory at Blackburn.
Meite was a 72nd-minute substitute and by the 73rd minute, he had handed the Bluebirds a crucial lead, heading in a superb cross from fellow substitute Will Alves to notch his second and most important strike of the campaign.
It was a day for headers, as Yousef Salech nodded Cardiff into an early lead, cancelled out by Yuki Ohashi’s near-post header.
Both sides had chances to go ahead, with visiting keeper Ethan Horvath producing an excellent save in first-half stoppage time, while Alves whistled a shot over midway through the first half.
But Meite had the last laugh and, with Cardiff having come into the game with just one away win in 20 matches, the Ivorian’s contribution could be his most important yet for Cardiff’s survival as it kept them a point clear of the relegation zone.
And Riza praised his striker’s effort, particularly as he is currently fasting.
He said: “The three (subs) at the end were very impactful. Will Alves, Isaak (Davies) and Yak were very impactful. Yak has been fasting as well. The output he’s put out there when he’s come on, it’s a credit to him. Really pleased.
“He’s a good boy, he works hard. He’s been patient, hasn’t played as much as he would like which can be tough. He’s maintained his professionalism, worked really hard and it’s lovely to see him come on and get the winning goal.”
The win was particularly sweet for the visitors after their midweek home defeat to Luton and Riza was pleased with his side’s mentality as they ended a four-match losing run in all competitions.
Risa said: “Coming off the back of our game against Luton, we spoke about mentality and approach and I think we’ve approached the game very well and our mentality was spot on throughout to get those three points.
“Very big win. We needed it. We’ve said we’ve got nine finals now and I think that was a good start to those nine finals. Approach international week now and get ready for that block of games.”
Blackburn have lost their last three games – all against teams threatened with relegation – and are now five points adrift of the play-offs.
Rovers boss Valerien Ismael was disappointed with the goals conceded, and an offside call that ruled out a first-half Tyrhys Dolan strike.
He said: “I think this one is the most disappointing because it’s a better game we had. We played well with belief and conviction on the pitch to do the right thing.
“Especially in the first half, we scored a goal, chances, the offside call was not offside from what I saw, then another situation, you’re losing players. (Emmanuel) Dennis will be out now for a couple of weeks. This one is tough to take.
“I think the first one we defended badly on the left side, we should do better. The second one, we had the ball in a transition situation and gave the ball easily away and in the end, you get punished. As always in football, the details make the difference. We invested a lot in that game but in the end, it didn’t drop on our side.
“I think the break is coming at the right time. The players need to breathe and we need to get some players back because it has an impact on the game.”
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