And with that, this MBM powers down. A good point for both teams, though Newcastle came so close to snatching all three. Hope to see you again for tonight’s Chelsea-Arsenal game!
A much happier Neil Warnock speaks! “I think sometimes you don’t get what you deserved. But if that penalty went in, it would have been a double whammy. Kenedy shouldn’t have been on the pitch really. And the decision was borderline as well. But I was pleased with the lads, delighted with the fans, it’s good to be back at home. It was poetic justice, the miss, given the lad who was taking it. The least we deserved was a point. It was pleasing. I thought Hayden’s challenge was a red card. In fairness to the referee, I didn’t see Kenedy’s kick-out, I never saw it so you can’t complain. We’ve got to work hard on the training ground, we can do better in the last third.”
Rafa Benitez, not in the best of moods, talks to Sky Sports. “It was a difficult game. We had some problems in the right-back position. The designated penalty taker was Matt Ritchie, but he was not on the pitch, and Kenedy was second. I do not want to talk about the referee. I saw a lot of things, but I do not want to talk about the referee. It is a pity, but we were fighting with ten men, so we must be happy with a point. We have to move forward. We had to defend well, and take our chances, but we didn’t do it. The team got a point in a difficult situation.”
Ben Fisher was at the Cardiff City Stadium. He didn’t see any goals, but there was plenty to talk about in his match report nonetheless. Here’s his take.
Should Jonjo Shelvey have taken the ball off Kenedy for that late penalty, given how badly the Brazilian was playing, and how poor his free kick had been moments before? The two players certainly looked at each other. But on Sky, Craig Bellamy argues that Kenedy was almost certainly the designated penalty taker, and that Shelvey would have been risking the wrath of Rafa had he intervened; Bellamy recalls how he was once fined by Benitez for taking the ball off the named penalty taker while at Liverpool. The best laid plans, etc.
For a goalless draw, that was great fun. Cardiff were probably the better side; in Josh Murphy they certainly boasted the man of the match. And Newcastle were very fortunate to swerve two red cards in the first half, Kenedy kicking out, Javi Manquillo repeatedly tugging at Murphy’s shirt. But on the flip side, they held Cardiff at bay, keeping their shape for the most part, even when Isaac Hayden saw red. You could argue that Hayden was unlucky to see yellow, while Harry Arter could easily have walked. And they did come closest to scoring, earning a penalty kick, even if Kenedy wasted it. You can probably slice that little lot any way you want, but a draw seems fair enough, now it’s all come down. Both teams are now up and running in the 2018-19 Premier League, anyway, so everyone’s got something to take home with them.
FULL TIME: Cardiff City 0-0 Newcastle United
And that’s the final act of the game! Both teams have their first point of the season. That was scrappy yet entertaining. Neil Warnock is all smiles; Rafa Benitez less so. But on balance, a deserved draw.
90 min +6: Kenedy sends the penalty straight at Etheridge! That’s awful! Cardiff will be happy he escaped that first-half red card now.
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Penalty for Newcastle!
90 min +5: Muto makes off down the left. He crosses. Morrison slides in, arms raised, and blocks. The referee points to the spot!
90 min +4: Zohore fouls Clark, then stands over the Newcastle player, delivering some beneficial advice. Lascelles comes in to shove Zohore away; everyone simmers down quickly enough, though.
90 min +3: Mendez-Laing drops a shoulder and skins Clark on the outside. But upon reaching the byline, his resulting cross is wild. A neat dribble, though.
90 min +2: So having said that, Newcastle faff about for a couple of minutes in the game-management style.
90 min: There will be six added minutes. Commendably, both teams are striving for the three points.
89 min: Nope! Shelvey allows Kenedy to have a go. Kenedy rattles the ball straight into the Cardiff wall. That was beyond hopeless. On the bench, Rafa sits back in his seat, adjusts his glasses, and descends into a quiet seethe.
88 min: Diame is clumsily bundled over on the edge of the Cardiff D. This is a free kick in a very dangerous position. Shelvey stands over it, licking his lips. Is this going to be a sensational smash and grab?
87 min: Mendez-Laing wins a corner for Cardiff down the left. The set piece drops to Zohore, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. The striker can’t guide a header on target. Then second later, another chance for him as Arter flicks on down the inside-right. Zohore, not for the first time, gets in an awful tangle and can’t twist his body to get a proper header away.
86 min: Shelvey plays long down the middle, and finds Joselu on the edge of the box. Joselu takes a touch to the left, hoping to shoot, but once again a shot is not forthcoming.
85 min: From the throw, deep in Cardiff territory, Jacob Murphy crosses long. Kenedy tries to bring the ball down to shoot, but can’t get an effort away.
84 min: Shelvey sends the corner into the box. Bennett heads it straight back to him. Shelvey cuts inside and shoots; the ball’s deflected out for another corner. Shelvey sends that one into the mixer, and Bamba eyebrows it away for a throw.
83 min: Paterson comes on for Hoilett.
82 min: Jacob Murphy makes down the Newcastle right; his deep cross forces Morrison into conceding a corner on the other side. Before it can be taken, Hoilett needs some attention from the physio, and it looks as though he won’t be able to continue.
81 min: Diame, on the right-hand corner of the Cardiff box, has a speculative shot. Etheridge, who hasn’t had much to do this afternoon, gathers without fuss.
80 min: Joselu threatens to break upfield. Arter cynically brings him down with a fairly fierce swipe. That’s a yellow card. Shelvey wants a red to be shown, presumably arguing that Hayden’s challenge was no worse, and certainly less premeditated. But the referee’s never changing his mind.
78 min: And another change for the hosts, as the superb Josh Murphy is replaced by Mendez-Laing.
76 min: Arter unleashes a low drive from 25 yards. It’s always curling wide left, and Dubravka had it covered anyway. Cardiff then make their first sub of the day: Reid comes on for Camarasa, making his home debut after his big-money move from Bristol City.
74 min: Hoilett has a skitter down the right but upon reaching the byline sends a cross far too deep.
73 mins: That sending off has taken the sting out of this game, as Cardiff work out how best to leverage their one-man advantage, and Newcastle suss out their new defensive shape.
71 min: Newcastle make their final change: Jacob Murphy, twin brother of Cardiff man-of-the-match-so-far Josh, comes on for Ritchie. They’re only the second pair of twins to play in the same Premier League match against each other, after Will and Michael Keane competed for Hull and Burnley respectively in 2016.
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69 min: If Newcastle consider that sending off a bit harsh, they may reflect on the ones they got away with in the first half: the two tugs of Manquillo and the kick-out by Kenedy.
RED CARD! (Hayden, Newcastle)
67 min: The sub walks! He slides through the back of Murphy, and is shown red. His studs were showing, and he crumped them into the back of Murphy’s leg. It looked clumsy more than malicious, but the referee considered him out of control, and off he goes.
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65 min: Newcastle make their second change: Muto comes on in place of Perez.
64 min: The corner is sent straight out of play for a goal kick. Shame, considering the quality of the build-up. Murphy has been excellent for Cardiff today.
63 min: Murphy plays a stunning pass down the inside-right channel, releasing Zohore on the turn. Zohore reaches the byline and fizzes a low cross, hoping to find Hoilett. Shelvey slides in to concede a corner, saving a certain tap-in.
62 min: Camarasa is booked for a cynical tug on Perez’s shoulder.
61 min: Hayden brings Hoilett down as the Cardiff winger cuts in from the left. Hoilett takes the free kick himself, and it’s abysmal: Cardiff have loaded the box, but the delivery is wafted straight down Dubravka’s throat.
60 min: Ritchie and Bennett compete under a long ball down the Newcastle left. Ritchie very nearly spins his opponent, hoping to get in on goal. But the bounce isn’t kind to him. Cardiff were nearly undone by a simple route-one launch there.
58 min: Murphy tears down the left yet again. Hayden appears more of a challenge than Manquillo, though, and this time it’s the Cardiff man who ends up dragging his opponent down in frustration as he loses a footrace.
56 min: Murphy comes in from the left and rolls a pass forward to Zohore, who tees up Ralls for a shot from distance. It’s blocked. But Cardiff are looking much more likely to break the deadlock than their visitors.
54 min: Hoilett drives down the right, then checks and passes back to Ralls, who whips a gorgeous cross into the box. Lascelles and Clark are split, and the ball drops onto the head of Zohore, six yards out. It’s a glorious chance, but his body shape is all out of whack, and he heads clumsily wide right.
53 min: A period of Newcastle possession, though it’s mainly Shelvey sitting deep, pinging passes left and right and receiving the ball back again. Nobody’s quite sure what to do.
51 min: Cardiff have certainly woken up. Hoilett takes a free kick out on the left which is only half cleared. Bennett then crosses for Bamba, who heads over at the far post. Newcastle by contrast look collectively dozy right now. They need to snap to it.
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50 min: Hoilett nips in down the right as Newcastle faff around at the back. He cuts in from the wing and shoots early for the bottom left; Lascelles gets in the road.
49 min: Arter and Ritchie bang into each other in the midfield. It’s an accidental collision between two former Bournemouth team-mates, but Arter’s taken a whack to the head, and needs an ice-pack on his poor noggin. Happily, he’ll be OK to continue, by the looks of it.
47 min: This half hasn’t really started yet. “Eleven years on from that Liverpool side, the only really weak spots are Insua, Palletta and the re-animated corpse of property tycoon Fowler,” quips Paul Morris. “Considering the game took place a few days after a tense penalty shootout against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals, the selection doesn’t seem that egregious to me. Besides, I thought it was the actions of third-party player owners, superagent Kia Joorabchian and West Ham to bring Tevez (and, to a lesser extent, Mascherano) to London that were responsible for Sheffield United going down? Should make for some interesting quotes from Warnock when Jorge Mendes’ Contact Book finishes healthily above Cardiff this season.”
And we’re off again! Cardiff get the party restarted. Newcastle have made a change: the hapless Manquillo, who had been given the runaround by Murphy, could easily have picked up a second yellow card for pulling his tormentor back, and was eventually clattered by the same man, makes way for Hayden.
Half-time reading / Know Your Enemy dept. As Cardiff won promotion to the Premier League, Swansea were heading the other way. Here’s what the Swans were up to last night.
HALF TIME: Cardiff City 0-0 Newcastle United
Dummett heads the corner over his own bar. Manquillo trots back on. And the second Cardiff corner comes to nothing. The players make for the changing rooms at the end of a half that started well but fizzled out a little. It’s fiercely competitive, though; here’s to a sharper second half!
45 min +2: Manquillo is up, but limping off the pitch. Hopefully that’s just a sore one, and the interval has come at the right time for him. But first Newcastle have a corner to defend.
45 min +1: Murphy slides in on Manquillo. That looked like a foul, but the referee’s giving nothing. Cardiff go upfield and win a corner on the right. But before that can be taken, Manquillo needs some treatment. He looks in some pain, clutching his left leg.
45 min: Shelvey gets a dipping free kick on target, but it’s all too measured and careful, and an easy one for Etheridge to gather. The Cardiff fans holler accordingly.
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44 min: Kenedy drops a shoulder with a view to advancing down the inside-left channel. He’s cynically tripped by the outstretched leg of Bamba. A free kick, to the left of the D but a few yards back. Shelvey is behind it, his eyes lit up.
42 min: Manquillo has been caught again with a good portion of Murphy’s shirt in his desperate mitt. He’s already been booked, so really is chancing his arm with that tug. But he gets away with it.
40 min: And this is better from Newcastle! Shelvey, deep on the right, curls long for Perez, racing into the Cardiff box from the left. Perez sidefoots a shot goalwards, first time, but Etheridge is out quickly to narrow the angle and deny him. Lovely football all round.
38 min: But this is better from Cardiff! Bennett chases after a fine right-to-left diagonal ball from Ralls. Near the corner flag, he loops a cross into the mixer. Zohore, six yards out, heads down but wide right. Newcastle were opened up by an incisive Cardiff move there.
37 min: Ralls sends a gentle long ball into the Newcastle box. Morrison rises and heads weakly wide of the target. Both teams are beginning to lose their way.
35 min: More space for Murphy down the left. Time to shape a cross into the area. But it curls into the arms of an unchallenged Dubravka.
33 min: Kenedy has a wild kick at Camarasa’s standing leg as the pair tussle in the middle of the park. The referee sees nothing. But if he’d clocked that, Kenedy would be walking. The red mist inexplicably came down there.
32 min: Manquillo slips a ball down the right for Kenedy, who twists, turns and earns a corner off Arter. Kenedy might have had the last touch, though. Controversy ahoy if anything comes of this. But nothing comes of this.
30 min: Murphy tries the spectacular from the free kick out on the left. It’s spectacularly bad. Goal kick.
29 min: Ritchie picks the ball up deep, and dribbles with extreme prejudice at the Cardiff back line. His attempt to release Kenedy through the middle with a sliderule pass nearly comes off ... but not quite. Murphy goes up the other end, down the left, and is dragged back by Manquillo, who goes in the book for his sauce. Free kick!
27 min: Rafa is on the touchline, steam coming out of his lugs. It’s all over a disputed throw. Not a proportionate response, but he’s perhaps mainly irritated by Cardiff’s increasing dominance, and his team’s inability to get up the pitch.
25 min: Zohore wins a header on the edge of the Newcastle box. The ball drops to Camarasa, whose shot is dragged wide left. It wouldn’t have counted anyway, as Zohore was penalised, somewhat harshly, because Lascelles jumped clean over him and landed on his back. Not sure Zohore - who is proving a real handful - did much wrong there. But the pressure on Newcastle is released.
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24 min: Ritchie bursts down the right and earns a corner off Bennett. Shelvey goes over to take, receiving a hot reception from the Cardiff faithful as he does so. His delivery is cleared by the first man, much to the amusement of the crowd.
23 min: Camarasa, making his Cardiff debut on loan from Real Betis, sprays a simple pass into the stand. It takes time to get used to new surroundings.
21 min: Cardiff are beginning to press Newcastle back. Arter is seeing a lot of the ball; Zohore continues to cause the Newcastle defenders much stress and heartache. A good spell for the home team.
19 min: Zohore makes an almighty nuisance of himself down the right. He combines with Arter, a couple of one-twos that have Newcastle backtracking in panic. Then Murphy springs him into the area with a clever pass rolled down the channel. Zohore’s bursting into the box, but upon reaching the byline can’t find Hoilett in the middle. That was a fine, flowing move, though.
17 min: It’s gone a bit scrappy, after those early flourishes. The game’s settled.
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15 min: The first lull of the game, as Cardiff stroke the ball around awhile. They don’t go anywhere in particular, but a controlled period of possession is never to be sniffed at in this division.
13 min: Zohore is shoved to the floor by Lascelles, out on the Cardiff right. Yet another chance to cause Newcastle strife at a set piece. The box is loaded. Murphy curls the free kick in from deep; Diame once again clears with a powerful header.
11 min: Ritchie bustles down the inside-right channel, his hard work eventually releasing Perez into the area. Perez shoots from a tight angle. It’s a fierce low drive, but parried well by Etheridge. This is a lot of end-to-end fun.
10 min: Diame concedes a needless corner down the right. It’s met by Bamba, six yards out. He heads down, but not particularly powerfully, allowing Perez to stick out a leg to block. Not sure Dubravka would have saved otherwise. Newcastle hack clear.
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8 min: Kenedy drops a shoulder and cuts in from the right. He slaps a shot goalwards, but it’s claimed easily enough by Etheridge. An open feel to this game, albeit a hectic one: players are snapping into tackles with great purpose.
7 min: Dubravka takes his own sweet time to kick clear. He’s half charged down by Zohore. On another day, that’s pinging into the net. As it is, the ball deflects away to the Cardiff left, where Shelvey is forced to concede a free kick. Bennett takes it, and sends it straight down Dubravka’s throat.
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6 min: It’s a dreary day in Cardiff, drizzle in the air. That heatwave seems a long time ago now, doesn’t it.
4 min: ... and he’s a little unlucky, because replays suggest it was Bennett who took his own man out, as three players came together for a loose ball. Happily, Hoilett is fine to continue.
3 min: Bennett’s gentle curler is headed clear easily by Diame. Shelvey, formerly of Swansea City, is getting pantomime pelters every time he touches the ball. Ritchie also attracts the crowd’s ire as he clatters into Hoillet. He’s booked ...
2 min: Zohore chases after a long Arter pass down the right. He’s clumsily bundled over by Lascelles. A free kick, and an early chance for Cardiff to load the box.
And we’re off! Newcastle get the party started. There was a perfectly polite handshake between Warnock and Benitez before kick-off, incidentally. I wouldn’t describe it as warm, exactly, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
The teams are out! Cardiff are in their famous blue, thank goodness, while Newcastle sport those storied black-and-white stripes. It’s a gorgeous sight, a real old-school feel. This would have been one hell of a showdown in the 1920s. The home choir giving it plenty. “Deeply conflicted on this one,” admits Alun Pugh. “Grew up watching Cardiff from the Grange End. Had I not worked on the Scotswood Road in the 1990s, the double relegation of Sunderland FC would have been met with a shrug rather than unalloyed glee. Anyone else here see my first game at Ninian Park? Cardiff v Torpedo Moscow, Cup Winners Cup quarter final in 1968: 5p for a programme, GBH tackling and somebody pissing on your shoes in the crush.” I suppose on balance things have changed for the better ... but even so, that sounds marvellous. What happened in the match? Cardiff made it to the semis that year, I see.
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Rafa talks! “These players were working in pre-season with us, and against Tottenham they did well, especially in the second half. And our new players need time to settle down. I am confident in them. I hope for the same reaction, work and team-spirit from last week because we created chances, that is how to win games. Playing away in the Premier League is always a tough test.”
Neil Warnock speaks to Sky. “Our home form is going to be crucial, as it was last year. Our fans have been fantastic and we will need them more than ever. We’re quite pleased with what we’ve done this week and we’re looking forward to it. Last week, if we took our chances, we’d have been in it. If we stay in the game today, we will have a chance.”
Newcastle’s No 9. Salomón Rondón is the latest man to wear one of the most famous shirts in football. It’s been pulled on by the likes of Hughie Gallagher, Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald, Les Ferdinand, Andy Cole and Alan Shearer. No pressure, then. He’s been talking to Louise Taylor.
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Cardiff are back in the big time. It’s only their second season in the top flight in the last 56 years. But the club have quite a history nonetheless. You don’t have to look very far.
Cardiff make four changes to the team named at Bournemouth last weekend. Victor Camarasa, Josh Murphy, Kenneth Zohore and Harry Arter, making his debut for the Bluebirds after being ineligible for the trip to Dean Court, are in. Lee Peltier, Callum Paterson, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and £10m striker Bobby Reid make way.
Newcastle make just one change to their opening-day teamsheet. Javier Manquillo comes in for the injured DeAndre Yedlin.
The teams
Cardiff City: Etheridge, Ecuele Manga, Bamba, Morrison, Bennett, Victor Camarasa, Josh Murphy, Arter, Ralls, Hoilett, Zohore.
Subs: Richards, Smithies, Paterson, Reid, Cunningham, Mendez-Laing, Madine.
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Manquillo, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett, Ritchie, Shelvey, Diame, Kenedy, Perez, Joselu.
Subs: Ki, Murphy, Rondon, Muto, Hayden, Fernandez, Darlow.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Preamble
Reina, Arbeloa, Insua, Paletta, Hyypia, Pennant, Alonso, Gonzalez, Sissoko, Fowler, Bellamy. Neil Warnock wasn’t happy with Rafa Benitez’s selection for a game at Fulham back in May 2007. Liverpool had the Champions League final on their mind, Fulham won the match, and Warnock’s Sheffield United eventually went down instead. Cue recriminations, threats of legal action, etc. But the hatchet has since been buried. “Everything has been said about that,” smiles Warnock. “We’ve met a few times since. Life is too short.”
In fact, we’ve got to the stage where Warnock is heaping praise on Benitez. “The one person Newcastle can’t afford to lose is Rafa,” says the Cardiff City manager ahead of today’s love-in. It is going to be a love-in, right?
Well, not necessarily: both teams are desperate for something this lunchtime after opening-day defeats. Newcastle were unlucky to lose at home to Tottenham last weekend, while Cardiff gave a good account of themselves at Bournemouth, for no reward. History is on Newcastle’s side: they’ve won their last ten league games against Cardiff! The Bluebirds haven’t beaten the Toon in the top flight since 1961, but they will gain succour from an FA Cup win at St James Park just four years ago.
As for the managerial head-to-head? Benitez has that one locked down: he’s undefeated against Warnock in five games, and has won the last four. This love-in might be built on shaky foundations, you know. We kick off at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!
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