And with that, I’m gone. It was, well, largely forgettable, but decorated with an absolutely splendid winning goal. Bye!
Sean Morrison joins Sky for a chat:
That just shows the character we have in the squad. I thought we started well but we got sloppy, gave the ball away in silly areas. Second half we came on to them. Junior scored a great goal to win the game, but we deserved it second half.
The gaffer prefers us to play four at the back but it’s something we did at times last year. We knew it was going to be tough but the boys defensively did their job great and thankfully we’ve come away with three points.
It was a cornerstone for us last year [set pieces]. We were so great at scoring from set pieces and defending them. We’ve got to work at the training ground and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
A lot of people doubt we can stay in the league this year. Every game is huge for us. We’re aware we’re limited in areas, we don’t have the resources other clubs have. Every game for us is a cup final, we’re going to work as hard as we can and we showed that tonight. A lot of people say we can’t stay up and we’re going to use that as a fuel. We’ve got a lot of heart and desire and we’ll see how far that can take us.
Neil Warnock actually says “by gum”. He’s turning into a caricature Yorkshireman.
“I had a conversation with a friend who said that Wolves were much better early in the season,” writes Kari Tulinius. “I have only seen them in recent weeks, and they’ve been bad each time. Do you have any idea what’s changed?”
They were smooth in the early weeks of the season, but my impression is that it was swiftly discovered that most of their play flowed through Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho in central midfield, and disrupting that partnership has proved effective. Tonight Cardiff pressed fast and hard, and bypassed midfield completely pretty often. Wolves might have slowed the game down in the opening third, tried to change its character, keep the ball on the floor. Instead they fought fire with fire and traded aimless forward punts, which was precisely as Cardiff would have wanted it.
Here’s Neil Warnock:
I said to the boys, it’s about time you gave me something to celebrate. I’m really proud of them. 1-0 down at half-time. I didn’t think we deserved to be but that’s how it is. Second half we were on the front foot most of the time. Second half, Harry Arter’s shot going in as well. We had some good opportunities and I felt we wanted it more tonight.
It was our strength last year [set pieces]. Not matter how much you work on it, you can’t do anything about it if lads don’t do what you … you know. They’re doing their best you know. They’ve just got to work harder to make sure we defend even better. But you saw the spirit.
I must admit last night I had a few sleepless minutes because I had Junior Hoilett and Victor as wing-backs. We wanted to have a go. Last year here, they dominated here and we never got amongst them really. I thought we closed them down in the right areas and made it hard work for them.
Here’s Stuart James’s hot take from Cardiff:
On the eve of his 70th birthday, Neil Warnock could not have scripted it any better as Cardiff City demonstrated their powers of recovery to come from behind to win at home for the third time this season, courtesy of a wonderful goal from Junior Hoilett. Love him or loathe him, it is impossible not to admire Warnock’s longevity and this was a victory for the Yorkshireman to cherish.
More here:
Aron Gunnarsson has a chat with Sky:
We had a couple of tough games against them last season. It’s always tough to get a win at home. The first half wasn’t good enough. Second half we came out fighting and I think we deserved those three points today. We came out on the front foot, fought a little bit harder for each other. We wanted to get those three points.
Junior Hoilett also talks, and says his goal was reward for him working hard all week. Gunnarsson interrupts to say he hasn’t seen him do anything like that in training, but he responds that he’s been doing a lot of extra solo special work on blinding curling wondergoals. Four of his 14 career goals have come against Wolves, apparently:
You can see that everybody gives 100% for the club, the fans and each other. I felt we deserved that. We started off a bit slow, but came out second half on the front foot and positive. It’s my first time playing left wing-back, I just had to be positive.
Final score: Cardiff 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
90+6 mins: And that’s it! Three beautiful, juicy, delicious points for Cardiff as Wolves’ deep funk deepens!
Updated
90+5 mins: Cardiff have spent the last few minutes hitting the ball deep down the flanks whenever they see it, which isn’t very cultured but is using the time up pretty effectively.
90+4 mins: Jota’s cross from the left is decent, and for a while nobody in the middle seems to know what to do with it, but eventually it’s hacked clear.
90+2 mins: Hoilett does some timewasting jiving on the left flank, before flinging himself to the turf in search of a free-kick, which the referee is not inclined to award.
90+1 mins: There will be around five minutes of stoppage time. It starts with a Wolves corner, which is headed out to Moutinho, and then flayed wildly high.
90 mins: The clock is ticking, and Cardiff – who have been the better team today in a game of tight margins – have settled into man-the-barricades mode.
88 mins: “That was a little look and a nudge on Patricio for the first,” sniffs Russell, “the second however was a thing of beauty.” There was a glance, but to call it a nudge would be to overplay the magnitude of the contact, which was extremely gentle. Rui Patricio didn’t take a lot of persuading to abandon his rush from goal.
86 mins: What a chance for Wolves! Cavaleiro crosses from the right and it dips onto the left foot of Gibbs-White, whose volley flies high!
85 mins: Another long-throw from Cardiff falls to a blue shirt, and Ralls’s shot deflects wide. They’ve been absolute second-ball magnets all night.
83 mins: Cavalairo comes off the bench to replace Vinagre and his first involvement is to shoot from the left of goal, a decent scoring chance, but his shot is weak and too close to Etheridge.
81 mins: Replays of the goal show Paterson doing a ludicrous two-footed celebratory solo lunge at the ball after it flew into the net, as the rest of his team-mates ran off together.
78 mins: A cross from the left is eventually cleared back in the direction it came from, and as it reaches the left-hand corner of the area Hoilett runs onto it and curls a shot across goal and into the top corner!
Updated
GOAL! A SUPERB GOAL! Cardiff 2-1 Wolves (Hoilett, 77 mins)
That’s a stunner! A curling cracker from Hoilett!
Updated
76 mins: Arter comes out to challenge Jota, is clipped on the ankle and does quite an impressive pain-signalling spin on his back, like an 80s breakdancing move. As soon as he gingerly gets to his feet he’s taken off, Harris coming on.
73 mins: Wild roars from the crowd as the referee falls over.
72 mins: Traoré’s race is run, and Morgan Gibbs-White comes on.
72 mins: Paterson is booked for stopping Wolves taking a quick free kick.
71 mins: A goal-saving challenge from Morrison! Wolves attack down the left, and the ball into the box looked destined for Jota before Morrison slides out a leg to deflect it to safety.
68 mins: Saiss has been booked at some point, apparently for dissent. He presumably argued that Paterson had deliberately blocked Rui Patricio’s half-hearted advance towards the ball, but he seemed to be largely minding his own business.
66 mins: Two changes to tell you about: Wolves bring Diogo Jota on for Costa, and Cardiff bring Reid on for the impressive Murphy.
Updated
GOAL! Cardiff 1-1 Wolves (Gunnarsson, 65 mins)
65 mins: Cardiff equalise from a corner! It’s headed clear to Arter, who lifts it high back into the box. Rui Patricio comes for it, decides not to bother, and is stranded hopelessly as Morrison nods it on and Gunnarsson controls and volleys in!
Updated
64 mins: Arter comes close again! Cardiff have a free-kick on the left and it’s sent into the mixer, headed out the other side and Arter lashes a volley that is on its way in at the far post until it hits Coady and goes wide!
62 mins: Jimenez hits the ball long. “Pretty aimless punt forward that was,” says Sky’s commentator. He could have saved himself a lot of hassle by pre-recording that sentence and just repeating it regularly throughout the game.
61 mins: The first yellow card of the game goes to Neves, for a foul on Murphy. It’s his fifth of the season, and he’ll be suspended from Wolves’ next game, against Chelsea.
59 mins: A brace of shots from Neves, both from 30 yards or so, the first vicious and dipping and Etheridge can only beat it away, the second weaker and wilder. Goal kick.
56 mins: That’s fantastic lollipopping from Vinagre. It must have been a quintuple ’pop that he just reeled off. Possibly the highlight of the entire match. It was in the middle of the pitch and accomplished nothing, but still, extravagant lollipoppery.
54 mins: Jiménez runs from centre to right after the ball, with Bamba shadowing him, and when he catches it he unleashes a first-time effort from 30 yards, which flies well wide.
52 mins: Paterson is back on. Murphy wins another corner, and Wolves win another header.
50 mins: Gunnarsson, who has taken the bandages off his right hand during the interval, winds up his throw-in arms again, but the ball is cleared and what’s more Paterson gets hurt in the process.
48 mins: Jimenez and Traoré try to exchange passes on the edge of Cardiff’s area, but the return ball is too far ahead of Traoré and a defender gets in the way and ruins everything.
46 mins: A near-instant shot from Cardiff, Camarasa sending a low effort across goal from the right side of the area, and wide.
46 mins: And they’re off! Again!
The players are back out, and will be ready for action in a few moments once Wolves finish their choreographed warm-up routine.
Half-time reading: a piece on when fans stuck at rubbish boring matches were at least given a ball to play with:
Half time: Cardiff 0-1 Wolves
45+2 mins: And that is half time. Not the greatest footballing spectacle – Cardiff have provided the best moments, through Murphy’s bright, direct running and Arter’s brilliant shot against the woodwork, but are nevertheless losing.
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there will be about two minutes.
45 mins: Another chance for Cardiff! This time Murphy’s shot loops off a defender towards Paterson, but instead of heading the ball at goal from close range he backs into a defender and throws himself to the ground in desperate search of a penalty. That really was an awful decision.
43 mins: A glimpse of goal for Cardiff! A long cross into the box is headed down to Camarasa, who totally fluffs his half-volley and actually somehow contrives to send the ball backwards.
39 mins: Wolves have a corner and a subsequent shot of their own, though Neves’s effort from 20 yards curls well wide.
36 mins: Murphy has been the brightest spark on the pitch so far, offering similar pace to Traoré but with better ball control. He wins a corner which is cleared to the edge of the area, where Arter smacks a left-foot shot that clatters the corner of post and bar with the goalkeeper hopeless!
Updated
34 mins: Coady and Camarasa slide in to challenge for the same ball, and Coady gets both ball and opponent, who is currently receiving treatment.
32 mins: Traoré has another run. This time it ends with a poor low cross which rebounds back to him off a defender, and then a slightly better aerial cross which bounces off a defender and is claimed by Etheridge.
29 mins: I’ve got nothing against direct football, where it’s used as a way of getting the ball quickly into attacking areas, creating chances and excitement. But what we’ve had so far from both teams is just rubbish, a stream of hopeful long-balls and half-contested clearing headers. Cardiff surprise Wolves by not pumping a free-kick into the box and passing it instead to Hoilett, who cuts in from the left and shoots wide from 20 yards or so.
26 mins: It’s raining hard in Cardiff, but water isn’t the only thing falling from the sky – the ball’s doing quite a lot of it as well. Coady is off the pitch at the moment receiving treatment to a minor nosebleed.
23 mins: Wolves break and Traoré has the ball on the halfway line, plenty of support, one defender and a lot of green grass behind him to run into. He runs into the defender.
22 mins: Murphy takes on Coady and has much the better of the battle. Moutinho has to come across to help out, but though he stops the ball going out for a corner he gives away a throw-in, which against Cardiff is much the same thing.
20 mins: Raul Jimenez and Ecuele Manga compete for the ball from a throw-in. Raul wins it, but feels Manga behind him so flings himself to the floor and rolls around a bit. And then a bit more.
Updated
GOAL! Cardiff 0-1 Wolves (Doherty, 18 mins)
And the corner leads to a goal! It’s swung into the box, and Jimenez heads across goal from the near post. Etheridge saves well but the ball rolls out to Doherty, who slams it into the roof of the net from an acute angle!
Updated
17 mins: Traoré gets a chance to stretch his legs on the right wing, but Bamba heads his cross behind for another set piece.
15 mins: Not a lot of free-flowing tippy-tappy football going on at the moment, and both defences are coping pretty well with the long balls coming their way.
12 mins: Wolves break forward and win themselves a corner, headed clear and swiftly given to Murphy, who runs into the Wolves box but his cross hits a defender, bounces back into him and then out for a goal kick.
10 mins: The corner flags are standard Cardiff blue, but the corner itself doesn’t lead to much. It’s the home side, though, that’s applying all the pressure at the moment.
9 mins: Another long throw from Gunnarsson, and this one comes off a defender and out for a corner.
8 mins: A first touch for Traoré and it’s not a great one, as his attempt to control Boly’s firmly-struck pass isn’t great and even he can’t catch up with the ball as it rolls out of play.
6 mins: Now Cardiff have a free kick, from a similar position to that throw-in. It arrows onto the forehead of Morrison, but his header back across goal is overstrong and goes out of play.
4 mins: Gunnarsson’s right hand is heavily strapped but his long-throw abilities remain strong. He flings one into the box and it falls to Ralls, whose left-foot half-volley zaps wide.
3 mins: Cardiff have, as widely predicted, started with a back three. Helder Costa tries to trick his way past Ecuele Manga but Camarasa gets back and steals the ball away. There is a brief and hopeless penalty appeal as Costa goes down, but it was a good challenge.
2 mins: Junior Hoilett takes on Doherty on the left flank, does a few nice skilly things but then has neither the pace nor the strength to actually get past his man.
1 min: Peeeeep! Wolves, all in white, get us going.
The pre-match managerial handshake has been completed, and very amicable it looked too.
And out they come, fully warmed up and ready to show their tactical (and physical) flexibility.
The players are in the tunnel!
Tasty game, this. The Cardiff pre-match light show is under way.
Aron Gunnarsson has injured his thumb during the warm-up, and has had significant strapping applied, which as Sky point out will probably have an impact on his long-throwing wiles.
Nuno Espírito Santo has a pre-match chat, on team changes and his team’s shape:
The idea is to choose the best option. Of course the last performance was not good, I think it required some changes. You never know [if we might change the shape], never say never. If you ask me now I’ll say no. We’re trying to build a shape that can handle anything, can give different answers to different opponents, but you never know.
Is he going to be giving Neil Warnock any birthday gifts?
I’m going to give him a nice handshake and a good hug, I think it’s enough.
There are some strange corner-flag-related goings-on afoot. This was one of the first pictures to come over from Cardiff this evening:
But since then we’ve received a few like this, which appears to show the same corner at the same ground before the same game, but with a different flag:
So, in short, corner-based confusion reigns.
Updated
At the end of the interview Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher shake Warnock’s hand. Which is just as well.
He is looking back over his career, you see, on the eve of his 70th birthday. “We really shouldn’t have come up last year, but they were magnificent, the lads, and we managed to get up,” he says. “We’ve got a far better team now than we had last year, but we now have to go again to compete with the people in the Premier League. The window did us, really. We couldn’t get a striker in, and that killed us really. We’ve got to hope we can get players in in January, which is not straightforward.”
“I’ve always had to put fires out, and I enjoy that,” Warnock says. “The nicest thing for me is, when I leave a club, have I left it in a better situation. The nicest thing is when I see visiting fans say, ‘I don’t like you, but I wish you were our manager.’”
On Sky, Neil Warnock is being interviewed inside his office. It contains two leather sofas and a sleek coffee table. “If you gave me 38 points this year I’d bite your hand off,” he says.
The teams!
The team sheets have been handed it, and these are tonight’s key protagonists:
Cardiff City: Etheridge, Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Victor Camarasa, Gunnarsson, Ralls, Arter, Hoilett, Paterson, Josh Murphy. Subs: Peltier, Bennett, Ward, Smithies, Reid, Mendez-Laing, Harris.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Rui Patricio, Saiss, Coady, Boly, Doherty, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Vinagre, Helder Costa, Traore, Jimenez. Subs: Bennett, Ivan Cavaleiro, Gibbs-White, Jota, John Ruddy, Giles, Leo Bonatini.
Referee: Andre Marriner.
#CARWOL | #CardiffCity team news!
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) November 30, 2018
Brought to you by @1xbet_Eng...#CityAsOne 🔵⚽️🔵⚽️ pic.twitter.com/s9IUMZNGAv
Here's how Wolves line-up for tonight's @premierleague clash against @CardiffCityFC. #CARWOL
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 30, 2018
📋🐺 pic.twitter.com/rGiFNdsP9i
Hello world!
The last time these teams met in Cardiff turned into a brilliantly memorable occasion, in which the home side fluffed two stoppage-time penalties and lost 1-0, and the managers became embroiled in a furious if one-sided spat about post-match handshakes, the problem being that Nuno Espirito Santo did not immediately offer one, and when he did finally get round to it he was politely told to go away.
Neil Warnock politely refusing a handshake with Nuno Santo after his Cardiff side lost to Wolves. Blimey! #CARvWOL pic.twitter.com/j3MvvRfcXo
— Mr Geoff Peters (@mrgeoffpeters) April 6, 2018
This snub left Neil Warnock, who of course is not the type of man to hold a grudge or make enemies, atypically enraged:
I don’t give a toss what he says. I won’t accept his apology. He’s totally out of order. In British football, you shake the manager’s hand afterwards. I just thought it showed a lack of class if I’m honest. So he can please himself. I went to shake his hand and he ran off – that’s what he did. If that’s how they’re taught in Portugal, fair enough. But not in Britain.
Since then the two have met and made up at an LMA event, and the Portuguese tactician will not repeat the mistake tonight. A great amount of hand-shaking is guaranteed. “It’s totally over. We had a chance to speak and clarified things, and now I can say we are good friends,” he said in the build-up to this match. “I’m going to shake his hand, before and after. I learned my lesson.”
Tomorrow is Warnock’s 70th birthday. He was only 13 when these clubs last played in the top flight. With two wins and a pair of narrow, 1-0 defeats in their last five games Cardiff are in pretty good form (though it’s more than three months since their last clean sheet); with one point from their last five games Wolves are not. A repeat of April’s madcap drama seems unlikely, but here’s hoping.
