Bristol City player ratings v Cardiff City: 'Hesitant' 5s scored as toothless Robins defeated

Bristol City suffered a third consecutive defeat as they lost 1-0 to Cardiff City in the Severnside Derby at Ashton Gate.

Perry Ng's second-half header proved enough for the Bluebirds to complete the double over their rivals this term.

The hosts hit back through Tommy Conway in the dying minutes, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

The result sees the Robins drop down to 13th place as Cardiff leapfrog their rivals.

Both sides made a competitive start to the match, Ng caught Mark Sykes with a late challenge before Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s low cross almost crafted an opening for Nahki Wells.

The Bermudan occupied the defence well in the early stages and forced Kion Etete into an early yellow card when Wells was dragged down by the ex-Cheltenham Town man.

Manning’s side looked the most likely to break the deadlock as they forced a series of corners, which saw Sykes’ close-range effort pushed out and Gardner-Hickman’s volley from the edge of the area drift over the crossbar.

The Bluebirds were quick to remind their opponents of their own threat, and David Turnbull flashed wide minutes later after a Josh Bowler lay-off.

As the Robins began to control proceedings, Cardiff were happy to remain organised and try to strike on the counterattack, which almost worked when a loose ball fell to Ng whose thundering effort fizzed gratefully into the arms of Max O’Leary.

Both continued to struggle in their search for a goal and went in level at the break.

The second period began in a stop-start fashion as Andy King was cautioned for dragging Etete down before the frontman went down injured and was replaced by Yakou Meite.

On the hour mark, Sykes slid a through pass into the path of McCrorie in the area, but the Scot had halted his run in fear of the offside flag being raised, which summed up the hosts afternoon.

Anis Mehmeti and Conway were introduced soon after in place of King and Wells, as Manning tried to force an opening goal.

But the hosts were a goal down minutes later. Turnbull’s in swinging corner was met by Ng, who nodded into the ground and past O’Leary in front of the visiting crowd.

The home response was positive and Sykes forced Hovarth into a stop moment after the goal, but Manning’s side struggled to gain any rhythm and force the Bluebirds back for any considerable amount of time.

Manning’s side thought they’d levelled when Conway fired home from close-range after Dickie’s header was saved, but the offside flag was up.

As the Robins scrapped for a late equaliser, they forced a plethora of corners but couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.

Here's how the Robins fared...