Cardiff City edge tight Welsh derby

Caulker heads home the winner for Cardiff

A goal from a former Swansea player separated the Premier League’s two Welsh sides at the Cardiff City Stadium, as Steven Caulker’s headed finish gave Cardiff Citythe win over Swansea City. The Swans misery was compounded in injury time when goalkeeper Michel Vorm received a straight red card for bringing down Frazier Campbell, leaving full back Angel Rangel to take his place in goal for the closing stages.

Key Stats

As expected, Swansea enjoyed more of the ball than their opponents. However they struggled to get on the ball as much as usual, and only just shaded Cardiff in possession. The Swans’ 51% possession was their lowest possession share of the season, with the side averaging 55% possession over the ten games that they have played.

There wasn’t a huge amount between the two sides statistically, with the game hinging on Caulker’s set piece goal.

Performance Score

The pair were evenly matched on performance score prior to the goal that separated them. An edgy affair that was always likely to be settled by a single goal, Cardiff took the game to Swansea in the second half and didn’t look like surrendering their lead. Swansea tried to respond, but buoyed by a raucous home crowd the Bluebirds held on fairly comfortably.

Man of the Match: Steven Caulker

Former Swansea defender Caulker secured the Man of the Match award by virtue of his winning goal and contributing to a solid defensive display that saw Cardiff keep a clean sheet. The defender squeezed his header just inside the near post to elude Jonjo Shelvey and send Cardiff into delirium. He also managed to make four clearances as Cardiff held out to win the first Premier League meeting between the two sides.

Key Observations

As noted earlier, Swansea recorded their lowest possession share of the season, shown on the graph below. The Swans enjoyed a lot of the ball in the opening half of the game, completing 292 passes in the first half to 172 in the second half.

In a tight game, Cardiff scored their goal in the period of the game that they were on top for. Whilst Swansea failed to take advantage of their first half possession, Cardiff came out strong at the start of the second half and made their pressure pay.

Swansea Action Areas 45-65 minutes

The action areas map above shows the extent to which Cardiff dominated the opening of the second half. Swansea’s action areas between the 45th and 65th minutes are shown above, and show that they were penned in. During that 20 minute spell Cardiff made 119 passes to Swansea’s 54 in the same period, as they upped the pressure. Whilst the statistics are close over the entire game, Cardiff took advantage of their period of dominance whilst Swansea didn’t.

Cardiff also ensured that Swansea didn’t have the ball in dangerous areas. They were content to let the Swans keep the ball in their own half, shown in the Swansea pass map above, but pressed their opponent’s midfield as soon as they entered the Cardiff half.