Must Win.

As we begin to approach the business end of the season, there have only been 4 fixtures since my last post 6 weeks ago. This situation has come about following the FA Cup success of 2 of our opponents during that time. In that time, 2 teams are already relegated from the Premier League - Huddersfield and Fulham - and we are heavily odds on favourites to join them. Indeed, tonight's fixture at Brighton has become a 'must win' game if we are to avoid the drop, as it is difficult (though not mathematically impossible) to see any way out for us if we lose tonight.

Despite some great performances in recent weeks, some of our early season luck has begun to run out, and we have been on the wrong end of some poor refereeing decisions. Also, there have been to season-ending injuries to 2 of our talismanic players - Sol Bamba and Calum Paterson - to stretch our squad to its limits.

Results since the last post:

CARDIFF 2 WEST HAM 0

CARDIFF 1 CHELSEA 2

MANCHESTER CITY 2 CARDIFF 0

BURNLEY 2 CARDIFF 0

After the disappointment of the previous 3 performances, the fairly comfortable win against West ham was almost unexpected. An early Junior Hoilett goal relaxed the team. West Ham were not really at their best, and when Victor Camarasa squeezed the ball in at the far post early in the second half we were really under very little pressure from that time.

Victor Camarasa squeezes in the second!

But perhaps the most important moment of the season came in the home game against Chelsea almost 3 weeks later. Its always difficult to get a result against the top 6 sides for the teams near the bottom, but this was particularly heartbreaking. Yet again, Chelsea were not at their best, and some of their very expensive stars were not performing. We hung on in there, and managed to go in front early in the second half. Chelsea were forced to bring on Eden Hazard, one of the world's greatest players, but still Cardiff managed to essentially keep him under control. However, with 8 minutes to go a Chelsea corner led to Cesar Azpalicuetta scoring from close range from a clearly offside position which the match officials managed to completely miss. A  second Chelsea goal in stoppage time was almost irrelevant. As the popular phrase goes "We wuz robbed"! 

Neil Warnock gives the match officials his very best Paddington Bear stare!

Following this result there have been the expected (though creditable) 2-0 loss at Manchester City followed by the more disappointing 2-0 loss at Burnley last Saturday.

I believe that if we are truly to stand any chance of remaining in the Premier League then tonight is a "MUST WIN" game. Ironically, our late winner at the Cardiff City Stadium against Brighton in the earlier part of the season was subsequently found to have been offside (although not blatantly so). Lets hope the footballing gods are back on our side tonight.