Report | Argyle 1-1 Cardiff City

Argyle’s early afternoon clash with Cardiff City turned into anything but a civil luncheon.

For 45 minutes, the visitors from South Wales were well on top, going into the interval in the lead thanks to a Yousef Salach goal. 

Half-time replacement Bali Mumba changed things for the positive for Argyle, with the substitute drawing a foul that led to Dimitrios Goutas getting sent off. The Greens got an equaliser from another sub, Muhamed Tijani, but could not find a winner, despite the game stretching to nearly 105 minutes, thanks to Cardiff’s delaying tactics.

Argyle made just one change from the side that started Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Luton Town. Matty Sorinola was replaced at right wing-back by Kornel Szucs, making his first start since 4 January.

The rest of Argyle’s back five saw Maksym Talovierov, Nikola Katic and Victor Palsson in the centre, with Tymoteusz Puchacz on the left, and Conor Hazard in goal. Jordan Houghton and Adam Randell anchored the midfield, with Rami Al Hajj and Callum Wright playing in support of Mustapha Bundu.

Cardiff fired the first warning shot, with a chance inside three minutes. Argyle had only partially cleared a free-kick, and City worked the ball down their right side through Will Alves. Standing the ball into the centre, it was met with a powerful header by Yousef Salech. Hazard leapt to save, and pushed it against Katic, who was near the goal-line. The Bosnian defender then followed up to clear.

Argyle had a couple of moments on the front foot – notably when Wright clipped in a cross-cum-shot that was a little ahead of Bundu, running though, but in truth Cardiff had started considerably the better of the sides, and deserved their lead when it came after a dozen minutes.

The Greens were a little unlucky when Puchacz’s tackle ricocheted in favour of the visitors, and one cross to the far post later, Salech was in position to nudge home. 

Without creating too much, Cardiff remained on top and seemingly in control, with Argyle having their first effort of note on 23 minutes. Good hold up play by Bundu on the left flank was followed by an excellent pick-out of Randell, about 20 yards out. The skipper controlled, let the ball drop to a half-volley and tried to swerve it home, but did not get the fade he was after, and saw the shot go wide.

The teams traded off-target free-kicks – Puchacz for Argyle, Aaron Ramsey for Cardiff – before the Bluebirds really should have gone two up just after the half-hour point.

After Palsson made a really good tackle to halt Alves’s progress, the resultant corner reached Sivert Mannsverk on the edge of the area. His drive towards goal, into a crowd of players, found itself at the feet of Colwill. Admittedly, the tall attacking midfielder had very little time to think, but when adjusting his foot to divert goalwards, he elevated by a degree or five too many, and saw the ball whizz over the bar.

Before the half’s end, Alves ran onto a ball over the top and shot well off-target. The half-time whistle went moments later, and Argyle trudged in knowing they had been second best throughout.

Miron Muslic decided to make a substitution at the break, bringing on Bali Mumba for Wright, and asking Mumba to slot into a similar position, on the right of a front three.

He was involved early on, having two notable moments in the first five minutes after appearing – getting to a loose ball second to the Cardiff goalkeeper and then shooting plenty wide from distance – but the third was more telling.

Bundu’s presence caused a forward ball to continue, and then Al Hajj clipped a pass in behind that Mumba latched on to. The pace of the Argyle substitute was too much for Goutas, who was a little unlucky in that there was no malice or even cynicism in his challenge, but it was clumsy, on the edge of the area, and Mumba was undoubtedly in on goal. As soon as the free-kick was awarded, the red card had to follow – and it did.

Randell whipped the free-kick narrowly wide, and then shortly afterwards Muslic reached to his bench once more. Houghton and Palsson vacated the premises, replaced by Malachi Boateng and Matty Sorinola. Almost immediately, Argyle attacked down the right, Bundu hooked in a cross that Mumba met on the run, and his header looped over Jak Alnwick, onto hit the bar and then was cleared to safety.

Argyle essentially had half an hour to find the one or two goals they needed to attain points – and to prevent their visitors from getting them. From a left-wing free-kick, Mumba recycled and saw his cross blocked, only for Randell to dribble infield and help create an opportunity for Szucs, which dribbled wide.

Argyle went to their replacements once more, with Muhamed Tijani coming on for Al Hajj, creating a new-look front three of Mumba on the left and Bundu on the right, flanking Tijani. It soon paid off. 

Talovierov started things with an accurate long pass, his second in a matter of a minute, this one picking out Bundu. The latter’s knock-down was perfect for Tijani, running on to it, and meeting the ball on a stride. His strike was low and true, and the Pilgrims had parity. 

They also had a third of the game remaining to try to win it. 

Communication between Bundu and Tijani broke down briefly when a superb Puchacz delivery from a free-kick looked perfect for Tijani, but Bundu, in his desire to put Argyle in front, got there first, but his flick took it away from his team-mate and the chance was lost.

Cardiff reminded Argyle that they were still in this game when a sub of their own, Yakou Meite, was afforded a hectare of his own just inside the area, and shot wastefully wide.

When the 90 minutes was up, Tijani was down, having split his head going for a challenge. Play resumed a minute later, by which point ten added minutes had been indicated.

As chaos continued to reign, Katic was sent up front, a signal that Argyle were going to chase three points, and not be content with one. 

When 100 minutes ticked by, there was clearly the need for even more time. The ball seemed to spend more time idle during the initial ten-minute spell, in part due to Cardiff’s reluctance to keep the play flowing, and an injury to their goalkeeper, Alnwick, which the Green Army rather doubted the veracity of.

In the end, a 103rd minute dash by Puchacz got cut out, and Cardiff broke, sensing the unlikeliest and most sensational of victories, but in the end the attack petered out, as did this mammoth game.

As for Wednesday night at Luton, we are left with the internal quandary. Was that a chance for three points lost, or a draw that at least prevented a relegation rival from extending.

You decide.

Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard, 4 Jordan Houghton (9 Malachi Boateng, 58), 6 Kornel Szucs, 11 Callum Wright (2 Bali Mumba, half-time), 15 Mustapha Bundu, 17 Tymoteusz Puchacz, 20 Adam Randell (capt, 18 Darko Gyabi 84), 25 Nikola Katic, 28 Rami Al Hajj (26 Muhamed Tijani, 63), 40 Maksym Talovierov, 44 Victor Palsson (29 Matty Sorinola, 58). Substitutes: 31 Daniel Grimshaw (gk), 3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 30 Michael Baidoo.

Goals: Tijani 67

Booked: Randell 82, Talovierov 90+4, Katic 90+6

Cardiff: 21 Jak Alnwick, 4 Dimitrios Goutas, 10 Aaron Ramsey (capt), 11 Callum O’Dowda, 15 Sivert Mannsverk, 22 Yousef Salech (39 Isaak Davies, 87), 23 Joel Bagan (2 Will Fish, 63), 27 Rubin Colwill (45 Cian Ashford, 76), 29 Will Alves (19 Yakou Meite, 76), 35 Andy Rinomhota, 38 Perry Ng. Substitutes: 1 Ethan Horvath (gk), 3 Joe Ralls, 16 Chris Willock, 20 Anwar El Ghazi, 49 Luey Giles.

Goals: Salech 12

Sent off: Goutas 57

Booked: Rinomhota 90+3, Ng 90+8, Mannsverk 90+11

Attendance: 16,981 (1,719 away)

Referee: James Bell