An error by David Luiz allowed Jordan Mutch to give Cardiff a shock lead in the 10th minute at Stamford Bridge. Luiz thought the ball would bounce back to Petr Cech but Mutch read the situation better and nipped in to score.
As expected Cardiff were forced to defend for long peiods but they were make a good job of keeping Chelsea restriced to half chances until the 31st minute when the officials allowed an illegal goal.
David Marshall was preparing to kick the ball upfield. Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o was alongside him and as Marshall bounced the ball Eto'o kicked it away from and the end result was Eden Hazard scoring to make it 1 - 1.
Marshall has since admitted he should not have bounced with Eto'o in such close proximity but Eto'o's action was illegal and the officials should have award a free kick to Cardiff. Instead the linesman made the wrong call and said that Marshal had dropped the ball thus making it active - which is ridiculous. See the law below.
The first half ended level and in the second period, despite Cardiff having a go at Chelsea early on, the class of the home side shone through with further goals from Eto'o, Oscar and a second for Hazard.
During the second half Jose Mourinho was sent to the stand for arguing with the referee over time-wasting. Mourinho was unhappy with Cardiff's tactics and he ended up 8 rows behind the dugout sat with the Chelsea fans.
By way of a sulk Mourinho didn't appear for the post match press conference and sent assistant coach Steve Holland to do the talking.
This was a game that beforehand the fans would not have expected to get something from but if City could have made it to half time with their lead intact then things might have been differenct.
What is more important is that Cardiff bounce back and get a result at Norwich next week. Depending how Fulham do on Monday Cardiff could slip into the bottom three with a defeat at Carrow Rd.
Source: Cardiff City Online
Source: FOOTYMAD
