Barnsley suffered a 1-0 defeat against Cardiff City in the Sky Bet Championship at Oakwell on Wednesday evening.
Uche Ikpeazu’s second half goal separated the two sides as the Bluebirds returned to South Wales with a priceless victory.
The Reds started brightly and had a good opportunity to take the lead when Cardiff failed to clear a cross, and Josh Benson tried his luck from the edge of the box only to see his effort gathered by Alex Smithies down to his right.
Midway through the half, debutant Domingos Quina found Jordan Williams with a delightful ball over the top, and our wing-back fired it across the face of goal just out of reach of the outstretched leg of Devante Cole.
Just after the half hour mark, Barnsley had a glorious chance to find the opening goal when Callum Styles won possession back deep in the City half. He found Cole, but our forward was unable to steer his strike inside the post from 18-yards.
On the stroke of half-time, with the Reds looking to make their dominance count, Liam Kitching flashed a header wide from Styles’ inch-perfect inswinging corner as both sides went in level at the break.
HALF-TIME: Barnsley 0-0 Cardiff City
In a fiery second half, several crunching tackles resulted in yellow cards for Mads Andersen and Williams, while Tommy Doyle also picked up a booking for a late challenge on Rémy Vita.
With little in the way of clear-cut chances, it looked as though a moment of magic or mistake would settle the tie. Unfortunately for the Reds, it proved to be the latter as Cardiff debutant Ikpeazu outmuscled both Michał Helik and Andersen before his scuffed shot trickled into the bottom corner.
Deadline day loan signing Amine Bassi was introduced from the bench along with Aaron Leya Iseka as Barnsley looked for more options in the final third, with the Moroccan showing plenty of flair in possession.
The Reds thought they had snatched a share of the spoils with the last kick of the game, but Leya Iseka was adjudged to be offside from Styles’ through ball as Cardiff held on to claim three huge points in the fight for survival.
FULL-TIME: Barnsley 0-1 Cardiff City
REDS XI: Collins (GK), Andersen (C), Helik, Kitching (Leya Iseka, 77), Williams, Benson (Bassi, 77), Gomes, Quina (Morris, 62), Vita, Styles, Cole.
Not used: Walton (GK), Moon, Hondermarck, Palmer, Morris.
CARDIFF XI: Smithies (GK), McGuinness, Morrison (C) (Flint, 11), Vaulks, Hugill, Wintle, Drameh, Doughty (Ikpeazu, 63), Doyle, Watters (Davies, 56), Ng.
Not used: Phillips (GK), Bagan, Collins, Pack.
