What irked Cardiff boss Omer Riza so much after 'rugby match' defeat to Portsmouth
Omer Riza didn’t hold back in his assessment of his Cardiff players after their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Pompey.
The Bluebirds boss highlighted a catalogue of errors that he deemed unacceptable for such an important game at the bottom end of the Championship.
And he accepts his job in keeping the Welsh side in the second tier is a lot harder as a result, with John Mousinho’s side leapfrogging them in the table and moving into 18th position.
Early goals from Colby Bishop (nine minutes) and Conor Shaughnessy (15), handed Pompey the early advantage, before Callum O’Dowda halved the deficit after 22 minutes.
The visitors had the ball in the back of the net in the second half, only for Callum Robinson to be flagged for offside. But that proved to be the only other time that Nicolas Schmid’s goal came under pressure, leaving Riza disappointed with what he witnessed from the stands as he served the final game of a three-match touchline ban.
Criticising his players for the way they handled the ‘rugby match’ with Pompey, Riza went through exactly what irritated him the most about his side’s performance, He told WalesOnline: ‘I'm disappointed, we made it hard for ourselves early on. To go 2-0 down is hard work. We got a goal and stayed in the game, in the second half we created chances and should have scored, but we weren't good enough, we lacked execution and bravery.
‘I was disappointed our goal was disallowed, Robbo was onside but we were second to a lot of stuff tonight. We have to move forward now.
‘They have been really strong at home and they are good at the things they did. It was like a rugby match at times and we didn't stand up to the challenge. A few players froze in the moment again. We didn't start aggressive enough or do the basics well. Not picking up second balls, when we did our passes were loose.
‘Just indecisiveness, execution and our bravery needed to be better.
‘I told my players we can do better and play better than that. We can have a fight but then once you've done that you need to apply your strengths to the game and it was few and far between tonight. Now we've made it hard work for ourselves again. We have to go back with our tail between our legs ready for Saturday.’
Championship relegation battle
Pompey’s victory moves them four points clear of the relegation zone, with the Blues now 18th on 33 points from their 32 games played. Cardiff sit 20th on 31 points, but, like a lot of teams currently sat in the lower reaches of the table, with fewer games played than Mousinho’s side.
The relegation picture could change again tonight, with Stoke, Hull and Luton all in action - although, only Stoke can move above Pompey in the table with a win at Bristol City.
The Blues are next in action on Saturday, when they travel to Oxford, where drew at Derby on Tuesday night.
For your next Pompey read: Portsmouth boss addresses West Ham youngster's Cardiff absence - and when he'll be back