Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Cardiff City: Lacklustre Bluebirds undone by stoppage-time winner

Cardiff City fell to a gut-wrenching defeat at the Toughsheet Community Stadium as a stunning stoppage-time strike from Amario Cozier-Duberry handed Bolton Wanderers a 1-0 victory.

It was a cruel finish for the Bluebirds, who looked set to take a point from a cagey, frankly low-quality affair before being punished right at the death.

Cozier-Duberry's effort in the 94th minute was the only shot on target in the entire match, to give you an indication of how poor the game was. Cardiff dominated the ball but, in truth, they simply were not good enough in the danger zones, lacking accuracy and incisiveness within 20 yards of the opposition goal.

Brian Barry-Murphy handede Alex Robertson his first start of the season, while Dylan Lawlor passed fit to start alongside Will Fish at centre-back.

Cardiff enjoyed plenty of first-half possession but couldn’t turn it into clear chances, with Rubin Colwill and Yousef Salech both seeing efforts blocked and David Turnbull heading wide from a good position following an excellent Joel Bagan cross.

At the other end, Nathan Trott was rarely troubled, though he had to stay alert to deal with a handful of dangerous Bolton deliveries into the box.

The second half brought little improvement in terms of quality. Both sides struggled to create, with Omari Kellyman’s deflected strike and Isaak Davies’ dangerous cross among Cardiff’s few bright moments.

Barry-Murphy made a series of changes — bringing on Tanatswa Nyakuhwa, Cian Ashford, Ronan Kpakio, Ryan Wintle, and Callum Robinson — in search of fresh impetus.

Nyakuhwa offered energy and directness down the flank, forcing a save from Sharman-Lowe with one sharp cross, but Cardiff still couldn’t test the keeper from open play. Robinson replaced Salech