Braga 1-0 Cardiff City: Bluebirds begin Portugal tour with narrow defeat in toughly-fought match

Cardiff City's Portuguese tour began with a toughly-contested 1-0 defeat by Braga in Lagos.

Erol Bulut deployed a different XI in each half, with the first 45 seeing City edged by a penalty from Simon Banza, but they were arguably the better of the two teams after the break, although they couldn't find the back of the net.

The hundreds of City fans in attendance were desperate for an Aaron Ramsey debut, however Wednesday's game came too soon for him. He is likely to play a part against Porto. It was another debutant, Karlan Grant, who left Cardiff fans purring.

Bulut would have been pleased with how his side started, on the front foot with Kieron Evans and Rubin Colwill linking up really well down City's left, causing the Portuguese side some real issues.

It was in fact Evans who tested the hosts' backline with an early chance after being played in behind by Mahlon Romeo. The winger lifted the ball over Matheus in the Braga goal only to see his shot cleared off the line by a scrambling defender.

Make no mistake, though, this was a tough test against a very good Braga side. Alvaro Djalo, in particular, looked a threat, getting in behind Jamilu Collins and blazing an early free-kick over the bar.

That Evans-Colwill axis was City's best chance of piercing the lines and it brought City's best chance of the first half. Evans played in Colwill, who was on a bursting run through the middle, and he drove into the box before smashing an effort from a tight angle into the side-netting.

As the first half drew to its conclusion, though, Braga ratcheted up the pressure. Djalo forced Alnwick into a smothering save after the Bluebirds' defence was broken too easily before the flashpoint of that first half, Mahlon Romeo bringing down a