Cardiff City 1-1 Oxford United: Bluebirds' survival hopes evaporate after Brannagan stunner in Ramsey's first game

Cardiff City's survival hopes were dealt a hammerblow after Cameron Brannagan's 35-yard screamer meant Aaron Ramsey's first game in charge ended in an agonising 1-1 draw with Oxford United.

Every other possible result went against Cardiff on a day which has seen their hopes of avoiding relegation almost evaporate. In a season where Cardiff have drawn too many games, it feels there is no coming back from this most recent, most painful one.

Yousef Salech put the Bluebirds ahead with more than half an hour to go but Brannagan's thunderous effort means the draw is almost as good as a loss for City, with all of Plymouth, Luton, Derby and Hull racking up wins. It leaves Cardiff three points adrift of safety with just two games to go and an awful goal difference.

This really did feel like the day when all hope was lost and realisation has begun to set in. Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community.

Ramsey was tasked with steering this club to safety and make no mistake, this was billed as a must-win clash. How much he, Chris Gunter, Matt Bloxham and Tom Hutton would have been able to inject into this squad in two days is difficult to know, but this was a Hail Mary.

Ramsey, who had taken over from the sacked Omer Riza just two days prior, clapped, encouraged, shouted tactical titbits from the sideline early on as the hosts dominated the opening exchanges. The stadium was rocking as the crowd threw their backing behind "Aaron Ramsey's Barmy Army" and the players responded with an encouraging opening passage of play.

Alex Robertson, deployed higher up the pitch than usual just off Salech, architected the first major chance of the afternoon. He spun his defender beautifully just inside the area before