Cardiff City 1-2 Burnley: Bluebirds pay price for early errors and miss huge chances as they fall to defeat

Cardiff City succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at home to Burnley despite a spirited second-half display and goalscorer Yousef Salech hitting the woodwork twice.

A slow start from the hosts was their undoing, with Josh Brownhill and Maxime Esteve benefitting from some pretty lax defending from the hosts.

But Salech, who had earlier hit the post with a snap effort, gave the home fans life when he found the back of the net for the fifth time in a Cardiff shirt just before the break.

And despite a late onslaught, and Salech hitting the bar with a header, the Bluebirds simply couldn't get a point from the promotion-chasing Clarets, in what will go down as another toughly-contested defeat.

Cardiff seemed to be playing a different pace to the visitors, right from the get-go. Everything Burnley did seemed to have more zip and greater urgency, with their left flank, orchestrated by Jaidon Anthony, causing the hosts all sorts of issues.

There was, however, a real paucity of chances inside the first 20 minutes, with neither goalkeeper really tested. It's why the opener from the visitors might have felt like a bit of a body blow for the Bluebirds.

Hannibal Mejbri had made a positive run down the left and lifted a cross into a dangerous area. The unmarked Brownhill ran on to it without breaking a stride before side-footing a volley into the bottom corner, via a Perry Ng deflection, to hand the Clarets the lead.

Scott Parker's side came into the clash in third position and you could see why. Their quality in possession and speed on the break outstripped Cardiff's efforts, which looked a little laboured in comparison. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

It wasn't all one-way traffic, though, especially given how well Salech was playing