Cardiff City 2-0 Coventry City: Joel Bagan and Mark Harris strike to earn Bluebirds another crucial win

A Joel Bagan stunner and a late strike from Mark Harris ensured Cardiff City earned the spoils in a 2-0 win over Coventry City.

It was far from a classic, but in the rain-soaked Welsh capital, it took one moment of genius from Bagan in the second half, a terrific late save from Alex Smithies and a coolly-taken strike from Harris to wrap up the Bluebirds' 12th point from their last five games.

It was a much-changed Cardiff City outfit for the home clash against the Sky Blues.

Tommy Doyle, Jordan Hugill, Mark Harris and Joe Ralls were whipped out of the starting lineup from Millwall at the weekend, with Isaak Davies, Max Watters, Will Vaulks and young Eli King, who made his first start in the Championship for the club, brought in.

It was a brave call taking out some of the players who had done so well in recent weeks, but the fixture schedule is hectic and the real skill is keeping these players fresh.

But Coventry looked the more threatening of the sides early on, barring Watters' early chance. Joel Bagan hit a pinpoint cross and Watters sent his header towards goal, but it was saved by Simon Moore.

The visitors then got a foothold, though, and caused problems. Callum O'Hare was lively and was a constant threat. On the quarter-of-an-hour mark, the playmaker ripped through the heart of Cardiff and sprinted upfield before firing a shot off from 20 yards out, but it blazed wide of Alex Smithies' upright.

Then came one of the first-half flashpoints when O'Hare burst through on Cardiff's goal before going down under pressure from Aden Flint, however penalty shouts were waved away. He then got up and nudged the ball away from Smithies before again hitting the deck, but there was minimal contact and the referee was right to