Cardiff City 2-0 Sheffield United: Moore haunts old club as double leaves Bluebirds in relegation zone

Cardiff City's utterly bleak midwinter rages on at a pace, with the Bluebirds heading into Christmas in the relegation zone after yet another defeat.

Omer Riza has now overseen eight games without a win, the latest outing resulting in Kieffer Moore coming back to haunt them like the Ghost of Christmas Past, striking twice as Sheffield United down the hapless Bluebirds 2-0.

Just four days out from Christmas, Cardiff fans would have been desperate for something to really kick off their festive season, particularly given just how disappointing the last few months have been. But it's yet more misery, saved from bottom spot in the table thanks to Oxford United's own 4-0 drubbing by Leeds United and a late Middlesbrough equaliser against Plymouth Argyle. This is alarming and there is real cause for concern.

Riza set his players up, understandably, to defend, soak up the pressure and attempt to hit the Blades on the counter. And they executed that game plan seamlessly in the first half, limiting the league leaders to speculative shots from distance and set pieces. The Yorkshire side's only real chance came via a short corner, when Gustavo Hamer drilled one wide of the mark from a tight angle.

But while Cardiff were generally comfortable, it's fair to say, they struggled to get anything of note going at the other end. Chris Willock was an obvious bright spark in attack and created one or two openings, none of which amounted to any real threat on Michael Cooper's goal.

It was a half of little action, but fans, in the biting cold of the Welsh capital, were still hopeful Cardiff could nick something after the break. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

The tempo of the match increased markedly after the break, although