Millwall 3-1 Cardiff City: Bluebirds fall to defeat at The Den after frustrating display

Cardiff City left The Den empty handed after succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Millwall.

Michael Obafemi and Jake Cooper struck either side of Yakou Meite's header in the first half to hand the Lion the lead at half time. It was a cagey affair for relegation-battling Millwall thereafter, but Duncan Watmore rounded off the scoring deep into stoppage time to ensure the Bluebirds suffered defeat on the road.

Millwall's tactics were pretty clear from the beginning as they bombarded Cardiff's back line with a number of balls in the air. And it didn't take long for a crack in the Bluebirds' defence to show.

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A lobbed pass from Zian Flemming saw Obafemi beat Dimitrios Goutas to the ball before he raced into the box. From a tight angle, the Republic of Ireland international belted one past Ethan Horvath, who should have done better at his near post, to hand the hosts an early lead.

But Cardiff were the better of the two sides, barring that goal which came out of nothing, for much of the first period and they deservedly restored parity on 24 minutes. Rubin Colwill swung in a beautiful free-kick into a dangerous area, but Meite still had a lot to do. Under pressure from two defenders, the Ivorian stuck a powerful header beyond Matija Sarkic to level the match.

The Bluebirds looked confident after that and The Den crowd grew tetchier as a result. In truth, they should have gone into the break in front, but Nat Phillips missed a golden chance when a corner fell at his feet just 10 yards out. Under no pressure, the defender squeezed his shot wide.

Just minutes later, deep into the first-half stoppage time, Millwall grabbed a second. Romain Esse