Sheffield United 1-0 Cardiff City: Iliman Ndiaye strike earns Blades precious win as Bluebirds suffer third straight defeat

Cardiff City succumbed to their fourth defeat in five matches as a second-half header from Iliman Ndiaye was enough to earn Sheffield United a narrow 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane.

There was precious little to separate the sides before the break, but one killer moment and a bullet header from the Blades frontman just seconds after the restart was enough to strengthen the hosts' push for a play-off spot.

Cardiff, meanwhile, find themselves in a bit of a rut. While next season is clearly at the forefront of their mind, the season is threatening to end in a whimper, rather than a bang.

There was a nervous atmosphere buzzing around Bramall Lane and it manifested in a frenetic start to the match. All things considered, it could have been two-all after 20 minutes and probably should have been, given quality of the chances which were spurned from both sides.

The first big opportunity was borne of a blistering Cardiff counter. Oliver Denham stepped confidently out of defence to intercept a pass before fizzing the ball into Jordan Hugill's feet on halfway. Hugill hit a crisp first-time pass to Max Watters, who then glided up the pitch with the ball at his feet, beating his man to get a clean shot at goal, but his finish was poor as he side-footed it straight at Wes Foderingham.

Minutes later, Watters was at the centre of another big, but ultimately failed, chance. Foderingham's awful pass went straight to City's striker and he, presumably shorn of confidence after that earlier miss, opted to square it to Cody Drameh on the edge of the box. The Cardiff man just couldn't get the ball under his spell to unleash a shot and another agonising chance went begging.

At the other end, well, Dillon Phillips was made to earn his keep, too. Ben