Cardiff City comfortably beat Aston Villa 3-0 to move to the top of the Sky Bet Championship table.
The Bluebirds just about scraped into the Second Round of the Carabao Cup after they beat Portsmouth 2-1 after extra time. Aston Villa were also able to edge out a lower league team to get into the next round of the cup, beating Colchester United 2-1.
Even though Aston Villa didn’t win their opening game of the season against Hull City, they still would have expected to win this one to confirm their promotion aspirations. However they were set to get a very nasty shock. Just before the midway point in the first half, Junior Hoilett put in a great cross and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was able to head in to give Cardiff a well deserved lead.
Of course with the threat that Aston Villa have going forward, Cardiff would need more to make sure they won the game. The team knew that and put in a great performance in the second half to ensure victory. Hoilett was able to get a goal of his own when he headed in a Kenneth Zohore chip while Mendez-Laing confirmed he would be getting the man of the match award when he was able to curl the ball into the top corner. It finished off a great performance by the team which show Cardiff could be a contender this season rather than Villa.
This win has put Cardiff at the top of the Championship and will hope to hold onto that place with a win in their next game against Sheffield United. Aston Villa will want to bounce back when they face Reading next time.
