Ojo propels Cardiff City past Ladapo’s Rotherham United

Sheyi Ojo opened scoring for Cardiff City in Tuesday’s 2-1 Championship victory over Rotherham United.

Having silenced Bristol City their last time, Mick McCarthy’s men travelled to the New York Stadium with the aspiration of extending their impressive away form.

In the keenly-contested fixture, they enjoyed a bright start with Ojo and Kieffer Moore combining effectively to cause a moment of panic for the hosts.

Few minutes later, Rotherham settled into the contest and began to dominate ball possession. Curtis Nelson planned his tackle on Matt Crooks carefully to extinguish an attack, while English forward Michael Smith tested goalkeeper Dillon Phillips on two occasions.

Looking like the first half would end in a no winner, no vanquished note, Ojo put the visiting team ahead in the 42nd minute thanks to an assist from Harry Wilson.

After battling splendidly at the back, Wilson picked up a loose ball and teed up the 23-year-old through on the halfway line. The English winger of Nigerian descent raced towards goal unopposed before showing first-rate composure to beat goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.

A minute after the hour mark, the Millers were back on level terms through Matt Crooks – turning home an inch-perfect cross from Smith.

As the game progressed, weather conditions declined with heavy snow calling for the change to a yellow ball. That did not deter both teams as they pushed harder in their quest to seal all maximum points.

Five minutes to full time, nevertheless, Joseph Bennett had the final say after turning home Josh Murphy’s superb left-footed cross.

Ojo was in action for 53 minutes before he was replaced by Murphy. As expected, Cote d’Ivoire defender Sol Bamba and English full back of Ghanaian background Jordi Osei-Tutu were not available for selection owing to their injury setbacks.

For Rotherham, Nigeria prospect Michael Ihiekwe was on parade from start to finish for Paul Warne’s team , while his compatriot Freddie Ladapo was introduced for Daniel Barlaser in the 81st minute.

With this win, Cardiff moved to 11th in the Championship log having garnered 37 points from 28 games. Whereas, defeat places Rotterham United in the 20th position with 29 points from 27 outings.