Aitor Karanka was left wondering what might have been after Middlesbrough fired blanks for the third Championship game in a row. In the end, they left south Wales with precisely nothing after George Friend put through his own goal in the 87th minute.
Having come into the game without a goal since the defeat of Leeds United in late September, Middlesbrough created enough chances to have won the game long before Friend’s late misfortune.
Albert Adomah’s first-half header was well saved by David Marshall, who then denied Diego Fabbrini and Grant Leadbitter after the interval. However, the best chance of the night, once again fell to Adomah after a mix-up in the Cardiff back four.
The former Bristol City winger swept into the penalty area, but was once again denied by Marshall.
Then, as if to rub salt into a gaping wound, a hurried clearance in the Middlesbrough box connected with Friend and flew into the top corner.
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“We dominated the game in the second half and we had plenty of opportunities,” Karanka, whose side are now sixth, seven points off leaders Brighton, said.
“But we couldn’t score again. It’s difficult to understand why we are not scoring when you see the players we have on the field.”
Cardiff rode their luck at times, and made one or two basic errors that on another night, might have cost them. Still, there were performances of note from Fabio da Silva, Joe Mason and Peter Whittingham, and the endeavour of Alex Revell and Aron Gunnarsson, kept Middlesbrough honest from start to finish.
Russell Slade, the Cardiff manager, said: “It was a question of staying focused for the whole 90 minutes, which is something we have said is vitally important.
“We did that and to be honest, the goal was probably the first time this season that we’ve had a bit of luck.”
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Cardiff remain just outside the play-off places, but if they continue to show the same desire and fight as they did for much of this typically competitive Championship contest, they could find themselves challenging for a place in the top six.
“We move on now and we’ve got a very tough game against Bristol City next Monday. That’s the next challenge for us,” Slade added.
Cardiff City (4-4-2) D Marshall — L Peltier, S Morrison, M Connolly, Fabio Da Silva — C Noone, K Dikgacoi, A Gunnarsson (sub: S O’Keefe, 80min), P Whittingham — A Revell (sub: S Ameobi, 76), J Mason (sub: S Malone, 90).
Substitutes not used: S Moore, A Pilkington, G Tamas, M Kennedy. Booked: Gunnarsson, Noone.
Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1) D Konstantopoulos — T Kalas, D Ayala, F Amorebieta, G Friend — A Clayton, G Leadbitter (sub: A Forshaw, 80) — A Adomah (sub: Kike, 89), D Fabbrini (sub: E Nsue, 84), S Downing — D Nugent.
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Substitutes not used: T Mejias, B Gibson, C de Peña, J Stephens. Booked: Ayala, Clayton.
Referee: D Whitestone.