If Cardiff City are going to emerge as promotion dark horses this season, then more flashes of brilliance from Kenneth Zohore will surely be key to them doing so.
The Danish Under-21 international has shot to goalscoring prominence since Neil Warnock breezed into the South Wales club 10 months ago and he produced a stunning left-foot finish to break Burton Albion’s brave resistance in their Championship opener.
Zohore, who scored 12 times in Cardiff’s revival under Warnock last season and then added two more at the European Under-21 Championship in the summer, struck three minutes from time to claim a victory they thoroughly deserved on the balance of play.
That they were able to turn their second-half dominance into three points was due in some way to the positive substitutions Warnock made shortly after the break, with Cardiff’s manager stating: “Isn’t it nice to have a bench with which you can change a game?
“I tried to be positive with my changes because I wanted us to win the game and I thought at half-time we had to do more going forwards. I thought we were very, very good second half because this is a difficult place. I couldn’t really have asked much more from the team.”
Advertisement
Nigel Clough, the Burton manager, still hopes to make further additions to help his side defy the odds again. “It’s quality we’re after,” he admitted. “You saw that quality wins the game here. We have bags of effort, endeavour and honesty. Sometimes you need that bit of quality.”
Operating on limited resources, Clough was dealt two big blows before the campaign got under way with the loss of record-signing Liam Boyce to an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury coming on top of the prolonged absence of Ben Turner due to a five-match suspension for racial abuse.
The Brewers had to show plenty of resilience in the face of early Cardiff pressure and were relieved that the assistant referee’s flag ruled Zohore offside when he squeezed his close-range finish past Stephen Bywater after being picked out by Joe Bennett’s left-wing cross.
Though Cardiff were given some warning signs of the threat from Lloyd Dyer and Lucas Akins’ pace, they continued to carry more menace pushing forwards, but Zohore got his angles all wrong with a far-post header when Aron Gunnarsson swung a deep cross into Burton’s box.
Both sides carved out excellent opportunities in the closing stages of the first half as Zohore somehow planted his shot wide of Bywater’s right-hand post after being sent clear by Gunnarsson before Sol Bamba produced a crucial block at the other end to prevent Marvin Sordell putting the finishing touch to Dyer’s penetrating run into the box.
Advertisement
Bamba was in the thick of the action at the other end immediately after the restart as Cardiff went close to breaking the deadlock on two occasions in quick succession. Initially, Junior Hoilett saw his shot deflected wide after a neat link-up with Lee Tomlin before Bamba met Joe Ralls’ resulting corner with a far-post volley that Bywater somehow managed to keep out with his head.
If the Burton goalkeeper was a little dazed after that blow, he had recovered sufficiently to save a header from Bamba in Cardiff’s next foray forwards.
Burton were now having to withstand intense pressure from Warnock’s side who were aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty when Zohore appeared to be impeded as he rose to meet a cross whipped in from the left by Hoilett. Cardiff’s dominance eventually brought its reward as Zohore unleased his long-range effort and, for once, Bywater was left helpless.
Star man: Stephen Bywater (Burton)
Yellow cards: Burton: McFadzean
Referee: G Eltringham
Attendance: 5,050