Cardiff City 1-0 Fulham

Sean Morrison's fifth league goal of the season gave Cardiff victory

Cardiff marked their return to their traditional blue kit by beating Fulham at a jubilant Cardiff City Stadium.

There had been fears the game would be delayed when strong winds damaged the roof of the Ninian Stand.

But the match kicked off on time and Sean Morrison headed in from Aron Gunnarsson's long throw to give Cardiff a scrappy 1-0 half-time lead.

Cardiff were untroubled in a second period low on quality and incident, as they sealed a first league win in six.

The return to blue - two-and-a-half years after Malaysian owner Vincent Tan controversially changed their home strip to red to increase their international appeal in Asia - inspired a stirring atmosphere at Cardiff City Stadium, unrecognisable from the discontent of recent fixtures.

Cardiff's last home match, a 3-1 FA Cup win over Colchester, was watched by only 4,194 fans, the venue's lowest attendance since it opened in 2009.

That result at least broke a sequence of five matches without a win, and Cardiff looked on course for a first league victory since November when Morrison headed them in front against Fulham.

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Symons on Cardiff v Fulham

From Gunnarsson's long throw, the centre-back's header was half-saved by Marcus Bettinelli before looping over the line.

Morrison was close to claiming a second soon afterwards, but his first-time effort from a tight angle was cleared off the line by Kostas Stafylidis.

Former Cardiff forward Ross McCormack was Fulham's most prominent attacking threat, curling one effort narrowly over shortly before half-time and hitting a free-kick straight at Simon Moore after an hour.

Cardiff brought on new striker Alex Revell in the second half - their second debutant of the match alongside left-back Scott Malone - but chances were scarce.

An uneventful end suited the hosts, as they celebrated their return to blue and consigned Fulham to a third successive league defeat.

Cardiff manager Russell Slade:

"It was an enormous result for us. It was just staying in control because it was a big day for the football club and not let the occasion get to the players.

"Whether we scored the first goal or didn't score the first goal, I felt they would stay behind us anyway.

"That's a huge difference when you've got the 12th man out there, keeping you going.

Fulham manager Kit Symons:

"It was always going to be hard for us coming here because that decision gave everyone at Cardiff City a lift. I came here two weeks ago to watch them against Watford and the atmosphere was very different.

"We had good possession but didn't create enough clear-cut opportunities for all the ball we had. We had excellent possession and good periods with the ball.

"We've got creative players and we made changes to bring on more creative players to get forward."

Cardiff returned to their traditional blue after owner Vincent Tan's controversial change to red

Cardiff fans left no doubt as to their preferred choice of colour

The match at the Cardiff City Stadium was in doubt after strong winds damaged part of a stand

Repairs were required to the roof of the Ninian Stand but the match was able to begin on time

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Cardiff

• 33Moore
• 2Brayford
• 36Morrison
• 6Turner
• 4MaloneSubstituted forJohnat 81'minutes
• 18Adeyemi
• 17Gunnarsson
• 7Whittingham
• 11Noone
• 9JonesSubstituted forRevellat 45'minutes
• 10Le FondreSubstituted forK Harrisat 90+2'minutes

Substitutes

• 12John
• 13Kim
• 16Connolly
• 21Ralls
• 29Revell
• 40K Harris
• 42Wilson

Fulham

• 40Bettinelli
• 37Grimmer
• 4HutchinsonBooked at 6mins
• 6Bodurov
• 3Stafylidis
• 8Parker
• 12FofanaSubstituted forKavanaghat 61'minutes
• 19Tunnicliffe
• 44McCormack
• 20RodallegaSubstituted forDembeleat 73'minutes
• 16WoodrowSubstituted forKacaniklicat 61'minutes

Substitutes

• 1Kiraly
• 11Kacaniklic
• 14Roberts
• 25Dembele
• 27Williams
• 32Kavanagh
• 33Burn

Referee:

Nigel Miller

Attendance:

22,515

Match Stats

Home TeamCardiffAway TeamFulham

Possession

Home37%

Away63%

Shots

Home19

Away7

Shots on Target

Home4

Away2

Corners

Home4

Away6

Fouls

Home8

Away9

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Cardiff City 1, Fulham 0.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+4'

Second Half ends, Cardiff City 1, Fulham 0.

Posted at 90'+3'

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by John Brayford.

Posted at 90'+3'

Attempt blocked. Alexander Kacaniklic (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

Substitution

Posted at 90'+2'

Substitution, Cardiff City. Kadeem Harris replaces Adam Le Fondre.

Posted at 90'

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Ben Turner.

Posted at 89'

Nikolay Bodurov (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 89'

Foul by Alex Revell (Cardiff City).

Posted at 88'

Alexander Kacaniklic (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 88'

Foul by Aron Gunnarsson (Cardiff City).

Posted at 85'

Foul by Jack Grimmer (Fulham).

Posted at 85'

Adam Le Fondre (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 85'

Offside, Cardiff City. Aron Gunnarsson tries a through ball, but Alex Revell is caught offside.

Posted at 84'

Attempt missed. Peter Whittingham (Cardiff City) left footed shot from long range on the right is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by John Brayford.

Posted at 84'

Attempt missed. Sean Morrison (Cardiff City) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Peter Whittingham with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 83'

Corner, Cardiff City. Conceded by Konstantinos Stafylidis.

Posted at 82'

Foul by Shaun Hutchinson (Fulham).

Posted at 82'

Alex Revell (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Substitution

Posted at 81'

Substitution, Cardiff City. Declan John replaces Scott Malone.

Posted at 79'

Attempt missed. Adam Le Fondre (Cardiff City) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Tom Adeyemi with a cross.

Posted at 75'

Attempt saved. Nikolay Bodurov (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Sean Kavanagh with a cross.

Posted at 75'

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Aron Gunnarsson.

Posted at 74'

Alexander Kacaniklic (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 74'

Foul by Craig Noone (Cardiff City).

Substitution

Posted at 73'

Substitution, Fulham. Moussa Dembele replaces Hugo Rodallega.

Posted at 72'

Attempt blocked. Craig Noone (Cardiff City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aron Gunnarsson.

Posted at 71'

Scott Parker (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 71'

Foul by Alex Revell (Cardiff City).

Posted at 70'

Attempt missed. Hugo Rodallega (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Sean Kavanagh.

Posted at 67'

Corner, Cardiff City. Conceded by Shaun Hutchinson.

Posted at 67'

Attempt blocked. Peter Whittingham (Cardiff City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Adam Le Fondre.

Posted at 66'

Foul by Hugo Rodallega (Fulham).

Posted at 66'

Sean Morrison (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 66'

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Scott Malone.

Substitution

Posted at 61'

Substitution, Fulham. Sean Kavanagh replaces Seko Fofana.

Substitution

Posted at 61'

Substitution, Fulham. Alexander Kacaniklic replaces Cauley Woodrow.

Posted at 61'

Attempt missed. John Brayford (Cardiff City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Alex Revell.

Posted at 60'

Attempt saved. Ross McCormack (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

Posted at 59'

Ross McCormack (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 59'

Foul by Peter Whittingham (Cardiff City).

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