Cardiff City vs Wrexham

Right. Where do we even start with this one.

Cardiff City versus Wrexham. Monday night. The Championship. A Welsh derby with actual stakes now that the Red Dragons have made it to the second tier. And what did we get? Eighteen shots from Wrexham. Eight on target. Two hits of the woodwork. A goal scorer who also picked up a yellow card. And Cardiff, somehow, nicking a draw in the 90th minute. Scenes. Absolute scenes.

Wrexham Start Like A Train

Three minutes. Three. That is how long it took Wrexham to take the lead. A right foot shot, clinical, and suddenly Cardiff were behind almost before they had touched the ball. The assist came from the same player who would later receive a yellow card in the 33rd minute for a foul, which tells you everything about the kind of night it was for that particular Wrexham man. Bright start, scrappy middle, and eventually hooked off in the 72nd minute after the second Wrexham card of the evening had already landed on a different player in the 54th.

Wrexham were lively, aggressive, and very direct. They ended the game with 51 long passes. Cardiff had 42. Wrexham were not trying to keep it and play pretty. They were hunting. And for large chunks of this game, it worked.

Cardiff Had The Ball. Wrexham Had The Shots. Work That One Out.

Here is the bit that will do your head in. Cardiff had 67 percent of the ball. Five hundred and forty-two passes to Wrexham's 259. They were completing 89 percent of them too, nice and tidy, very comfortable on the ball at home.

And yet Wrexham had 18 shots to Cardiff's 11. Wrexham had 8 shots on target to Cardiff's 3. Wrexham had 12 shots inside the box to Cardiff's 7. Cardiff keeper made 7 saves. The Wrexham keeper made 2.

Look at those numbers again. Cardiff had twice the ball, twice the passes, but were getting peppered. Wrexham sat in, let Cardiff have it, and then absolutely flew at them on the break. Their 14 key passes to Cardiff's 7 tells that story perfectly. Cardiff were creating fewer dangerous situations despite hogging possession all night. Wrexham were doing far more with far less.

I actually looked at the numbers for once and even I could see it. Cardiff's dangerous attacks totalled 80. Wrexham's were 43. But dangerous attacks do not always mean quality chances, do they. Cardiff were knocking on the door constantly but not really threatening to break it down. Wrexham were waiting, then sprinting through the gaps.

It is a proper old Championship away performance from Wrexham, if we are being honest. Sit in, stay solid, hit on the counter. Classic stuff.

The Woodwork. Oh, The Woodwork.

Wrexham hit the woodwork twice. Cardiff once. Three times in total this game teased us before the ball came back out. On another night this finishes 3-1 to Wrexham and everyone is talking about what a statement performance it was. Instead we are sat here with a 1-1 and a Cardiff supporter absolutely losing his mind in the 90th minute.

Honestly, that woodwork count is one of those things that sounds like a footnote but completely changes the conversation. If even one of those goes in, Cardiff are chasing two goals late on instead of one. The game looks completely different.

Cardiff's Subs Change Everything

Cardiff made their first two changes in the 62nd and 63rd minute. Double substitution, manager clearly not happy with what he was seeing going forward. And fair enough. Three shots on target at that point, one coming your way from the keeper's perspective.

Then in the 80th minute, three more Cardiff changes at once. Maximum disruption. Fresh legs everywhere.

And then... the 90th minute. One of the 62nd minute subs, who came on for Cardiff, scored. Right foot shot. No assist recorded. Just a man who had been on the pitch for 28 minutes deciding that tonight was his night. Cardiff fans going absolutely mental. Limbs everywhere, I would imagine.

Wrexham had made five changes of their own between the 67th and 75th minute, including taking off both the goalscorer and the player who assisted the opener. Fresh energy all over the pitch from both sides in the final quarter. But it was Cardiff's sub who had the last word.

The Bigger Picture For Both Clubs

Look at the fixtures Cardiff have had recently and the home form is strong. Three wins, a draw, and one loss in the last five at home. Clean sheets in 60 percent of those home games. They are a proper unit at Cardiff City Stadium and Wrexham came and made it very uncomfortable for them tonight.

For Wrexham, the away form data shows a mixed picture. Two wins, one draw, two losses in their last five away games in the league they were playing in before this one. Goals going in at both ends regularly, 60 percent BTTS in those away games. Tonight felt like a continuation of that trend. Wrexham score, things happen, it ends with both sides on the scoresheet.

This is Wrexham's first season in the Championship. Coming to Cardiff on a Monday night, going 1-0 up in three minutes, and leaving with a point? That is not a bad result. It will sting because they had more than enough to win it. But they will have learned things about themselves tonight that will matter later in the season.

Cardiff will take the point. They were second best for large portions of the game and they know it. Seven saves from their keeper, riding their luck at times, before one moment of quality from the bench saved their evening.

The Verdict

A proper Monday night Championship game, this. Tactical, physical, dramatic. Wrexham were the better team. Cardiff got the better result, or at least matched it. The stat that will haunt Wrexham is simple. Eighteen shots. Two goals hit the woodwork. Two big chances missed. And they still only got one goal.

You heard it here first: if Wrexham sort out their finishing, they are going to cause problems in this league. Don't @ me.