Player ratings and match stats from Rotherham United 0 Cardiff City 3
Paul Davis gives his verdict on League One proceedings at AESSEAL New York Stadium this afternoon as the Millers failed to do themselves any kind of justice against League One leaders Cardiff City.
Millers (3-5-2)
Cameron Dawson: 6
Made a good save in the first half and was generally sound.
Emmanuel Adeboyega: 4
Between them, he and Joe Rafferty never got to grips with the left-wing threat of Joe Willock who caused all kinds of problems.
Zak Jules: 4
Has a tendency to shrink into himself when the going gets tough. The Millers needed the opposite of that against quality opposition. Jamal Baptiste: 6
Total commitment on a day when no Millers man did himself justice. He was one of the better performers.
Joe Rafferty: 4
Out of his comfort zone at wing-back rather than being in the backline. Taken off at the break.
Kian Spence: 6
Some good moments. Won the ball well, didn't use it quite as well. Covered a lot of ground.
Shaun McWilliams: 4
Arguably his poorest display in a Millers shirt. His touch was off and so was his passing. Didn't do enough to stop Cardiff playing.
Joe Powell: 5
Hampered by injury and had to come off. Had done a couple of good things without being at his best up to that point.
Reece James: 6
Delivered a number of crosses and rarely lost possession. Not the strongest defensively.
Sam Nombe: 5
Not the super Sam we've become accustomed to this season. His quietest display since a poor afternoon at Stevenage back in August.
Harry Gray: 6
Maybe the game would have been different had he taken that chance late in the first half rather than shooting too close to the goalkeeper. Quiet in spells, lively in others. Not his day, but the boy can play.
The subs
Ar'Jany Martha (for Powell H-T): 3
Hard to think of any telling contribution that he made. This wasn't the form of a player heading to the World Cup.
Brandon Cover (for Rafferty H-T): 6
Didn't set New York alight on his debut yet there were still some encouraging signs that he can run, tackle and look after the ball.
Gabriele Biancheri (for Adegboyega 65): 6
One or two penalty-box flashes from the new boy. However, this wasn't the best game for a teenager to be making his first senior appearance.
Dru Yearwood (for Spence 74): NA
Steady. Average. Didn't improve Rotherham, but didn't adversely affect them either.
Duncan Watmore (for Gray 90+2): NA
On too late to have any impact in his first outing for the club.
Not used: Ted Cann, Lenny Agbaire.
Cardiff (4-1-4-1): Nathan Trott 7; Perry Ng 8, Will Fish 8, Gabriel Osho 8 (Calum Chambers 90), Joel Bagan 8, Ryan Wintle 5; Ollie Tanner 7 (Isaak Davies 76), Joel Colwill 8, Alex Robertson 8 (Ronan Kpakio 76), Chris Willock 9 (Cian Ashford 64, 6); Omari Kellyman 8 (David Turnbull 64, 6). Subs not used: Calum Scanlon, Callum Robinson.
Goals: Kellyman 42, Willock 58, Davies 90+5 (Cardiff)
Red card: Wintle 20 (Cardiff)
Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge (Tyne and Wear)
Attendance: 8,786 (1,395)
Opposition view
“I thought that from the first minute we were intent on playing our game and we continued to do that with 10 men. I didn't have any doubts that we would. We reminded the players at half-time how well we were playing, how dominant we were and told them not to take a step back at any time.
“The players were true to that. They continued to attack at every chance and scored some good goals for our supporters who travelled in extraordinary numbers again. I was really pleased with the impact off the bench, too. It was a real collective effort.”
- Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy
The stats
Possession: Millers 52 per cent, Cardiff 48
Goal attempts: Millers 10, Cardiff 15
On target: Millers 1, Cardiff 6
Touches in opposition box: Millers 17, Cardiff 26
Corners: Millers 5, Cardiff 5
Fouls committed: Millers 13, Cardiff 8
Final word
A team in development playing as badly as it could against a team going up playing as well as it can. Only one outcome. It looked like the Millers had 10 men, not the Bluebirds.