Omer Riza sums up overriding sense of relief as Cardiff finally win

Caretaker Cardiff manager Omer Riza summed up the overriding sense of relief after ending the worst league start in the club’s 125-year history.

Championship basement boys Cardiff won their first league game of the season at the eighth attempt with a 1-0 win over Millwall at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Perry Ng scored only the third league goal of the season for Cardiff, who are now bottom of the table only on goal difference behind Portsmouth.

“The main feeling is relief. When you haven’t won a game in seven, it’s frustrating, it’s disappointing for the fans, the club, players, staff,” said Riza.

“To get that win today against a team that’s so hard to play against, we had to match that. The boys were solid and dealt with a lot of problems.

“We managed to get that goal, hold on and come away with the three points so I’m really happy.

“We haven’t had much time to work on things because we’ve got three games in seven days.

“Attacking-wise, we got bodies forward and got in good positions and, defensively, we were more robust. We had to be that against this team and we got the result.”

🗣 "We fought them for the whole game. We got bodies forward again and got in good positions, but it was more about being defensively robust."

Omer Riza spoke to the press after tonight's victory 👇#CityAsOne

— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) October 1, 2024

This was Riza’s second game in charge since taking over following the sacking of Erol Bulut last month and the first-team coach says he wants the job on a permanent basis.

“I’ve said I want to be a head coach and this is a great club and a great opportunity with a great fan base. And I think there’s more to come.

“It’s great to get my first three points in the Championship but I haven’t heard anything about the job, only what you hear and read, which can be difficult at times.

“But it’s about remaining positive, making sure the boys are ready and the team is ready and we approach every game like we want to win it. That’s a professional way of acting.”

It was a bitterly disappointing night for Millwall, who had lost just one of their previous five games.

In a game of few chances, Romain Esse had a header cleared off the line in the first half before Duncan Watmore was denied by Jak Alnwick in injury time.

“I’m disappointed because that was our worst league performance of the season. It was poor,” Neil Harris said.

“We’ve got a small squad with a lot of young lads and we’ve asked a lot of them because we can’t make wholesale changes but that’s the first time we haven’t hit the level needed.

“Cardiff were the lowest-performing and lowest-scoring team in the division but we massively helped them. If you’re not going to be fluid enough to break them down and win the game, then at least don’t lose it by conceding from a set-piece.”

MORE:Bottom club Cardiff win first game of the season against Millwall