Football League round-up
It’s now six wins from six starts for Craig Bellamy at Cardiff. The influential Welshman’s return to fitness has coincided with a five match winning streak which has lifted the Bluebirds to the Championship summit for the first time this season.
Despite Bellamy’s obvious influence on the team, it was goals from Peter Wittingham, Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra that saw off a spirited Norwich side 3-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday. Whittingham especially has been in inspired form over the past few weeks, revelling in his new role as the playmaker from midfield, with Bellamy taking over his familiar left wing role, and picking up the man-of-the-match award for his eye-catching display against the Canaries.
The former Aston Villa midfielder is well aware that the pressure is now on the team to deliver at a more consistent level now they have taken top spot off long time leaders QPR.
“There’s always that little bit in the back of your mind that you know you are top of the league,” Whittingham told BBC Wales.
“But we are a good team and we’ve got a good squad. It’s just a matter of us keeping it going now and hopefully this run will continue and we can start to pull away.
“The lads are high on confidence and I think that showed in the first 25 minutes against Norwich. We were at them and obviously we let it slip for a little while.”
Cardiff replaced Rangers at the top following their 1-1 draw against Burnley. Much like the unexpected showers that soaked Loftus Road on a sun-drenched day in west London, QPR's sloppy home performance against Burnley came from nowhere. Rangers had previously been eye-catchingly slick at home. They were unbeaten with no goals conceded, but they showed signs of tiredness as Burnley more than matched them to register a well-deserved point. Adel Taarabt gave the hosts the lead with a fantastic strike from 25-yards, but Graham Alexander converted his 75th penalty of his career to equalise on the stroke of half-time for the Clarets.
In the lower reaches of the table, Tony Mowbray failed to kick-start Middlesbrough's season as they slipped into the bottom two courtesy of a 2-1 defeat against Bristol City. Marvin Elliot grabbed a well-taken winner for the visitors as Boro continue to frustrate their followers.
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