Cardiff City 1 Burnley 2: Profligate hosts slip to fourth successive defeat

Cardiff City were made to rue their wastefulness in front of goal as they slumped to a fourth successive Premier League defeat courtesy of a 2-1 home reverse to Burnley.

Neil Warnock's men came into the match on the back of games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, and although there were flashes of promise, they paid the price for their profligacy.

Cardiff were vastly superior in the first period without capitalising and were duly punished after the break when Burnley took the lead through Johann Gudmundsson's header.

The home side kept their focus and deservedly levelled through Josh Murphy at the end of a fine move, but Burnley rallied and ultimately consigned Cardiff to another defeat through Sam Vokes' winner 20 minutes from time.

Despite their recent woes, Cardiff began the encounter brightly and an early Callum Paterson pass across the face of goal caused panic, but Josh Murphy could not reach it.

The former Norwich City youngster did go close in the 17th minute, playing a one-two with Greg Cunningham before hitting the post from a tight angle.

Burnley found themselves clinging on by half-time, with Kenneth Zohore forcing Joe Hart into a smart save, before Paterson saw a close-range header cleared in front of the goal-line by Matej Vydra.

Sean Dyche's men took the lead against the run of play five minutes into the second half, as Gudmundsson rose above Greg Cunningham to beat Neil Etheridge with a header at his near post.

But just nine minutes later, Cardiff were level – Murphy slamming home from 16 yards after Bruno Ecuele Manga's pin-point cut-back.

Parity did not remain, however, and Burnley left with all three points as Vokes steered a header into the bottom-right corner from Gudmundsson's cross in the 70th minute.

What it means: Burnley finding their feet again

Burnley started the season with a draw and four consecutive defeats in the league, with their brief Europa League exploits perhaps explaining their difficult start. But, after a 4-0 win over Bournemouth last time and Sunday's character-affirming triumph in Wales, Dyche's side look to be getting back to their usual selves.

Murphy a livewire

Cardiff have had difficulty as an attacking threat so far this term, but they at least looked bright on occasion against Burnley and Murphy was vital to that. The winger was a decent outlet on the left, with his pace causing problems and he looked the most threatening around the visitors' goal, hitting the post in the first half before getting a deserved goal after the break.

Lowton the weak link

Murphy was Cardiff's best attacking threat, though there can be little doubt that was partly down to him being up against Matt Lowton, who had immense difficulty keeping up with the former Norwich City youngster.

What's next?

Burnley face another struggling side next Saturday as they host winless Huddersfield Town, while Cardiff travel to Tottenham on the same day.