By Gareth James

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza branded his players’ efforts as “terrible” as his first match in permanent charge ended with a demoralising 2-0 home defeat to Preston North End.

Having been confirmed as the man to guide the club at least until the end of the season, Riza was looking for a statement from his side that they could move on from recent uncertainty.

Instead, the Bluebirds showed the sense of drift the club has allowed to occur cannot be so easily shrugged off, just because their boss has been given a new deal.

The lifeless display from Riza’s men allowed Preston to finally pick up their first away win in the Championship at the 10th attempt as they went home with all three points from Cardiff City Stadium.

Omer’s post-match press conference is available to watch on @CardiffCityTV. ⬇️#CityAsOne

— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) December 11, 2024

An own goal by Cardiff defender Calum Chambers two minutes into the second half gave the visitors the lead before Montenegrin Milutin Osmajik rounded things off in the third minute of added time.

“I don’t think we showed quality in possession, when we were on the ball we were untidy with it,” admitted Riza.

“They lacked quality today, the intensity was not good enough and too many players were waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen.

“The drive has to be there, desire, hunger… all the things we are when we are young and coming through need to be there and it was terrible today.

“For me, it was nowhere near it. Nowhere near the performance you need to be at, at Championship level. Flat. No desire. Lack of quality. Not good enough. Nowhere near good enough.

“We can’t keep going this way, it’s not good enough.

“You win a couple and you’re back out of problems, you lose a couple and you’re back in problems.

“You look at the table at this time (of the season) and you’ll drive yourself crazy. It’s about performances and winning games and we did neither today.

Preston North End win their first Championship game in 11 matches with a 2-0 victory at the Cardiff City Stadium. #BBCFootball #CCFC pic.twitter.com/POFZGjaezC

— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) December 11, 2024

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom said: “It’s all about the result when we’ve been playing the way we have been.

“You have to win when you’re not at your best and I’m really pleased with that.

“That’s not one of our most dominant performances, we know we can play better than that.

“But to get a clean sheet and two goals is so important, and we had some real experience on the bench to help us see the game out.”

In a game involving two teams down on their luck – Cardiff hadn’t won in their last five games and Preston their last nine – it was always going to be a cagey affair and it was Cardiff old boy Josh Bowler who injected some life into the game out on the right wing for the visitors.

After Yakou Meite had fired in a shot in the second minute, Bowler forced former teammate Jak Alnwick into a fifth minute save after cutting in from his wing. From the corner Liam Lindsey headed back across goal from the back post and it only required a touch to open the scoring.

If that was a near miss for Preston, they had another chance when Bowler brought another save out of Alnwick.

At the other end, Meite shot just past the near post after running into the box and then thought he had broken the deadlock in the 36th minute when he was set free in front of goal by a neat pass from Callum Robinson after he had weaved his way into the box.

Meite guided the ball past Freddie Woodman in the Preston goal, but Jordan Storey was back on the line to just manage to scoop the ball away from the goal and into the arms of a relieved Woodman.

Preston conjured up two more chances just before the breaks, but both Mads Frokjaer-Jensen and Sam Greenwood fired wide.

The second half got off to a flying start with Frokjaer-Jensen threading his way into the box and getting off a shot that took a double deflection before beating Alnwick off the unfortunate Chambers.

Omer Riza gets Cardiff City Job . . . But Only Until End Of Season

That gave Preston the lead two minutes into the second half, although they had to thank Jack Whatmough for hanging onto it six minutes later when he headed a Perry Ng back post header off the line after a deep cross by Callum O’Dowda.

That was as good as it got for the Bluebirds, who were hoping to celebrate the announcement last week that interim boss Riza had had his role extended to the rest of the season.

As they went all out to try to find an equaliser they were caught out at the back.

Osmajik picked the pocket of the final defender, rounded Alnwick and then found the back of the net from the narrowest of angles.