It was a second away defeat in a row for Rovers as they were turned over by a blockbuster shot from Mark Harris to give The Bluebirds their third home win of the season at The Cardiff City Stadium.
Rovers returned to 4 at the back for the away tie with 3 changes being made to the starting XI. Callum Brittain and Sam Szmodics returned to the squad for the first time since their injuries, John Buckley also returned into the starting line-up for the fixture.
Cardiff made 2 changes to their 4-4-2 formation with Romaine Sawyers and Andy Rinomhota coming into the Bluebirds starting XI.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw the usual high attacking press from Rovers, giving Cardiff little time to pass the ball around the back in hope they would make a mistake. However, no chances were created until the 13th minute with Callum Robinsons shot being blocked away by Dom Hyam. Cardiff settled into the game and took control with chances from Robinson and Callum O’Dowda coming in the opening 25 minutes.
Rovers got their first major chance of the game in the 27th minute when a mistake in the Cardiff City defence gave Tyrhys Dolan the ball who had an easy through ball to Ryan Hedges to send him one on one with the keeper. However, the England U20 decided to shoot from distance to try and catch Ryan Allsop out who was off his line, failing and sending the shot over the bar.
Cardiff won a free kick just outside the penalty area five minutes before halftime, however the free kick was sent just wide by Callum Robinson. The game was goalless at the break with big improvement needed by Rovers in the second half.
Rovers had a big chance to take the lead 3 minutes into the second half as Tyrhys Dolan skipped past the Cardiff defence on the right putting a perfect ball into Sammie Szmodics who's poorly taken shot was saved by Allsop.
Despite the early second half chance, Cardiff again grew into the game with several chances being wasted by the home side whilst controlling the game. An excellent challenge from Dani Ayala stopped Callum Robinson from opening the scoring in the 65th minute whilst several efforts were also easily stopped by Thomas Kaminski.
By the 80th minute the game looked to be heading goalless with both sides looking wasteful in front of goal despite Cardiff being the better side. However, out of nowhere Mark Harris fired Cardiff into the lead with an excellent strike leaving Thomas Kaminski no chance, giving Cardiff a deserved lead.
Despite a very poor performance, Rovers pushed for an equaliser with Tyler Morton gifting an excellent ball forward to Bradley Dack whose poor touch took it away from him. A dramatic end was on the horizon with Rovers carrying on pushing forward.
Blackburn had the ball in the back of the net in the 93rd minute however the referee had already called a penalty for a foul from the goalkeeper Allsop to Hyam. Rovers should've had an equaliser as the referee didn’t play an advantage after blowing for the penalty. George Hirst missed the penalty, sending the Cardiff fans into bedlam and earning them a deserved home victory for the first time since August 13th. For Rovers however, the inconsistency continues.
Attendance: 16,150