By Sam Hill
Cardiff City underlined their champions-elect status, as they swept aside Barnsley 4-0 in a relentless display.
A blistering start, capped by Perry Ng’s stunning half-volley inside two minutes set the tone for a dominant evening, with Chris Willock striking twice and makeshift centre-forward Omari Kellyman also getting on the scoresheet.
This marked nine victories in 10 league games for the Bluebirds on home soil and moved them 10 points clear of Bolton Wanderers in third place.
Following their opening goal, the hosts continued to hold possession for large periods and create chances at will, with the Tykes struggling to cope at times.
Ollie Tanner remained a constant thorn in the side of the visitors, consistently beatingJack Shepherd and sending dangerous deliveries across the face of goal.
After 20 minutes Barnsley goalkeeper Owen Goodman went down to receive treatment after a suspected injury.
A growing trend in football, as the team on the back foot chose to stop play through the goalkeeper to receive further tactical instructions from their coaches.
To add further troubles for the visitors, their most in-form forward Reyes Cleary was forced off after just half an hour with injury. He was replaced by defender Nathanael Ogbeta in a tactical switch to a back 5 from Conor Hourihane.
After 35 minutes the visitors registered their first shot of the game when Davis Keillor-Dunn sent a rasping long-range effort towards goal but was denied his twelfth league goal of the season in a smart fingertip save from Nathan Trott.
On the stroke of half-time, Chris Willock doubled the Bluebirds advantage with a controlled finish into the bottom right corner after beating Tennai Watson on the inside.
Despite the Bluebirds dominance, Brian Barry-Murphy opted to make a half-time substitution with David Turnbull replacing Alex Robertson in central midfield. Not for the first time, Robertson has been substituted early in a contest with concerns over his discipline in games evident once again.
In the second half, the momentum and control only grew for the league leaders. They began moving the ball with added confidence and Barnsley struggled to cope with the rise in intensity.
The visitors made their first substitution on the hour mark with Welshman Vimal Yoganathan replaced by fellow Welsh compatriot Jonathan Bland in a midfield straight swap.
Turnbull sprayed a left-footed pass into the path of Willock who cut inside once more and sent a perfectly weighted pass into centre-forward Kellyman who slotted home the Bluebird’s third goal.
The final nail for Hourihane’s side came in the sixty-ninth minute when Willock pounced on a loose ball from the Barnsley midfield, before getting the better of Watson once again and chipping Goodman to land his second goal of the evening.
There was no let up for the visitors at that point with Barry-Murphy sending on a trio of forwards in Cian Ashford, Callum Robinson and Isaak Davies after the fourth goal to replace Kellyman, Tanner and Joel Colwill in another positive move.
Despite a raft of further chances coming, Barnsley will be relieved it remained just the four as the intensity from the Welsh side remained relentless right until the final whistle.