Rotherham United 1 Cardiff City 2: More cruel late-season pain against Bluebirds as Millers left to sweat it out

Back in May 2021, these same opponents met - this time in the Principality - on the final day.

An 88th-minute equaliser from Bluebirds midfielder Marlon Pack brutally condemned the Millers to relegation back to League One when they were two minutes away from safety in a shattering denouement.

Victory almost two years on would have effectively seen Rotherham secure their cherished-for Championship safety - and avoid an unwarranted hat-trick of instant returns to the third tier - with two games ago.

Instead, they must sweat it out further after more late anguish as an 87th-minute strike from Cedric Kipre secured a cathartic victory for the Bluebirds.

Greatly aggrieved by the second-half abandonment of this fixture back on March 18 when they were leading 1-0 and looking thoroughly dominant ahead of a freak torrential downpour which left the pitch saturated, here was major atonement for Cardiff, second time around.

The first-half had seen top-scorer Chiedozie Ogbene cancel out Kion Etete's opener. City's penchant for missing penalties then resurfaced as Etete blasted his effort against the bar just before the interval - the club's fifth miss out of six from the spot this term.

Sadly, it did not finish Cardiff and they applied the sting late on in the next half.

Given those controversial events last March and the gravity of the fixture to both clubs in their survival missions, it was an evening which had the serious potential to be spicy.

That much was confirmed just after the half-hour mark when Millers veteran Lee Peltier and Cardiff assistant Sol Bamba - the pair were previously team-mates at Middlesbrough and Leicester - had a set-to by the touchline as tempers frayed.

Cardiff restored danger man Jaden Philogene, who gave the Millers all manner of problems in the abandoned fixture to their line-up, while home manager Matt Taylor matched up with the visitors formation and employed three orthodox central midfielders with an eye on keeping the Bluebirds trickster somewhat quieter.

He was, but unfortunately, the visitors had others who stepped up to the plate and like in the first fixture here, they were afforded the fillip of an early opener.

Initially, it was the hosts who had shown the assertion. Ex-Cardiff loanee Jordan Hugill thumped a header against the bar from Wes Harding’s cross, with Richard Wood, in for Tyler Blackett, heading just off target following the resulting corner from Cohen Bramall.

Cardiff regrouped and were soon ahead and things were back to where they were in the first half last month.

Perry Ng was given space to send over a probing cross and as the Millers backline procrastinated, Etete nipped in to deftly head past Viktor Johnasson.

Cardiff would display the poise and flow for a spell after and a key save from Johansson kept out Kaba. Rotherham stuck in and got their reward.

Following his fine early cross for Hugill’s chance, Harding produced an encore with his bouncing cross attacked superbly by Ogbene, who showed his striking traits to bury a far-post header for his ninth - and most important looking - goal of a handsome campaign.

Cardiff appealed in vain for a foul in the build-up from Wood on Kipre, but any contact looked minimal.

It pumped up the home crowd, only for Philogene to make an unwelcome re-appearance when he provoked Conor Coventry into a panicking foul on him.

Relievingly, the spot-kick from Kaba was off beam. The Millers were not sorry.

After an eventful first period, the impression was that anything could still happen in the second half. There was no rain deluge this time either, even if there was some precipitation.

It was a test of nerve for both on a tense old evening with the Millers attempting to pin back Cardiff on the restart with set-pieces looking a particularly profitable route.

Cardiff eventually steadied themselves on an occasion when the next goal was always likely to be huge for either side.

The game did hit a lull, indicative of the high stakes, with Taylor electing to throw on Georgie Kelly, who has already provided a few dramatic goalscoring interventions in his Millers career to date, to turn and change the narrative. Tariqe Fosu arrived not long after with the hosts' changes all being attacking.

But it was Cardiff who pressed late on and amid the commotion after Johansson made a fine save to keep out Etete's drive, the ball found Kipre who smashed the ball home in a killer for Rotherham and the celebrations at the end were Cardiff's, who are all but safe now.

Rotherham host Middlesbrough on Monday and will be anxiously watching weekend results.

Rotherham United: Johansson; Peltier (Quina 85), Wood, Humphreys; Coventry (Wiles 85); Harding, Lindsay, Rathbone (Fosu 70), Bramall; Ogbene, Hugill (Kelly 67). Substitutes unused: Hemfrey, Ferguson, Hjelde.

Cardiff City: Alnwick; Romeo, Ng, Kipre, McGuinness, O’Dowda (Simpson 45); Ralls, Wintle, Philogene (Sawyers 90); Etete, Kaba (Wickham 71). Substitutes unused: Luthra, Ojo, Harris, Rinomhota.

Referee: O Langford (West Midlands).