Neil Emblen grabbed a vital victory for Walsall as his 70th minute strike inflicted Cardiff’s first home defeat on Boxing Day for seventy years.
Emblen came into the starting line up in midfield in place of Paul Merson who didn’t travel to Wales. Stefan Oakes and Jamie Lawrence – back from his loan at Wigan – were recalled to the bench.
Walsall began strongly and forced several corners early on before Emblen’s goal bound effort after ten minutes was blocked by Tony Vidmar. Despite their dominance, Walsall’s only other chance fell to Darren Wrack but his header was stopped at point blank range by Martyn Margetson. Peter Thorne came closest for the Bluebirds however his header drifted just wide.
Emblen then grabbed the winner with twenty minutes remaining as he bundled in Zigor Aranalde’s left wing cross. Robert Earnshaw struck the inside of the post and Spencer Prior’s late strike was disallowed for a foul on keeper Jimmy Walker as Walsall held on to temporarily move into the top half of the table.