Omer Riza 'taken aback' by Cardiff City star's celebration and praises youngster for seizing opportunity
Omer Riza admits he was "taken aback" by Callum Robinson's celebration after the first of his two goals in the 2-1 win over Watford.
It was a long time coming, that win, with the Bluebirds having gone nine matches without on. And it was a happy return to Vicarage Road for Cardiff manager Riza, whose players ran over to him on the touchline after scoring the opener, with Robinson himself embracing him on the touchline.
"I was taken aback by the reaction after the first goal," the former Hornets coach said. "It was a really nice touch from Callum, and it was nice to see the boys come over.
READ MORE: Watford 1-2 Cardiff City: Robinson double earns Bluebirds first away win of the season
"It shows the togetherness the boys have got, and the respect they have for me, which is a lovely moment for me. Callum is the best finisher we've got at the club, he's a great finisher period, he hasn't played the last few games because I've given him a rest.
"Tough place to come, they're doing a great job this year, top six at the moment, made this place a fortress, not losing in 17. It was a good game for us, we needed it and I'm not really bothered where it comes from, the three points."
To a man, Cardiff were excellent against the high-flying Hornets and it begs the question why this sort of performance has not been more commonplace this season, with the Bluebirds still sitting in the relegation zone. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
But putting Robinson, Cardiff's most potent attacking threat, back in to lead the line seemed a no-brainer, while Riza also trusted academy product Cian Ashford on the right and he ran himself into the ground all afternoon and provided the assist for the second.
“In training he’s looked really sharp," Riza said of Robinson. "I’ve taken him out for a couple of games, and I think it’s really done him well. He’s shown a real eagerness and want in training and he’s gone out there today and scored a great first goal. To go 1-1 and score the second goal and go on to win it, we deserved it.
“We’ve got a lot of belief in Ash (Ashford). He’s a young lad, he needs to believe in himself a little bit more, because he can cause problems and he’s done that today. I had no hesitations in putting him in there.
“We gave the ownership to Ash and he held the ball up well, he was strong, he was aggressive, he worked hard and that’s what we need at this time.”
The last game of 2024 offered the fantastic travelling fans a positive ending to the year. But they will want to see far more of that in 2025 and Riza vowed that his lowly Bluebirds will continue to scrap tooth and nail in a bid to get out of the mess.
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“The fans were excellent today," the manager added. "They were our 12th man, in the ten minutes of extra time they were superb - we’re always thankful for the support we get. Today they were exceptional.
“Everything’s about whether we can maintain the same intensity levels and aggression game in, game out. The boys are always going to fight and we’ll keep fighting."
