Kenneth Zohore’s 65th minute goal was enough to give Cardiff City a 1-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road. The Dane netted at the second attempt after initially missing his volley and the ball striking his hand, the visitors having improved after the break after Town had been on top in the first half.
The Blues made five changes to the team which drew 1-1 at Carrow Road on Sunday with Joe Garner and David McGoldrick missing out through injury, and Martyn Waghorn dropping to the bench.
Manager Mick McCarthy stuck with the three-man backline of Cameron Carter-Vickers, skipper Luke Chambers and Adam Webster, while Jordan Spence returned at right wing-back for Dominic Iorfa, who dropped to the bench, and Jonas Knudsen continued on the left.
Cole Skuse was joined by Luke Hyam, making his first league start since May 2016, in midfield with Callum Connolly and Stephen Gleeson among the subs. Mustapha Carayol was a late withdrawal due to illness. Grant Ward, Bersant Celina and Freddie Sears formed a front three.
Cardiff made three changes to the team which beat Middlesbrough 1-0 at the weekend with Armand Traore and Callum Paterson missing out through injury, and Joe Bennett due to illness. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Matthew Connolly and Loic Damour came into the team. Ex-Blues keeper Brian Murphy was among their subs.
The Bluebirds might have gone ahead after a minute at a very quiet and noticeably empty Portman Road with the crowd of 13,205 the lowest for a home league game since 11,596 watched a 3-0 victory over Bradford in September 1998.
After Town had made heavy weather of clearing a corner, the ball fell to Connolly, who scuffed wide when he will feel he ought to have done better.
Marko Grujic shot over the top for the Bluebirds on 12 but chances were virtually non-existent in an opening 20 minutes in which the sides battled to gain the upper hand.
Town began to get on top as the game approached the 25-minute mark, Adam Webster nodding a right-wing Celina cross wide from beyond the far post.
The Blues went nearer to an opening goal on 27 when Sears cleverly fed Ward, who struck a low 20-yard shot which Cardiff keeper Neil Etheridge bundled past his left post.
Following the corner, Spence brought the ball back towards the area from deep before hitting an effort which was blocked and then unconvincingly cleared.
Hyam saw a shot deflect up into Philippines international Etheridge’s hands off Sol Bamba on 36.
A minute later the Blues went close again. Spence sent Sears away on the right and the former West Ham striker, who is without a goal in 30 matches, cut in and hit a shot which looked goal-bound until it deflected wide.
Town continued to look the more likely scorers playing the better football and in the 38th minute Spence flicked a header towards goal but without getting much power on it and Grujic cleared from in front of the line.
Cardiff were forced into a change in the 40th minute, skipper Sean Morrison making way for Greg Halford.
Three minutes later, Skuse played a deft ball into the path of Celina but the on-loan Manchester City’s man’s touch past the advancing Etheridge took the ball out of play.
Town were applauded off at the end of a half in which they had been the better side and had come closest to scoring through Sears, who was unfortunate to see his strike deflect wide.
The Blues had begun to get the upper hand midway through the half and were in control and passing the ball around with increasing confidence at the whistle.
Under-par Cardiff’s only significant chance came in the opening moments through Connolly with Bartosz Bialkowski in the Blues goal untested.
The Bluebirds swapped Grujic for Gary Madine ahead of the second half but it was Town who went closest to a goal in the early moments after the break.
Ward won a corner on the right, Celina whipped it over and Webster headed over at the near post when he will feel he might have done better.
The Blues continued to look the more dangerous side, Ward doing well to find himself space on the right before sending in a low ball which deflected behind off a Town player.
However, Cardiff gradually began to get on top with sub Madine making an impact. On 63 Damour screwed a shot wide from distance.
Two minutes later, the Bluebirds took the lead. Joe Ralls’s freekick was won in the air by Madine and knocked back to Zohore. The Dane missed his first strike but recovered - after the ball inadvertently struck his hand - to slot low to Biakowski’s right.
Zohore went close to a second in the 68th minute but sent his header from Junior Hoilett’s freekick over the bar. On 74 Connolly replaced Hyam for the Blues.
Town hadn’t threatened since the early stages of the second half, but in the 75th minute Celina broke forward before finding Ward on the right. The ex-Spurs man cut in but shot across the face of goal.
Two minutes later, Celina took the ball past two Cardiff defenders not far outside the Bluebirds’ box but shot straight at Etheridge.
Town were beginning to get back on top and in the 78th minute Skuse saw what looked a goal-bound shot blocked.
Moments later Cardiff defender Connolly turned Ward’s dangerous right-wing cross over, prior to Waghorn taking over from Spence, Carter-Vickers moving to right-back. Damour’s 84th minute shot deflected wide, before Kevin Bru replaced Ward for the Blues.
As the game moved into its final scheduled five minutes, Waghorn hit a shot against a defender, then Craig Bryson replaced goalscorer Zahore for the visitors.
In injury time, referee Andy Davies frustrated the Blues’ players by awarding a freekick against Carter-Vickers as he tussled with Halford as a corner came across from the left. Bryson was booked for time-wasting.
The Blues continued to push for an equaliser in the remaining minutes but never convincingly and the referee’s whistle confirmed a first defeat in four, leading to muted boos from some sections of the Town support.
Having been the better side in the first half, the Blues started the second in the same manner but the visitors eventually got on top without ever dominating and eventually profited from the one break in either box, with neither keeper overly tested throughout. Once again Town ended up defeated in a game which had had little in it.
The Blues, who are without a goal in their last three home games and have scored two in their last seven at Portman Road, drop to 14th, below Norwich, who claimed another last-gasp draw against Wolves, now nine points off the top six.
Town are next in action at ninth-placed Preston, who have now lost just once in the league in 18 matches, on Saturday.
Town: Bialkowski, Spence (Waghorn 79), Chambers (c), Webster, Carter-Vickers, Knudsen, Ward (Bru 85), Skuse, Hyam (Connolly 74), Celina, Sears. Unused: M Crowe, Kenlock, Gleeson, Iorfa.
""Cardiff: Etheridge, Morrison (c) (Halford 40), Manga, Ralls, Zohore (Bryson 86), Bamba, Connolly, Mendez-Laing, Damour, Grujic (Madine 46), Hoilett. Unused: Murphy, Feeney, Pilkington, Wildschut. Referee: Andy Davies (Hampshire). Att: 13,205 (Cardiff: 371)