THE moral of this game? It’s no use starting to play when you’re three goals down.

Middlesbrough’s second-half revival might have spared some of their blushes, but while Duncan Watmore and Rodrigo Muniz’s burst of two goals in a minute ensured a nervy finale for Cardiff, it was not enough to deprive the Bluebirds of what was ultimately a deserved success. It was also insufficient to mask the inadequacies of Boro’s wretched first-half display.

Make no mistake about it, the Teessiders’ first-half efforts were just about as bad it gets, with Cardiff claiming three goals before the break as their opponents’ defence repeatedly malfunctioned. Disorganised, lethargic and devoid of any creativity, Boro were comprehensively outplayed in the opening 45 minutes. For all they might have improved after the break, they left themselves with too much of a mountain to climb.

The most alarming thing about the start to Boro’s season is the way in which the defensive solidity that has been their key strength for the last couple of years has completely disappeared. All three of the goals they conceded before the break last night were the result of self-inflicted problems.

Cardiff’s fourth-minute opener stemmed from Matt Crooks’ inability to hold on to the ball close to the halfway line and Paddy McNair’s poor positioning when Cardiff broke on the counter-attack. Callum Robinson released Callum O’Dowda behind McNair down the left-hand side, and after advancing into the area, the Cardiff winger slotted a slick finish through the legs of the advancing Liam Roberts.

That was bad enough, but worse was to come 16 minutes later when Jonny Howson was punished for some sloppiness of his own deep inside his own half. Dawdling on the ball close to his own 18-yard line, Howson was dispossessed by Andy Rinomhota. Mark Harris was teed up by a square ball from Robinson and rifled a superb 20-yard strike into the top right-hand corner.

The Riverside was stunned, but while Cardiff spurned a golden opportunity to extend their lead when Jack Simpson directed a free header wide, the visitors were not so profligate when Boro’s defence collapsed again on the stroke of half-time.

Matt Clarke, a late summer signing from Brighton, struggled throughout the first half, and was alarmingly static as Perry Ng strolled past him following a one-two with Rinomhota. Dael Fry committed himself far too easily, enabling Ng to turn past him too, and the Cardiff defender displayed a striker’s composure as he stroked an excellent finish into the corner.

The goal completed a catastrophic first half from a Boro perspective, with the boos of the home crowd at the half-time underlining the extent of the collapse. The midfield malfunctioned repeatedly, with Riley McGree looking out of place in his new ‘number ten’ role, and as a result, Muniz was left isolated in attack. When Boro’s Brazilian striker finally got an opportunity from a corner, he misjudged his attempted header completely and the ball flew wide off his shoulder.

Crooks glanced a header wide from a corner at the start of the second half, but Cardiff’s defenders remained on top. Given the state of the game, Wilder’s reluctance to introduce Marcus Forss until the 89th minute was surely telling – neither Forss nor Matthew Hoppe, who was not in the matchday squad, appears to figure in their manager’s thinking – but Boro nevertheless threatened to stage a remarkable revival as they scored two goals in the space of a minute late on.

Watmore claimed the first, with the half-time substitute slotting an angled finish past Ryan Allsop after Isaiah Jones’ pass had released him into the area.

Less than 60 seconds later, and the ball was in the net again as Muniz atoned for his first-half mishap by heading home Anfernee Dijksteel’s cross after climbing between two Cardiff defenders.

Boro pushed for an equaliser, but Muniz wasted their best opportunity when he fired over after turning in the box.