Wayne Rooney probably watched through his hands as his Plymouth Argyle side were thrashed 5-0 by a managerless Cardiff.
The Pilgrims were without their manager and Manchester United legend Rooney due to his one-game touchline ban issued by the FA.
Rooney was sent off in their 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers, with his conduct deemed ‘improper and/or he used abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official’.
The FA announced the sanction less than 24 hours before Plymouth’s clash against Cardiff kicked off and it certainly didn’t end well.
Cardiff, who sacked Erol Bulut in September and were bottom of the table ahead of this game, were led by interim boss Omer Riza and took the lead on 16 minutes through Alex Robertson.
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Rubin Colwill assisted the goal and then scored his side’s second before Plymouth saw Ibrahim Cissoko sent off just before half-time.
Anwar El Ghazi, Callum Robinson and Chris Willock added the final goals in the second-half to complete the scoring – handing Plymouth their fifth Championship defeat of the season under Rooney.
Plymouth’s assistant head coach Peter Shuttleworth was on the touchline in the England legend’s absence for what was a heavy defeat.
They have now lost half of their Championship matches so far this season and have just three wins to their name.
Saturday’s result has further added to their recent fluctuating run of form that saw three wins and three losses in their previous six.
It is unknown as to whereabouts Rooney was watching the match, given his ban, but he’ll no doubt have been showing his frustration.
Plymouth have now dropped to 18th in the Championship and sit three points above Cardiff in the first relegation spot.
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Furthermore, they remain winless away from home, a barren run of five matches that Rooney will be eagerly hoping to end.
Defeat to Cardiff marks a continued difficult start to his tenure at the club following his appointment in the summer.
Rooney joined Plymouth following a short-stint at Birmingham City last season in which he won just two of his 15 matches in charge.
Whilst he has already claimed four victories in all competitions in the current campaign, the huge task of avoiding relegation remains when he returns to the dugout.
Fixtures against Millwall, Preston North End, Leeds United, Portsmouth and Derby County all come before the final international break of the year next month.