Cardiff claimed their biggest South Wales derby win for nearly 60 years with a 3-0 Championship victory at home to Swansea.
Callum Robinson’s brace at the start of the second half put Cardiff in command and Dimitrios Goutas thundered home a header off the underside of the crossbar to ram home their superiority. It ended a run of six games without home joy for Cardiff and secured the biggest league victory over their arch-rivals since winning 5-0 at Ninian Park in April 1965.
The only negative note for Cardiff was Omer Riza’s red card in stoppage time. The Bluebirds boss tangled on the touchline with Swansea midfielder Gonçalo Franco, and there were more ill-tempered scenes at the final whistle as both sets of players clashed.
How the mood had changed since several hundred Cardiff fans marched to the stadium before kick-off in protest against owner Vincent Tan and the board. Cardiff players wore black armbands in memory of Riza’s father Josh after the Bluebirds boss announced his death on social media on Thursday. Riza took his seat in the dugout to warm applause and in need of a win with Cardiff kicking off only one point above the relegation zone.
Swansea started the weekend in the more comfortable position of 12th, but storm clouds had emerged with three successive away defeats in all competitions. Joe Allen – who scored in this fixture in 2009 – attempted to change that by winning a free-kick which forced Cardiff to defend their box and Franco fired a half-chance over after the ball fell to him.
Rare room opened up for Alex Robertson to drive wide and Cardiff built up a head of steam in the final 10 minutes of a disappointing first half. Robertson’s corner was helped on by Goutas and Calum Chambers was unable to seize on Matt Grimes’ poor clearance.
Chambers went closer less than 60 seconds later, this time hitting the target after centre-backs Goutas and Jesper Daland caused confusion, but sound positioning from Lawrence Vigouroux snuffed out the danger. Robertson’s free-kick almost caught Vigouroux by surprise and the Swansea goalkeeper was relieved as Robinson spurned the best chance of the half with a tame effort from 12 yards when unmarked.
Robinson was not so charitable within two minutes of the restart, taking Ollie Tanner’s cross on his chest and delivering a left-footed shot into the bottom corner of the net. The Republic of Ireland striker capitalised on Josh Tymon’s misdirected pass to Harry Darling four minutes later to again beat Vigouroux with a low shot into the corner.
Goutas powered in Robertson’s corner midway through the second half to put the seal on an emphatic victory – only Cardiff’s second win in eight derby meetings.
Hull won 1-0 at Millwall thanks to a Jake Cooper own goal. It was just the response the Tigers needed after being dumped out of the FA Cup by League Two Doncaster last Sunday as they gave their survival hopes a real boost. Millwall were dealt the blow of losing the promising Romain Esse to south London rivals Crystal Palace earlier on Saturday and the mood was hardly lifted by a poor display in which they hardly threatened.
The game badly needed a breakthrough and Millwall captain Cooper inadvertently provided one in the 58th minute when he turned Regan Slater’s low cross into his own net to put Hull ahead. The mood among the home support only darkened the longer the match went on and the Lions were booed off at the final whistle.
QPR made it three Championship wins in a row with a 1-0 victory at bottom side Plymouth as Argyle’s winless league run stretched to 13 games. Substitute Rayan Kolli scored the winner for Martí Cifuentes’s side. Kolli fired home the only goal with a superb finish in the corner on 65 minutes; Dan Grimshaw initially saved Ilias Chair’s shot on the run after Bali Mumba failed to control a high ball, instead putting the QPR playmaker in on goal.
Article by:Source – PA Media
