Cardiff City scored twice in stoppage time to claim a brilliant 2-1 victory over Ipswich Town at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Late goals from Ryan Wintle and a last-gasp goal from Callum O’Dowda secured the win in dramatic fashion for the Bluebirds, extending the winning run to four games.
Erol Bulut made two changes to the side that beat Huddersfield Town on Wednesday evening, with Yakou Méïté and Manolis Siopis coming in for Joe Ralls and Famara Diedhiou.
City started brightly, claiming the bulk of the chances in the opening 15 minutes. David Turnbull’s effort from outside the area tested Vaclav Hladky in the sixth minute, who pushed the ball away for a corner. The Scot’s resulting delivery caused problems in the Ipswich box, with Hladky parrying Josh Bowler’s shot to Perry Ng, who couldn’t connect cleanly, and his effort was cleared off the line.
The Bluebirds continued to keep the pressure on the visitors; Josh Wilson-Esbrand found space in the Ipswich box, who had his effort deflected wide. However, the Tractor Boys had chances of their own. With Conor Chaplin and Wes Burns linking up on the right wing, Burns found Kieffer Moore at the front post, but his attempted back-heel flick went wide.
Bowler was in on the action again, as Turnbull’s pass freed up space for the winger to try and recreate his stunning goal against Watford last month. However, the goalkeeper took two attempts to catch the ball. Despite having most of the possession and chances, they were unable to find a breakthrough, and left the game goalless at the break.
Fresh off the bench for the away side, Omari Hutchinson was straight into the action, cutting in on his left foot and attempting to curl one top corner, but Ethan Horvath made a smart save to keep the score level. In the 79th minute, Hutchinson played the ball to Moore, who opened the scoring with a left footed effort, which found the bottom corner.
However, the Bluebirds persisted and showed great character to fire back. Wintle struck in the equaliser after Ipswich’s half clearance from Rubin Colwill's cross. O’Dowda ensured a euphoric victory with a 100th minute winner to continue City's fine form.
FINAL SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 2-1 IPSWICH TOWN
Cardiff City: Hovarth, Ng, Goutas, Phillips, Wilson-Esbrand, Siopis, Wintle ©, (Ralls 90+6) Turnbull (Colwill 75’), Grant, Bowler (Diedhiou 85’), Méïté (O’Dowda 75’). Subs not used: Turner, Romeo, Collins, Tanner, Ashford.
Ipswich Town: Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy ©, Luongo (Taylor 76’), Burns (Harness 76’), Chaplin (Hutchinson 65’), Sarmiento (Broadhead 65’), Moore (Al-Hamadi 89’) Subs not used: Walton, Tuanzebe, Travis, Jackson.