Championship: Cardiff thrash Plymouth
Cardiff City 5 - 0 Plymouth Argyle
Cardiff City climbed off the bottom of the Championship table in stunning fashion with a dominant win over 10-man Plymouth Argyle, securing only their second league victory of the season.
In what was undoubtedly their finest display of the campaign so far, the Bluebirds surged to an early 2-0 lead. Alex Robertson opened the scoring with a sublime 20-yard curling strike, followed by a similarly classy finish from Rubin Colwill.
Plymouth's troubles worsened just before half-time when Ibrahim Cissoko was sent off for pushing Perry Ng to the ground.
Colwill, who had assisted Robertson’s opener, continued to shine in the second half. His low cross was tapped in by Anwar El Ghazi, before Callum Robinson added a fourth with an impressive solo run and finish.
Chris Willock made it five with a bouncing shot from the edge of the box, as Cardiff more than doubled their season’s goal tally in one game, having scored just four in their previous nine matches.
The emphatic win lifts Cardiff up two places to 22nd, just a point away from safety while marking their first five-goal league haul since 2017. Plymouth, meanwhile, remain winless on the road and have dropped to 18th.
A closer look at what happened in Cardiff
Even before Cissoko’s dismissal, the Plymouth players were having a tough time, with manager Wayne Rooney forced to watch from the stands due to a one-match touchline ban.
Cardiff, still without a permanent manager since Erol Bulut's sacking last month, were under the temporary charge of Omer Riza. Riza, keen to stake his claim for the role, had seen a win, a draw, and a loss from his first three matches before the international break—already a vast improvement on the team’s earlier form of just one point and one goal from six games. This performance was a big step forward.
Cardiff started the game full of energy and attacking intent, a stark contrast to their previous showings. Colwill was key, finding space and running at Plymouth’s defenders with his skilful footwork. One of his dazzling runs set up El Ghazi, while another led to Robertson’s brilliant first-time finish into the far corner.
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Just eight minutes later, a defensive error by Plymouth saw the ball soar into the air, which Colwill expertly controlled before slotting it home.
As Plymouth struggled to cope with Colwill’s creativity, they might have rued Michael Obafemi’s earlier missed chance, which could have changed the course of the game when it was still goalless.
Any hopes Plymouth had of turning things around vanished when Cissoko was shown a red card. After being tripped by Ollie Tanner, Cissoko reacted by grabbing Ng by the neck and shoving him to the ground, leaving the referee no choice but to send him off.
In the second half, Cardiff took full advantage of their numerical superiority. Colwill again made an impact, weaving his way into the box before delivering a low cross that El Ghazi converted for his first goal in Cardiff colours.
Cardiff continued to pile on the pressure, with David Turnbull firing wide from distance and Plymouth’s Bali Mumba nearly scoring an own goal as he headed against his own crossbar.
Robinson added a fourth, racing down the left before cutting inside and curling a precise shot into the far corner. Plymouth goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw then did well to deny Robinson another goal, but Willock soon sealed the victory with a bouncing effort into the net, capping off a remarkable day for Cardiff and their supporters, who could scarcely believe what they were witnessing.
