Cardiff City staged an extraordinary second-half comeback to beat Burnley 5-4 at Cardiff City Stadium, recovering from a three-goal deficit to claim all three points in a remarkable encounter.
Having seen a 3-0 advantage disappear in Wednesday's draw with West Ham, the Bluebirds found themselves on the other side of a dramatic turnaround, coming from 4-1 down to secure victory with a stoppage-time winner.
Cardiff started brightly, with Jack Moylan going close from a Joel Bagan delivery, but it was Burnley who took the lead with their first effort on target. A ball forward from Lucas Pires caught the home defence out, allowing Andreas Hountondji to break through and slide his finish past Nathan Trott.
The visitors doubled their advantage ten minutes later. Jaydon Banel created the opportunity on the left, finding Marcus Edwards on the edge of the penalty area. Edwards fired through a crowded box and into the net.
Edwards had the chance to make it three shortly afterwards when he found himself through on goal, but his chipped effort went over the crossbar.
Cardiff needed a response and got one before half-time. Rubin Colwill's effort from a corner was heading towards goal before Ollie Tanner got a touch, diverting the ball beyond the goalkeeper to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
The Bluebirds came close to an equaliser soon after the restart. Moylan's effort appeared to be heading over the line, but Hjalmar Ekdal produced an excellent clearance to keep Burnley's lead intact.
That proved costly as Burnley extended their advantage. A poor clearance from Kristian Bielik fell to Largie Ramazani, whose effort found the top corner after taking a deflection.
The visitors then moved further ahead when Aaron Ramsey's cross was diverted into his own net by Alex Robertson, leaving Cardiff facing a 4-1 deficit.
Brian Barry-Murphy made changes, bringing on Yousef Salech, and the substitute made an immediate impact. A Burnley clearance struck Cian Ashford before falling into Salech's path, and he finished to give Cardiff a route back into the game.
The momentum continued to swing Cardiff's way when Connor Roberts was adjudged to have pushed Salech in the penalty area. Moylan stepped up and converted from the spot to make it 4-3.
With the home crowd behind them, Cardiff pressed for an equaliser and found it through Salech. Colwill delivered a cross into the penalty area and Salech rose to head against the crossbar and over the line, bringing the scores level at 4-4.
There was still time for one final twist. Four minutes into stoppage time, Robertson made amends for his earlier own goal with a superb strike from around 25 yards, curling the ball into the net to complete Cardiff's comeback and send the stadium into raptures.
After trailing by three goals, Cardiff had somehow turned the game around to claim a 5-4 victory.
The result extends the Bluebirds' unbeaten home league record this season and provides a memorable end to the final game before the international break.
Cardiff City: Trott, Bagan, Bielik (Scanlon 71’), Fish, Ng, Robertson, R.Colwill, Ashford, Tanner (Salech 63’), Willock (Kpakio 90+5), Moylan (J.Colwill 90+5’). Unused Subs: Tyrer, Turnbull, Tankiewicz, Holt, Perrett.
Burnley: Coudert, Walker, Hatate (Cullen 58’), Edwards (Ramsey 58’), Hountondji (Amdouni 80’), Ekdal, Ramazani, Pires (Roberts 63’), Laurent, Banel (Sonne 64’), Igor. Unused Subs: Weis, Alleyne, Raghouber, Vardy.
