Cardiff City vs Ipswich Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Cardiff City StadiumAttendance21,771.
Report and free match highlights as Ipswich failed to reclaim second place in the Championship; Cardiff struck twice in stoppage time for a remarkable 2-1 victory; Kieffer Moore scored the opener against his former club
Saturday 9 March 2024 17:53, UK
Ipswich Town had victory in the palm of their hands until a dramatic late Cardiff City turnaround which saw two stoppage-time goals, including a 100th-minute decider, earn the Welsh side a shock 2-1 win.
Promotion-chasing Ipswich are the Championship's form side, registering six wins on the bounce, but they were stunned by Erol Bulut's defiant Bluebirds, who came from behind in glorious fashion to steal the unlikeliest of victories.
In a 90 minutes that produced very few clear-cut chances, it was Kieffer Moore who displayed the cutting edge needed to make a breakthrough against his former club, fizzing an arrowed strike across Ethan Horvath in the 79th minute.
The game looked to be meandering towards a predictable conclusion, until a stunning stoppage-time spell where the hosts came roaring back to score twice in five incredible minutes.
Ryan Wintle netted the leveller in the 95th-minute before Callum O'Dowda, in the 10th minute of an allotted eight-minute injury-time period, latched onto Perry Ng's hooked cross to slam the ball home.
The result means Ipswich fail to reclaim second spot in the Championship, surrendered to Leeds after their victory over Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night, while resurgent Cardiff maintain their late bid for a play-off spot.
Cardiff were high on confidence after three successive wins and their lively start reflected that.
David Turnbull's rasping effort from distance was saved with some discomfort by Vaclav Hladky, and the Ipswich goalkeeper was again needed from the resulting corner to keep the Bluebirds at bay.
The ball fell to Josh Bowler at the far post and Hladaky kept out his volley with an outstretched foot.
Ng seemed certain to convert the rebound with the goal gaping, but his scuffed shot allowed Moore to clear off the line.
Ipswich did not look like a side that had scored in 12 consecutive games, struggling to play through midfield and supply Moore with tempting crosses, until the 79th minute, when the Wales international took matters into his own hands.
Substitute Marcus Harness found Moore wide left, with Nat Phillips standing off him, and the forward took his opportunity to bury a sweet strike into the far corner.
But there was a lethal sting in the tail as a late equaliser from Wintle and an even later strike from O'Dowda sent the Cardiff City Stadium into overdrive, and consequently broke Ipswich hearts.
Their six-game winning run has been abruptly halted, while Bulut's Bluebirds march proudly on to their fourth straight triumph and are now five points shy of the play-off places.
Cardiff boss Erol Bulut:
"If we see the whole game, from the beginning to the end, we played a great game. It would not be fair if we lost this game 1-0. That is why I'm really proud. They showed team spirit and willingness to win.
"We had a lucky hand, and that's great. We changed the strategy [throughout the game], they were good decisions. I was thinking positive with the team today. The team gave everything, everything that they had."
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna:
"It was a disappointing end to the game, but that's football. We've had the shoe on the other foot plenty of times this season. I thought we took control of the game second half, could have had a winning goal.
"A solid, aware performance, but when the game is only one [goal] it's always alive, we finished with a lot of attackers on the pitch, we were trying to push for a goal which we got, but then you had to see the game out or score another - we did neither.
"We've seen games out really well this year and that's and rare one where we've conceded late. We didn't manage to get hold of momentum and that can happen away from home."
