Erol Bulut hailed Cardiff’s character after they scored two stoppage-time goals to snatch a 2-1 win at 10-man Preston.
Karlan Grant bundled the ball over the line from a yard out, before Ike Ugbo’s 99th-minute header sealed the win for the Bluebirds.
Milutin Osmajić’s 48th-minute goal put Preston ahead but the hosts were on the backfoot for much of the second half following Robbie Brady’s red card.
The winger was shown a second yellow just four minutes after Osmajić’s goal but Preston did brilliantly to keep Cardiff at bay, only to see their hard work undone in stoppage time.
Bulut celebrated wildly at the final whistle and says the result is no less than his team deserved.
“It’s a very important win for us here today. From the first minute of the match until right up until the end of the game, my players showed the character that they needed to,” Bulut said.
“It’s not easy to play against 10 players in this type of situation but we reacted in the right way. Sometimes it can be more difficult than with 11 players, but we did everything right in the game. We kept the ball and tried to create chances throughout the game and got our reward.
“I think we deserved to get the three points at full time as we kept on pushing to create something.
“When I saw there were nine minutes added on at the end, I thought that it could have been closer to 12, because our opponents tried only to waste time in the second half. You could see how important it was for both teams to get the win and eventually we got there.”
The result moved Cardiff up to sixth in the table, just a place and a point behind Preston.
The visitors carved out the better chances in a scrappy opening 45 minutes, but it was Preston who struck first just three minutes after half-time.
Mark McGuinness’ loose touch presented Osmajic with a chance to race in behind the visitors’ defence and he kept his cool to steer the ball past Runar Runarsson.
Veteran winger Brady was shown a second yellow card after clipping Yakou Meite in midfield, and Cardiff camped inside the Preston half.
Grant hit the post from outside the box, before scrambling the ball over the line from a corner, before Ugbo struck with a last-gasp header.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe said: “I’m disappointed for the boys; they are on the floor in the changing room.
“But, I am proud of them for what they did in the game, for large parts of that game that is, particularly having to play with 10 men in the second half.
“We did well, apart from those two moments where there was a bit of luck for them and misfortune for us.
“I cannot fault the lads for what they have put into the match. To lose in the 99th minute, when they put everything on the line, I am so proud of the lads as I always am. It is a result that’s a kick in the teeth at the moment.
“But, we come back in tomorrow and recover, analyse the things we could have done a bit better and pick ourselves up. There were parts of the game, even with 10 men, that I was really pleased with. But, it’s disappointing to not get any points.”
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