Cardiff substitute Yakou Meite scored with his first touch to give relegation-threatened Bluebirds a priceless 2-1 win at Blackburn.
The visitors came into the game on a run of three consecutive defeats but made a flying start through Yousef Salech’s fourth-minute header.
Yuki Ohashi levelled in the 16th minute and it stayed that way until Meite, who had been on the field for barely a minute, expertly headed home his second goal of the season 17 minutes from time.
There was confusion at the death when Rovers were awarded a penalty but it was rightly overturned and Cardiff keep themselves out of the bottom three with only their second away win of the campaign.
Blackburn’s play-off hopes are fading fast. They are winless in five and are still waiting for their first win under Valerien Ismael.
Cardiff were ahead early on and it was all too easy as Sivert Mannsverk was given time and space to measure a right-wing cross for the unmarked Salech who planted his header into the left corner.
Rovers responded with an equaliser that owed much to Tyrhys Dolan’s tenacity and Emmanuel Dennis’ near-post cross was powerfully headed beyond Ethan Horvath by Ohashi.
Buoyed by the leveller, Blackburn pushed on and created an opportunity just after the half hour but Makhtar Gueye headed over.
Cardiff were indebted to their goalkeeper for maintaining parity in first-half stoppage time when Horvath produced a stunning, one-handed save to repel Sondre Tronstad’s powerful drive.
The visitors’ top scorer Callum Robinson was wasteful at the start of the second half, curling wide from a good position, but Rovers were the ones cranking up the pressure after the interval, with Gueye’s shot deflected wide.
Dolan went close in the 65th minute, beautifully controlling the ball before turning inside Will Fish but he curled just beyond the far post.
Cardiff substitute Will Alves went even closer moments later, spinning away from two Blackburn players before whipping a shot just beyond the left upright.
They made no mistake in the 73rd minute though and Alves was involved again, sending a searching left-wing cross into the area which was met by Meite who got across his marker to glance a header past Aynsley Pears with his first touch of the game.
Blackburn were shellshocked and their pain ought to have been compounded six minutes from time when Pears denied Alves and the ball fell to Meite but the forward’s shot was cleared off the line by Hayden Carter.
The hosts thought they had a late reprieve when Gueye went down in the area and a penalty was awarded, but the assistant referee overturned, and Cardiff registered a vital win.
David Moyes believes James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid a red card for his reckless challenge on Alexis Mac Allister as Everton were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal, which Moyes claimed should have been ruled out for offside, gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were...

Jack Grealish dedicated his goal to his late brother after scoring in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester on Wednesday.The England international hit his first Premier League goal for 16 months, on his first start in the competition since last December, as City moved back into fourth with a comfortable success at the Etihad Stadium.It came on the 25th anniversary of...

David Moyes bemoaned an “offside” goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over Everton – but admitted James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid an early red card on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were left unhappy with decisions from referee Sam Barr...

Eddie Howe hailed Sandro Tonali’s shooting power after seeing him cap a fine display with a stunning winner to edge Newcastle into the race for Champions League qualification.The 24-year-old Italy international brought an incident-packed encounter to a fitting conclusion with a 74th-minute piledriver which beat goalkeeper Mark Flekken from an improbable angle to hand the Magpies a precious 2...

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery believes Marcus Rashford is “progressively getting better” in all aspects of his game following his first Premier League goal for the club.The on-loan Manchester United forward set Villa on course for a comprehensive 3-0 win over fellow European hopefuls Brighton with a 51st-minute finish at the Amex Stadium.Rashford’s milestone strike came three days ...

Southampton boss Ivan Juric vowed to keep fighting as relegation moved sharply into focus after Crystal Palace denied them only a third Premier League win of the season.Substitute Matheus Franca’s stoppage-time header, to secure a 1-1 draw for the Eagles, means Saints will be down at the weekend if they lose at Tottenham and Wolves beat Ipswich.If relegation is confirmed on Sunday, Southampt...

Derby boss John Eustace insists his side are reaping the rewards for the hard work they have put in since he was appointed as manager after the Rams earned a 2-0 win over Preston to climb out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.Derby came out firing after a lacklustre opening period and Craig Forsyth coolly slotted the hosts in front with his fourth goal of the season.The Rams doubled thei...

Notts County manager Stuart Maynard hailed a “massive” three points as his side comfortably saw off MK Dons at Meadow Lane to maintain their promotion challenge.Two stunning strikes from David McGoldrick and Will Jarvis from the edge of the box, either side of Nick Tsaroulla’s close-range effort, earned County a convincing 3-0 win.“I think every three points is massive now,...

Kieran McKenna was not getting too giddy dreaming of a miracle escape from relegation after Ipswich beat Bournemouth 2-1 to pick up their first Premier League win of 2025.Goals from Nathan Broadhead and top-scorer Liam Delap did the damage as Ipswich put a further dent in Bournemouth’s hopes of qualifying for Europe.McKenna, whose side are still nine points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves who t...

Liverpool re-established their 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League with Diogo Jota’s strike against Everton settling a second controversial Merseyside derby of the season.Jota’s first league goal since mid-January was potentially one of his most important of the campaign as the 1-0 victory kept second-placed Arsenal at more than arm’s length.It also ended Everton manag...



- 1 Hot WAG flaunts 'astonishing' washboard abs in bikini
- 2 Danny Rohl hails Sheffield Wednesday resilience in draw at Cardiff
- 3 Alfie May double sends Birmingham step closer to Championship
- 4 Marcus Rashford scores first Premier League goal for Villa in win at Brighton
- 5 Ryan Lowe and Conor Hourihane felt team deserved more as Wigan and Barnsley draw
- 6 Mat Sadler hails Taylor Allen set-piece skills after Walsall snatch draw
- 7 Chris Davies says Alfie May’s goal drought never concerned him
- 8 Football fan 'eats' raw pig's head in ultimate insult
- 9 Marcus Rashford still looking to improve after firing Villa into FA Cup semis
- 10 Chelsea prepare €70m for Barcelona defender