Last update on. From the section Championship
Cardiff's footballers celebrate Kieffer Moore’s leveller
After Mick McCarthy, Cardiff City was born. They fought back from 3-0 down and won a thrilling game at Stoke City.
As Steve Morison, the caretaker boss of the Bluebirds, scored a point in his debut game as manager, they ended their club-record eight consecutive defeats.
Through Rubin Colwill and Mark Harris, Cardiff scored three times in six seconds through Kieffer Moore and Kieffer Moor.
Jacob Brown and Steven Fletcher had previously put Stoke in control.
Michael O'Neill's team seemed to be on the verge of victory when Fletcher scored his second goal and Stoke's third at the half-way mark.
Cardiff capitalized on some poor Stoke defense to draw one back through Colwill. This was their first goal in six matches, before two quickfire strikes left the hosts in disbelief.
Morison made five changes from the Cardiff team that McCarthy picked, and his reign should have started with a win when Colwill won the match against two Stoke defenders.
Colwill chose to square, even though he could have shot himself. But full debutant Kieron Evan overran the pass and lost a golden opportunity.
That was when Stoke took control. Ben Wilmot sent in a perfect cross to Brown, who then flashed a header past Alex Smithies at the near post.
After Steven Fletcher's 3-0 win, Stoke appeared to have won its first four league game.
As Stoke ran into Stoke again, Brown ran into space before checking on Fletcher.
Veteran striker, Mark McGuinness scored his first goal since April. His 25-yard drive was missed by Smithies.
Cardiff had the chance to score before half-time, when Colwill brought in Moore. But Joe Bursik's excellent save denied the Wales striker.
Jordan Thompson pickedpocketed Will Vaulks from his own half and fed Brown. Brown's pass allowed Fletcher a looping shot to the far post, giving the Potters complete control.
Cardiff weren't done. Cardiff came close to scoring when Leandro Bacuna's goal-kick missed the post. However, Colwill's dip effort from outside the box beat Bursik just a minute later.
Five minutes later, the visitors got their second goal thanks to another Stoke error. Thompson had left Josh Tymon's heavy pass to Moore and Moore squared for Harris. Harris was able to win a shot past Bursik.
Moore scored his 14th goal in 14 matches with a goal from Ryan Giles, who crossed from the left.
In a matter of minutes Cardiff's fans transformed from being desperate to joyous. Stoke, on the other hand, was booed off for letting two points slip by their fingers.
Stoke manager Michael O'Neill:
"I have seen the goal reports and it is a chaotic five to ten minutes. We concede a poor first goal and a poor second goal in very short time. The game suddenly unravels, and the third goal is one we should have defended better.
"We find ourselves at level when we are 3-0 up and feel comfortable. From that perspective, it's extremely frustrating.
"When you concede two goals, as we did,"
It's very disappointing, because there was a lot that we did well. We also showed the negative side of things, and that is something that must be addressed."
Steve Morison, Cardiff caretaker manager:
"3-0 down, but we made a change and it was successful. We could have won the championship if it wasn't for those lads.
"It's nice to stop the cycle of results, and hopefully we can move on from there.
"We had some great chances in the first half but didn't take them. With Leo's free kick, we hit the post and you can see that it will be another one of these days.
"We scored the goal that the goalkeeper probably had to save, and we were amazing from then on.
"We could have won the game. "We didn't win, but we're happy with a point. It wasn't looking likely at 3-0."
