Cardiff City inflicted a rare hammering upon Swansea City courtesy of a wonderful double from Callum Robinson.
Robinson had been out of the side for three matches following his red card against Coventry City, but he put on a finishing clinic at Cardiff City Stadium to rubber-stamp his importance to this Bluebirds side, netting twice in quick succession in the second half.
Dimitrios Goutas added the third when he sent a laser-like header home with 25 minutes to go to take the match to 3-0 and beyond the reach of Luke Williams’ side.
For Williams, this result arguably underlines the growing sense that this squad might just be short of play-off contenders as they cement themselves further into mid-table. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.
For Omer Riza, who just two days before this derby announced that his father had passed away, this will have meant a lot. It’s his first derby win, it moves Cardiff to six games unbeaten and is, he will hope, another little step away from relegation.
The pumped-up fans, some of whom took part in the pre-match march and protest against Cardiff’s owners, carried a frenzied atmosphere into the stadium and both sets of supporters grew to a deafening crescendo ahead of kick-off. It really did feel like derby day.
It settled into a familiar pattern, too, with Swansea trying to quieten the home supporters by keeping hold of the ball early on, even if they struggled to penetrate the Bluebirds’ defence or create any meaningful chances.
Cardiff sat off them for too long during the opening exchanges, though, and while they did so relatively comfortably, it was the visitors who carved out the first big chance of the game when he fizzed a volley over the bar after a set-piece was poorly cleared.
Omer Riza suffered an early blow in the match, too, with consistent performer Callum O’Dowda having to be replaced by Joel Bagan after just 24 minutes, but it actually signalled the start of a really positive period for the hosts, yielding three decent chances before the break.
The first saw Alex Robertson drag a 20-yarder wide of the mark, but Calum Chambers had two big opportunities shortly after. The first came when a Robertson corner was flicked on at the near post which was half-cleared by Matt Grimes before Chambers smashed a half volley over from close range.
Just minutes later the midfielder and another opening after a free-kick from Robertson was headed back into the mixer by Jesper Daland. Dimitrios Goutas then sent a header to the far post but Chambers’ effort from a tight angle was gathered by Lawrence Vigouroux. Sign up to our Swansea City newsletter here.
The hosts came flying out of the traps in the second half and deservedly took the lead. Just after the restart, Ollie Tanner swung a cross into Robinson but he still had it all to do. He chested it away from Harry Darling before expertly hooking a volley back across goal into the bottom corner.
The stadium was bouncing and the home fans didn’t need any other reason to get their tails up – but Josh Tymon gifted them one. Just four minutes after the opener, the left-back’s terrible pass to Darling was cut out by Robinson, who took one touch before drilling home into the same corner for his 10th of the campaign. Swansea were rocked and the stadium was rocking.
Williams was forced into changes, but little changed on the pitch for the visitors, who struggled to get beyond Cardiff’s defence, with their forward line having a real off day.
And then, from a corner, Cardiff put themselves in unfamiliar territory – three goals to the good and a comfortable lead in a derby. Robertson’s outswinging corner saw the ball sail over Liam Cullen’s head and right on to the forehead of Goutas, who sent a bullet header crashing into the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net with 25 minutes still to play.
Josh Key had arguably the best chance of the match for Swansea when Ronald sent a deep cross to the back post, but the defender sent his header wide of Jak Alnwick’s upright from close range.
That was about as good as it got for Swansea, who were poor all afternoon, it must be said. Cardiff got their game plan right and were clinical when it mattered. Save a late red card for Omer Riza, who had a coming-together with Goncalo Franco, it was the perfect day for the hosts. They deserved the three points and the bragging rights.
Cardiff City: Alnwick; Rinomhota, Goutas, Daland, O’Dowda (Bagan 24); Chambers (Siopis 76), Ralls, Robertson (Colwill 76); Ashford, Robinson (Salech 84), Tanner (Meite 84)
Subs: Horvath, Fish, Ng, Willock
Swansea City: Vigouroux; Key (Naughton 76), Darling, Cabango, Tymon; Grimes (c), Franco, Allen (Vipotnik 55); Ronald (Parker 84), Eom (Bianchini 55); Cullen
Subs: McLaughlin, Fulton, Christie, Peart-Harris, Watts