Pilkington piledriver completes comeback
ANTHONY PILKINGTON struck a superb 25-yard winner as Cardiff City twice came from behind to beat Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Pilkington’s goal, his second of the match, came five minutes from the end as improving Cardiff made it back-to-back wins in the Championship, while leaving their opponents in further trouble.
Lee Johnson’s side have now lost 10 of their last 11 league matches, with their most recent victory coming against Ipswich at the start of December, a run which has seen them fall down the table.
All the action came in the second half.
Bristol City went ahead in the 51st minute when Joe Bryan’s volley from just outside the box hit the crossbar and then struck the back of diving Cardiff goalkeeper Brian Murphy for an own goal.
In the 74th minute, Mark Little conceded a totally unnecessary penalty by tripping Joe Ralls. Pilkington drove the spot-kick down the middle to equalise.
Tammy Abraham’s 18th goal of the season, an overhead kick from a Milan Djuric knock-down, put the Robins back in front in the 78th minute.
But visiting sub Kadeem Harris got the better of Bryan at the far post to head a second Cardiff equaliser eight minutes from time, before Pilkington found the top corner with a right-footed screamer three minutes later.
Johnson said: “Angry, frustrated and vexed – all of those words spring to mind.
“We have to see it through and Cardiff did not have to work hard to win it.
“We’ve had some excellent individual performances but once again, the team has been unable to see a game out.”
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock hopes the win will prompt owner Vincent Tan to put his hand in his pocket to buy new players.
He said: “We are just going to have a chat about the club in general. Long-term, we need five or six players in the squad but short term I think we need two, maybe three.”
The England Under-21s keeper had been in outstanding form before suffering a knee injury in the 3-1 Boxing Day defeat at Manchester United.
And yesterday his loss was keenly felt as stand-in Vito Mannone had a nightmare.
Stoke forward Marko Arnautovic gained most with a devastating double.
But Peter Crouch – with his third goal in as many league games after failing to score in the top flight since May 2015 – also profited f rom Mannone’s embarrassment.
Jermain Defoe grabbed his 12th goal this season for Sunderland but it was no consolation as Stoke won a league game on Wearside for the first time in 15 visits.
Sunderland boss David Moyes said: “We were severely punished for three individual mistakes.
“We gave the ball away, we should have punched one or caught one and we got done by a double one-two.”
Stoke struck in the 15th minute when Jason Denayer gave the ball away and Xherdan Shaqiri sprayed it long from right to left for Arnautovic. His first touch was
perfect and his initial left-foot effort was stopped by the boot of Mannone. But the striker seized on the loose ball and slammed in a right-foot finish from an acute angle.
Arnautovic was now in overdrive and began and ended the move for his second in the 22nd minute.
First he took a return from Switzerland international Shaqiri and then another from Crouch to surge into the box and beat Mannone again at his near post, this time with his left foot.
If the Italian keeper thought it could not get any worse, he was wrong.
In the 33rd minute, Shaqiri drilled a long-range shot that the diving Italian spilled, the ball spinning beyond him and clipping the post before going wide.
But there was no reprieve a minute later. Charlie Adam centred from the left and Mannone missed his punch, Crouch beating him to it to head home.
That was the cue for some home fans to walk out and cries of: “Are you watching Ellis Short?’’ – a pointed message to the Sunderland chairman.