NEIL’S BOYS IN FOUR-SOME SHOW

BOTH these teams might be fretting about their Premier League futures but Cardiff slept better than Fulham last night after this six-goal thriller.

Life in the top flight can be cruel for clubs who, against the odds, find themselves taking on the big boys.

But that does not mean they cannot produce classic encounters such as this basement battle in the Welsh capital.

Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock was elated as his side celebrated their first win of the campaign and moved off the bottom of the table and out of the dreaded drop zone.

A sizzling attacking display produced two goals in either half and Warnock could not stop grinning.

He said: “I am both relieved and happy. It’s been a long season until now. To wait until mid-October for your first win is very hard.

“But it was a brilliant game to watch. I told the guys beforehand this is when our season starts and again at half-time.

“I’m so pleased because we were on the front foot from the start.

“We know we can compete at this level. This gives me, the players and the fans a huge lift.”

Opposite number Slavisa Jokanovic was suitably unimpressed by his side’s latest horror show. Three defeats on the bounce and

12 goals conceded underlines why Fulham are in freefall. They are now 18th and seemingly unable to stop their alarming slide.

The Serb said: “The process to settle into the Premier League is long and we are frustrated. We had four centre-backs, we defended in numbers but still conceded four.

“We’ll keep looking for the solution, that’s my job. There are positives but the negatives are killing us.”

With so much at stake a cagey affair was expected. Instead it was the opposite, especially in the first half.

It was Andre

Schurrle who started the party with a 25-yard rocket on

11 minutes.

It was hard on Cardiff but they did not let it stifle their attacking ambitions and two minutes later they were level.

Josh Murphy was given the freedom of the left flank and cut in to fire home a neat finish.

With 20 minutes gone Cardiff were ahead thanks to more poor defending as Bobby Reid was allowed to grab his first top-flight goal.

For a brief spell it seemed they might finish off Fulham by half-time but Aleksandar Mitrovic set up Ryan Sessegnon and it was game on.

Warnock’s battlers seized back the initiative when Callum Paterson rattled in a fine strike and, just for good measure, substitute Kadeem Harris sealed a great afternoon by tapping in

a killer fourth.