Camarasa wonder strike caps Cardiff ’s ‘best display of season’

This was Cardiff ’s first away win at this level since April 2014 and must have felt like unearthing gold bullion for manager Neil Warnock.

Victor Camarasa’s wonderful goal in the second minute of added time secured a dramatic victory, but Cardiff ’s day was arguably defined by an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Neil Etheridge who made his third penalty save of the season, this time from James Maddison late in the second half, and many other excellent stops before Camarasa’s curler breathed new hope into their survival bid.

The Welsh club are now four points clear of the dreaded dotted line, and this was a hugely impressive result for the strugglers against a woeful Leicester.

“This was our best performance of the season by an absolute mile,” said Warnock. “It’s our best day since we got back to the Premier League. We’ve bust a few coupons for sure. We’re still one of the favourites to get relegated, but we feel we’ve got a chance.”

This was peak Claude Puel, whose Leicester side endured an agonising afternoon after two excellent results against Chelsea and Manchester City.

They were denied at least five times by Etheridge but never looked convincing, while Puel’s substitutions were again difficult to understand.

Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton and Demarai Gray were all taken off late on, and Hamza Choudhury, an impressive performer in the previous two games, did not even make the squad.

Etheridge was a one-man barricade in the first half. Maddison was denied twice, and Ricardo Pereira, the scorer of the spectacular winner against Manchester City, also tested the goalkeeper from inside the area.

Despite his late embarrassment, Maddison was a constant source of invention for Leicester, despite the close attentions of Aron Gunnarsson.

Towards the end of the first half, Cardiff became more menacing but still required Etheridge to frustrate Vardy with another save in the 41st minute.

Cardiff nearly capitalised on a dreadful error from Caglar Soyuncu in the 67th minute as Murphy advanced towards goal before driving a low shot which was held by Kasper Schmeichel. Puel replaced an unhappy Vardy with Kelechi Iheanacho shortly after, perhaps a clear sign that Warnock’s gameplan had worked.

In the 74th minute, Maddison tumbled under a challenge from Sean Morrison in the area, but his spot kick was easily saved by Etheridge – the second poor penalty from the £21million signing this month. Cardiff then snatched the three points when Camarasa, a loan signing from Real Betis, lifted a shot into the far corner.

Leicester were booed off and Puel said: “Of course, this is a big disappointment. It is difficult to accept, and a draw was a minimum.

“We knew before it would be tough, but we played a team with another style of play after Chelsea and City.”