HEROES Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Sean Morrison gave Cardiff a massive Premier League lifeline as Neil Warnock tries to match Tiger Woods in the sporting comeback stakes.
In his fight for survival, Cardiff boss Warnock says he will take inspiration from American Woods’ stunning against-the-odds Masters victory at the age of 43 after years of injury woes.
Like golfer Woods, the Bluebirds have been written off many times, seemingly destined for Championship relegation with time running out to save their season.
But this incredibly important victory over fellow strugglers Brighton gives that old campaigner Warnock the chance to stage his own equally miraculous fight-back.
Thanks to Mendez-Laing’s first-half screamer and then a precise header from Morrison, Cardiff have closed the gap on the Seagulls to TWO points with four matches left.
Though Chris Hughton’s men have a match in hand – away to Tottenham – they are in free-fall and lacking confidence and morale.
This was their FIFTH straight defeat and given they have to visit Wolves and Arsenal, before a season-ender at home to Man City, it could be argued the momentum is with the Welsh side.
It was perhaps no great surprise, given the embarrassing manner in which they capitulated against Bournemouth on Saturday, that Hughton would make significant changes to his starting XI.
In an attempt to fresh up the side, Yves Bissouma, Martin Montoya, Florin Andone and Jurgen Locadia were all dropped – presumably the ones Hughton felt were to blame for the heaviest loss ever suffered at the Amex stadium.
Anthony Knockaert, of course, was the worst offender of that humiliating loss. The 27-year-old remains suspended for three matches for his reckless red-card lunge on Bournemouth’s Adam Smith.
Hughton understandably said the French playmaker had let the side down for letting his frustrations get the better of him.
In their places came the evergreen Glenn Murray up front, captain Bruno at right-back, with Solly March, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Pascal Gross occupying midfield roles.
Murray, so often the hero round these parts, could have had an instant impact two minutes into the match when he diligently chased down a punt forward.
Yet Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge had the foresight to sprint out immediately from his penalty area and while sliding, scramble the ball clear to safety.
Nine minutes had passed when Brighton players and fans were screaming in unison for a penalty.
Cardiff defender Bruno Ecuele Manga brought dragged down Lewis Dunk by the neck as the pair tussled in the penalty box for Pascal Gross’s free-kick.
Yet the referee Andre Marriner was not convinced, presumably deciding against incurring the wrath of Warnock on that occasion.
For their arrival on the South Coast last night, Cardiff made three changes to the side that lost to Burnley last weekend.
The trio of Joe Ralls, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Oumar Niasse replaced the underperforming Harry Arter, Kenneth Zohore and Josh Murphy from that Turf Moor loss.
The introduction of Mendez-Laing, in particular, proved to be a masterstroke.
On 22 minutes, after Brighton midfielder Davy Propper was tackled heavily, albeit fairly in the eyes of the referee, Cardiff broke with numbers and intent.
Junior Hoilett fed Mendez-Laing the ball in space and the winger produced a stunner from 20 yards which curled beyond the outstretched hand of Brighton goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.
It was an unstoppable strike – amazingly it was only his second goal this campaign – and a rare moment of quality in an otherwise drab match.
In comparison, shooting has been an issue for Brighton in recent games and they had to wait until the 91st minute against Bournemouth to register their first shot on target.
This time it took until the 29th minute when they finally tested the palms of Cardiff keeper Etheridge, but he was more than capable to catch the header from Shane Duffy from a corner.
Rather than boo off the team at half-time, which would have been completely understandable, Brighton fans upped the decibel level and tried to install belief into their weary stars.
It did not have the desired effect. Five minutes into the second half, Victor Camarasa floated over the free-kick and the ever reliable captain Morrison headed home confidently for his first goal for almost 12 months. Nearest Brighton defender Lewis Dunk would be rightly annoyed for failing to clear the delivery.
Brighton, scorers of just two league goals at home in 2019, offered little in response throughout the seconds half, though Murray had one header crashed against the crossbar in stoppage-time.
As the match came to its natural conclusion, the Cardiff faithful sang: “There’s only one Neil Warnock.”
And you know what, despite all those insurmountable odds, considering her never achieved it with Sheffield United, the 70-year-old might just pull off this Great Escape.
