Anthony Pilkington strikes to seal Cardiff comeback win at Bristol City

Anthony Pilkington struck a superb 25-yard winner as Cardiff City twice came from behind at Ashton Gate.

It was his second goal of the match and came five minutes from the end as improving Cardiff made it back-to-back league wins while leaving their opponents in deeper trouble.

Lee Johnson’s side have now lost 10 of their past 11 Championship matches – with their most recent victory coming against Ipswich Town at the start of December – and have tumbled down the league standings.

“Angry, frustrated and vexed are words that come to mind,” said Johnson. “We have to see that out, but there was a fear to our play and we have lost to a fantastic strike.

“Cardiff did not have to work that hard to win. I haven’t seen the penalty incident back, but I had no complaints at the time.

“We have had some excellent individual performances, but as a team we panicked in the closing stages and that is not acceptable.

“The players have to look hard at themselves, and the same applies to me. I have faith in my squad and I am sure we will turn things around. But words are cheap.

“There is no one hurting more than me. We work hard every day and we stick together.

“We have scored twice at home again and lost.”

Despite a heated atmosphere for the noon kick-off, the first half was low-key. Cardiff registered the first goal attempt after eight minutes, when Peter Whittingham’s fierce shot from distance was deflected over the bar.

Joe Bryan had a shot blocked by Sol Bamba as the hosts began to press and in the 25th minute he forced a diving save from Brian Murphy with a low 25-yard drive.

All the action came in the second half. Bristol City went ahead in the 51st minute when Bryan’s volley from just outside the area hit the crossbar and then struck the back of the keeper Murphy, who conceded an unfortunate own goal.

The home side looked comfortable until the 74th minute, when Mark Little gave away an unnecessary penalty by tripping Joe Ralls, with the ball heading away from goal. 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 substitute 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 to earn the visitors all three points.

The Cardiff manager, Neil Warnock, said: “At 2-1 down I was stood there thinking ‘why am I still doing this job at 68?’ At 3-2 up I remembered exactly why I am doing it!

“It’s always special beating Bristol City for me, because you have to work hard for anything you get at Ashton Gate.

“The winning goal was a fantastic strike and I haven’t run so fast in ages. I’m delighted for our fans, who contributed to a brilliant atmosphere.

“We still need five or six players to get to where we want to be. I am meeting the chairman tonight and hope he will be in a good mood.

“But I am delighted with what the current squad are doing. The players are buying into how I want to play and we are making progress.”