Match ends, Cardiff City 3, Leeds United 1.
Cardiff City overwhelmed Leeds with a breathless display to overtake them at the top of the Championship.
The relentless hosts led 2-0 at the break thanks to Kenneth Zohore's close-range finish and a thumping 20-yard strike from Junior Hoilett.
Leeds had captain Liam Cooper sent off shortly before half-time before Zohore slid in Cardiff's third after an hour.
The visitors responded with Kemar Roofe's deflected effort, but were ultimately well beaten.
Thomas Christiansen's side drop to second place in the table - three points behind Cardiff - but they could slip further down when third-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers visit Sheffield United on Wednesday.
A Cardiff City Stadium crowd of 27,160, the Bluebirds' biggest of the season, made for a raucous atmosphere in this eagerly anticipated meeting between the Championship's first and third-placed sides, separated only by goal difference before kick-off.
Full-blooded and entertaining
The home side thrived on the sense of occasion, producing a full-blooded and, in turn, entertaining performance typical of manager Neil Warnock's tenure.
Organised defensively, energetic in midfield and quick and powerful in attack, it was Cardiff's fervent pressing that unsettled Leeds and forced them into the crucial mistake which led to the opening goal.
With the visitors pinned back in their own half and unable to play their favoured possession-based game, Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich slipped and lost possession to Loic Damour.
The French midfielder wasted little time in freeing Hoilett, who skipped through the Leeds defence and squared the ball to Zohore, who fired in from a few yards to score his first goal since the opening weekend of the season.
Cardiff doubled their lead within 10 minutes as Hoilett unleashed a swerving shot from the edge of the penalty area which whistled past Felix Wiedwald into the net.
Leeds' task was made even harder when centre-back Cooper was sent off for a second yellow card, courtesy of an ill-timed lunge at Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
It got worse for the visitors as Zohore tapped in the hosts' third after some crisp build-up play and, although Christiansen's side gave themselves a glimmer of hope as Roofe's deflected effort bobbled in, Cardiff coasted to a fourth win from five home league games this season.
Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock said:
"I'm proud of the whole club. The fans were fantastic, the players responded and I thought there was excitement all over the show.
"I thought the strikers looked dangerous all the time and it was great to see Ken get two taps-ins.
"I told him it would be one from a yard that gets him back on it. He's played well over the last few weeks but he never had a chance."
Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen said:
"Disappointed of course with the result in a top game. It was important in the first half, the two mistakes brought Cardiff into the game without creating any problems for us.
"Then the red card to finalise the first half was very bad… if we want to come back into the game. The performance of the team in the second half was very good, a good response, good character.
"The team played better with 10 than 11.
"They [Cardiff] did what I expected them to do. It's a strong team at home with their crowd."
Line-ups
Cardiff
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 25Etheridge
- 2Peltier
- 4Morrison
- 5Ecuele Manga
- 3Bennett
- 14BambaSubstituted forHalfordat 90+2'minutes
- 19Mendez-LaingSubstituted forFeeneyat 85'minutes
- 20Damour
- 21Bryson
- 33Hoilett
- 10ZohoreSubstituted forWardat 76'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Tomlin
- 9Ward
- 12Feeney
- 15Halford
- 16Connolly
- 28Murphy
- 30Bogle
Leeds
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 13Wiedwald
- 2Ayling
- 18Jansson
- 6CooperBooked at 45mins
- 28Berardi
- 43KlichSubstituted forVieiraat 67'minutes
- 23PhillipsBooked at 23mins
- 10AlioskiSubstituted forGrotat 62'minutes
- 19HernándezSubstituted forPenningtonat 45'minutes
- 15Dallas
- 7Roofe
Substitutes
- 1Lonergan
- 5Pennington
- 9Lasogga
- 11Grot
- 21Sáiz
- 24Sacko
- 25Vieira
- Referee:
- Kevin Friend
- Attendance:
- 27,160
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home40%
- Away60%
- Shots
- Home15
- Away8
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away3
- Corners
- Home2
- Away0
- Fouls
- Home16
- Away15
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Cardiff City 3, Leeds United 1.
Substitution
Substitution, Cardiff City. Greg Halford replaces Sol Bamba.
Post update
Attempt missed. Ronaldo Vieira (Leeds United) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Felix Wiedwald.
Post update
Attempt saved. David Junior Hoilett (Cardiff City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Post update
Foul by Jay-Roy Grot (Leeds United).
Post update
Sean Morrison (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Attempt saved. Loïc Damour (Cardiff City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by David Junior Hoilett.
Substitution
Substitution, Cardiff City. Liam Feeney replaces Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
Post update
Matthew Pennington (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Danny Ward (Cardiff City).
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Attempt missed. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (Cardiff City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right.
Post update
Foul by Ronaldo Vieira (Leeds United).
Post update
Craig Bryson (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Danny Ward (Cardiff City).
Post update
Offside, Leeds United. Gaetano Berardi tries a through ball, but Stuart Dallas is caught offside.
Post update
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Post update
Delay in match Lee Peltier (Cardiff City) because of an injury.
Substitution
Substitution, Cardiff City. Danny Ward replaces Kenneth Zohore.
Comments
Join the conversation
The vast majority of their fans are fine Yorkshire folk and deserve better.
I think you are confusing league 1 with the old division 1 which Leeds won 3 times in addition to the FA Cup, Fairs Cup and final of the European Cup. I guess that's 'no history'. Over 30,000 'rubbish fans' at every home game, more away fans than any other team so on Sky more often than any other Championship team. Yeah, rubbish is what you've just said.
both sets of fans played there part ...and fair play to leeds, filled there allocation on a school night
with my little "pick and shovel"
@ Sheffield6: Well done, you've made a Huddersfield Town fan feel sympathy towards Leeds- they said it couldn't be done!
You're MASSIVE though aren't you? I'm sure you can take it...
#OooohForestieri!
#UTT
I must've missed Oldham and Fleetwood winning multiple trophies.
No surprise to see a Wednesday fan spouting off again at Leeds. I thought you'd have kept quiet after that dismal performance last weekend against the neighbours!!.
Enjoy the game on Sunday, good to see you've got on Sky again......saying that it's probably cos you're playing Leeds. Statistics are proven that very reason is the amount of viewers sky get in return when Leeds play x
Easy to fill seats when you're top of the league and playing champagne football.
A couple of years ago Leeds struggled to get 17-19k for Championship games against Fulham and Blackburn and the like. If you're not winning, you can't be arsed.