Jordon Mutch and Fraizer Campbell had a fine day for Cardiff City as the two combined for both of the Bluebirds' goals, but it wasn't enough to down Sunderland. Two goals in the final 13 minutes, including the equalizer in the final second of stoppage time, helped the Black Cats rescue a point in a battle of two relegation-threatened sides.
Cardiff City vs. Sunderland: Final score 2-2, Black Cats stun the Bluebirds with a late comeback
Two goals in the final 13 minutes helped the Black Cats steal an important point in their fight to avoid relegation.
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The opening few minutes of the match were dominated by Jordon Mutch. Yep, Jordon Mutch. The Cardiff midfielder was all over the place early, pulling off an odd hat trick that included a dive in the 1st minute, a missed header in the 3rd minute and finally the opening goal in the 6th minute. Campbell found Mutch on the edge of the Sunderland area, and the 22-year-old sent a ball past Vito Mannone into the bottom right corner of the goal to tally for .
The Black Cats responded well to the goal and got themselves back into the match as the first half rolled on. Jozy Altidore had their best chance to equalize in the 31st minute, missing an absolute sitter in front of a wide-open net. The ball had rolled across the face of goal and, while the striker will likely claim the ball jumped up on him, he really should have scored.
Fabio Borini was subbed off at the break and it was first reported he'd fallen ill at halftime. As the second half progressed, more news came out that the Sunderland player had collapsed in the locker room and was taken to the hospital.
Cardiff doubled their lead in the 58th minute as the goal scorer and assist man on their first switched places. Mutch made a nice move on the dribble to beat his marker before firing a cross into the area that Campbell directed past Mannone.
Just when it looked like the Bluebirds were cruising to a win, Sunderland finally fought back. Emanuele Giaccherini found Steven Fletcher in the center of the box and whipped in a lovely cross. Fletcher went right around a defender and poked the ball past David Marshall with a sliding effort to make it 2-1 with seven minutes to play.
With time all but gone, Sunderland got the miracle equalizer. A close range shot by Jack Colback deflected off Steven Caulker and drastically changed directions. There was nothing that Marshall could do as the ball found the back of the net, giving the Black Cats a point that had looked impossible minutes earlier.
Cardiff City: Marshall, Caulker, Turner, Theopile-Catherine, John, Whittingham, Medel, Kim (Gunnarsson 79’), Noone (Cowie 72’), Mutch, Campbell (Cornelius 82’)
Goals: Mutch (6’), Campbell (58’)
Sunderland: Mannone, Bardsley, Dossena, Diakite, Roberge, Ki Sun-Yueng, Larsson (Gardner 74’), Giaccherini, Borini (Fletcher 45’), Cattermole (Colback 74’), Altidore
Goals: Fletcher (83’), Colback (95’)
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