By David Williams
Callum Robinson left the Welsh derby with his head held high – rather than losing it as he did in this fixture two years ago.
The Cardiff striker grabbed an equaliser in a typically explosive Dai-namite Welsh derby that ended 1-1 with Bluebirds boss Erol Bulut sent off and another potential hoarding horror just a day after the Crystal Palace ball-boy incident.
After Robinson had levelled 11 minutes from time, jubilant Cardiff fans surged forward behind Swansea’s goal to celebrate with players and the boards in front of them dangerously toppled over.
It left Cardiff substitute Ollie Tanner needing treatment after the board appeared to crash down on his shin.
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Tanner – along with fellow substitute Rubin Colwill – played a crucial role in Robinson’s goal and the Bluebirds revival.
They had fallen behind to an early goal from the Swans’ Liam Cullen, but combined to set up Robinson, who was sent off in the 2022 derby for throwing the ball in the face of Ben Cabango.
This time it was Bulut who saw red after shoving and grappling with Swansea’s Kyle Naughton as they fought to pick up the ball before a throw-in.
Cardiff assistant coach Omer Riza claimed Bulut was likely to appeal the decision and said: “We think it’s a bit harsh.
“He was pulled onto the pitch by Naughton. To get a red card there is quite harsh, but I think the way he is talking, he will appeal. He was pulled and the player put his hands on him.”
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Robinson’s rescue act averted an early season crisis for Cardiff who were facing three straight defeats and an embarrassing sixth defeat in seven against their biggest rivals.
Riza added: “We are happy and hopefully this will give us momentum.
“We always knew the substitutes would play a massive part. We all know Rubin’s qualities and he is excellent when the game opens up.
“It was important to get something out of the game. We needed to be more aggressive and got the goal and maybe we could have got the second.”
Cullen is known as the Kilgetty Messi. At least, he is in a small area or rural Pembrokeshire around his home village.
But his moment in the sun was eclipsed by Colwill, who might just be the Neath Neymar after his impact on this bruising, boisterous and sometimes bad-tempered derby.
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His arrival in the second half sparked Cardiff who had been outplayed for an hour.
Swansea head coach Luke Williams admitted: “It’s a silent dressing room, as if we had lost.
“The message is that we have to fight to play how we want to play. Sometimes, there’s so much adrenaline that when you score the first goal there’s a temptation to calm down a little bit and try to see the game out.
“We didn’t continue to control the game properly and put pressure on Cardiff and we got what we deserved – a draw.
“We have to try and play the game how we want to play the game until the game is well out of sight. Then maybe we can start to suffocate the game, or kill the game. But we didn’t do either well enough today.”
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Cullen’s goal showcased his sense of anticipation as well as his calmness in front of goal.
He followed up Ronald’s shot and was handily placed ahead of his markers when Cardiff goalkeeper Ethan Horvath could only palm his save into the striker’s path.
But the spoils were shared when Robinson’ struck from the edge of the box after being set up by Colwill and Tanner.
Cullen had already fired in one snapshot from distance that lacked the power to test Horvath.
After his opener, the Swans looked well capable of quickly increasing their lead and were bright and purposeful, whilst Cardiff looked like a team used to conceding.
The Bluebirds managed to see it through to the break, though, as Swansea’s frothy opening dissolved.
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