Championship
Aussie Robertson's stunner wins nine-goal thriller
Australian Alex Robertson rode a rollercoaster as Cardiff City won a nine-goal thriller against Burnley in the EFL Championship, firing home a sensational stoppage-time winner as the hosts claimed a 5-4 victory having been 4-1 down just after the hour mark.… Show More
Australian Alex Robertson rode a rollercoaster as Cardiff City won a nine-goal thriller against Burnley in the EFL Championship, firing home a sensational stoppage-time winner as the hosts claimed a 5-4 victory having been 4-1 down just after the hour mark.
Robertson had put through his own net to hand Burnley a three-goal lead in the 62nd minute, with the Clarets seemingly certain of claiming the three points.
But a double from Yousef Salech, which sandwiched a converted penalty from Jack Moylan, dragged the Bluebirds back level, and Robertson was able to blast a long-range winner in the 95th minute to record the unlikeliest of victories.
Burnley, which had won just two of its previous 43 league games ahead of the trip to Cardiff City Stadium, was 2-0 up within 25 minutes.
Andreas Hountondji and Marcus Edwards put the Clarets in a commanding position, but Ollie Tanner pulled one back for the hosts five minutes before the break.
However, Fabio Celestini's side pulled further ahead with two more goals, with Largie Ramazani's strike followed up by Robertson's own goal.
Salech came off the bench to score his double, the second of which came eight minutes from time, before Robertson atoned for his earlier error with one of the best goals of the season so far.
"It's a very memorable day," Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy said.
"Even at 4-1 we felt we could be dangerous, but we obviously knew of the consequences if we didn't.
"We had a lot of players playing who normally wouldn't have played. Perry [Ng] was playing with one leg, Kristian Bielik wasn't fit, Will Fish and Alex Robertson the same.
"It felt like a throwback to days gone by in that sense.
"From the moment we got the second goal, I felt as though we had become a very dangerous team, and the players' belief was very evident.
"We have a very small squad that is stretched very thin, but we still have lots of attacking players who are so willing to learn and improve."
Cardiff ensured it did not lose back-to-back league games against Burnley for the first time since April 1977, but it was yet more misery for the Clarets.
Burnley remains in the relegation zone on 10 points, level with Derby County, which ended its own winless league run with a 3-1 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday (AEDT).
Fabio Celestini, however, was bemused by the lack of fight and endeavour from his players, adding that squandering a three-goal lead showed the fragility within his squad.
"When it is 4-1, you have to control the game. We have to talk about what went wrong, live, it is very difficult to understand because you are emotional," he conceded.
"Maybe we have to understand where we are and what our situation is. I can understand if there is fragility at 1-0, but it cannot happen at 4-1.
"It's very difficult to accept the situation, but in the last two games the team was more consistent.
"Normally, you don't need to score four or five times to win a game, but that's the reality."
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