The derby swung in the space of six second half minutes.

73 seconds after Cardiff and Swansea returned from halftime, Bluebirds striker Callum Robinson had put the home side ahead, sparking jubilation in the stands.

Ollie Tanner’s speculative cross bounced into the box, evading Ben Cabango, with Robinson’s chest control taking him away from Harry Darling.

The Cardiff top scorers’ swivel and left foot finish was a sublime piece of skill befitting a match of the highest tension.

Four minutes later, Robinson’s second – capitalising on a lose Josh Tymon ball – had put the result firmly in Cardiff hands. Another authoritative left-footed effort, Lawrence Vigouroux had no chance in goal.

Rampant Robinson

Robinson was the talk of the build-up, with many asking whether Cabango and Darling – rushed back from injury for this fixture – could handle the man in form for Cardiff.

With this derby day brace, coupled with his equalizer in the reverse fixture in August, Robinson now has scored 30% of his Championship goals this season against Swansea City – a statistic that will warm the hearts of Cardiff fans everywhere.

The former West Bromwich Albion forward became the first Cardiff player to score two goals in a South Wales Derby since Michael Chopra in 2010.

Not only that, but he also now has the best goals record per 90 minutes of any striker in the top 20 scorers in the division.

Perfect Third

The home crowd was given one more chance to descend into raptures when centre half Dimitri Goutas crashed in a bullet header from Alex Robertson’s corner, that found the net via an oh-so-satisfying clip of the crossbar.

A 3-0 victory for Cardiff represents their biggest win in the South Wales Derby for 31 years. The last time Cardiff beat Swansea by a bigger margin in a league fixture was 1965.

Swansea, despite winning five of the last seven derbies, are yet to win a match in 2025 and looked short of confidence and quality at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Catalyst?

Perhaps more important even than the bragging rights that Bluebirds fans now have for the rest of the season, is the fact that this result has lifted Cardiff out of the relegation zone for the first time since the beginning of the season.

With fellow strugglers Hull City and Portsmouth also showing signs of improvement, Cardiff need this derby victory to potentially push on away from the relegation battle come the end of the season.

February represents an important month for Cardiff, with away trips to Portsmouth, and Plymouth Argyle – both teams in the relegation zone.

Quietly, Cardiff have been in excellent form so far in 2025, drawing 1-1 with Coventry City, Middlesbrough, and Watford prior to the derby.

Add in a Christmastime 1-2 away win at Watford and a 0-1 FA Cup third round smash-and-grab at Sheffield United, and Cardiff are unbeaten in seven, easily their best run of the 2024/25 season.

On-Pitch Success, Off-Pitch Protests

While the mood on the pitch has improved, it is clear that some Cardiff fans still have valid grievances with the board of the club.

Hundreds, perhaps as many as a thousand, of home fans had marched to the stadium in protest against the club’s owners before the derby, but once they were inside the ground their support was unwavering for a game which their rivals have dominated in recent years.

The derby took on a particularly poignant aspect, as Cardiff manager Omer Riza announced prior to the fixture had his father had passed away.

Riza had travelled to see his father Josh in London before he died on Thursday, but the Bluebirds boss was back for training on Friday and stood on the touchline on Saturday as Cardiff powered to their biggest south Wales derby league victory since 1965.

With players and staff wearing black armbands in commemoration, Riza shared a tender moment with the fans, as they sung “this one’s for your dad” during the dying moments of the match.

The only sour note for Riza was his late red card for confronting Swansea midfielder Goncalo Franco on the pitch, a flashpoint which seemed to contribute to a post-match melee involving almost every player and coach on both sides.

It was a mark of the connection Riza has built with the fans that they gave him a standing ovation even as he was sent-off. Cardiff’s supporters lapped it all up, rejoicing in a rare and utterly comprehensive victory over their oldest enemies.

‘They really wanted to do it for the gaffer’

“It’s really heartwarming because I know there’s been a lot of great messages from fans,” said Tom Ramasut, Cardiff’s assistant manager.

“It’s been an extremely difficult week. What’s been such a warming feeling is the support he’s had from the players, all the staff, and the togetherness we’ve shown and I’m sure he’s taken a lot of comfort from that.

“I’m sure his father will be looking down. I think he felt like he had a responsibility and that was the right thing to do. There are players there who have played many derbies now and they understand what it means for the fans, the club, the whole city.

“They knew there was that motivation. They really wanted to do it for the gaffer as well.”

With this result, Riza and the Cardiff fans will be hoping that it can be the catalyst to a run of wins that pull them away from the threat of relegation and potentially even catch their great rivals in midtable.

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