Cardiff City handed their Premier League survival hopes a timely boost with a 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Fulham this afternoon.
Steven Caulker scored a brace for the hosts either side of a Lewis Holtby equaliser that gave the Cottagers hope of a first league win since New Year's Day.
However, an unlucky Sascha Riether own goal ended any such hopes, leaving Fulham cast adrift at the bottom of the table and lifting Cardiff up to 18th.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at a potentially pivotal afternoon in South Wales.
Match statistics
Cardiff
Shots: 19
On target: 9
Possession: 46%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 9
Fulham
Shots: 14
On target: 6
Possession: 54%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 12
Was the result fair?
Yes. Both sides struggled to create anything substantial for the vast majority of the first half, but Cardiff were the team who looked most like scoring, albeit from speculative long-range efforts most of the time. The match opened up a little in the second half, but once again it was Cardiff who looked most dangerous until they took a two-goal lead, at which point they began to sit back. Fulham certainly didn't do enough to warrant a win from today's match, while a draw would have also flattered Felix Magath's side. Both teams approached the first half as more of a 'must not lose' encounter than a 'must win' one, and that made for a lack of urgency that did not match the magnitude of the game. Fulham only really began to show that urgency when two goals down, and by then it was too late.
Cardiff's performance
The performance today was almost irrelevant - it was all about getting the three points. They did exactly that, although the final score could well paper over the cracks as it was by no means a convincing Cardiff display for large periods. The home crowd began to get restless at the end of the first half as their side had not shown any urgency or desire to get at the league's leakiest defence. Caulker's opening goal prevented what was looking like an inevitable chorus of boos at the half-time whistle. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be happy with how his side responded to Fulham's equaliser and, overall, he will be pleased with the performance, although that will be largely affected by the result. Cardiff certainly rode their luck at times, indeed all three goals had an element of fortune about them, but the Bluebirds would argue that they are due some this season.
Fulham's performance
Today's performance will not have filled Fulham fans with much optimism. In what was a must-win game for the Cottagers they lacked urgency, pace and any discernible quality that may suggest that they are capable of staying in the division. The first half was remarkable for how little Fulham threatened the Cardiff goal despite the importance that hung on getting a positive result from the match. Kostas Mitroglou failed to cause problems, while Felix Magath's brave but baffling risk to start untried 19-year-old Cauley Woodrow in such a big game backfired as he barely featured. The second half was certainly an improvement and they came close on a couple of occasions other than Holtby's goal, but the defence once again proved to be the weak link as they conceded three times to what was the league's worst attack before the game. It is hard to see a way back for the Cottagers now.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Steven Caulker: Jordan Mutch and Craig Noone both played well for the hosts, but the Man-of-the-Match award has to go to Steven Caulker. When Cardiff needed their captain to lead by example, he did exactly that, scoring two goals to hand them a victory in arguably their biggest match of the season. The first goal was fairly lucky as Noone's cross deflected into his path, but the centre-back at least took the risk to get into a dangerous area and was rewarded with a simple finish. The second was a commanding leap and strong downward header, although again there was a slight piece of luck as Maarten Stekelenburg should have saved it.
Biggest gaffe
There may have been an own goal in this match, but it was so unlucky that Riether can't be given the gaffe of the game for it. Instead, that goes to Stekelenburg for his goalkeeping during Caulker's second goal of the afternoon. It was a good header from the Cardiff skipper, but the Fulham keeper will be disappointed with his effort to keep it out. It was pretty much straight at him and he should have made the save which would have denied Cardiff a game-changing - and perhaps a season-changing - second goal.
Referee performance
Martin Atkinson had a fairly quiet afternoon today, with few big decisions to make. The biggest call from the officials was to disallow a Steve Sidwell header that would have made it 3-2 with time left for the visitors to grab another goal back, but the linesman was right to raise his flag for offside.
What next?
Cardiff: Cardiff face the daunting task of a trip to Merseyside next Saturday as they take on Everton away.
Fulham: Fulham, meanwhile, will be desperately searching for points when they host Newcastle United at Craven Cottage, also on Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
