Goals from Ollie Cooper and Michael Obafemi earned Swansea City their third successive South Wales derby triumph against 10-man Cardiff City.Callum Robinson was sent off with just seven minutes on the clock at the Swansea.com Stadium to leave the Bluebirds with an almighty uphill battle from early on.And the Swans took full advantage as Cooper and Obafemi struck either side of half-time as Russell Martin's outfit moved up to fourth in the Championship standings while Cardiff stayed in 20th, just two points above the relegation zone.Martin stuck with the same side that started the 3-2 triumph over Reading on Tuesday night as Ryan Manning, Jamie Paterson, Joel Piroe and Joe Allen all missed out.
As for Mark Hudson, he made three alterations to his line-up following the 3-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers.Tom Sang started in place of the injured Perry Ng while Joe Ralls and Curtis Nelson came in for Romaine Sawyers and Jack Simpson respectively.
The electric atmosphere reached fever-pitch levels once the game got underway, with several thundering challenges drawing roars from the sell-out crowd in the opening stages.Cardiff started with a real intensity and caused the Swans problems early on, but a moment of madness from Robinson completely changed the outlook of the contest.The striker fouled Matt Grimes and proceeded to hurl the ball into the face of Ben Cabango, earning a straight red card from referee Darren Bond after just seven minutes.
It dampened what had been a positive opening from the Bluebirds, with Swansea going on to dominate possession given their numerical advantage.