Blackpool 1-3 Cardiff City: Bluebirds blow Mick McCarthy's side away with three first-half goals in huge boost to survival hopes

Cardiff City blew Blackpool away with three first-half goals to earn a crucial three points against their fellow relegation strugglers at Bloomfield Road.

Connor Wickham was the star man for City, scoring one and providing the assists for the other two, scored by Sory Kaba and Joe Ralls, after a turbulent week for him personally.

Following a devastating 3-2 defeat by bitter rivals Swansea City last week, bouncing back in such emphatic fashion was the perfect response.

The game started pretty evenly, all things considered, which made what was to follow all the more surprising.

Cardiff, the division's lowest scorers, blew Mick McCarthy's Blackpool into the Irish Sea with a dazzling first-half performance, the likes of which we haven't seen in some time.

And it was bound to be Wickham, wasn't it? The man who has been at the focus of such scrutiny this week after posting a video which appeared to show him inhaling laughing gas after the defeat by Swansea City, an incident Sabri Lamouchi branded "stupid".

While Wickham apologised in the aftermath, he did his real talking with his feet. He opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Mahlon Romeo lofted a perfect ball to the back post, which prompted Wickham to rise above former Bluebirds Curtis Nelson before burying it past Chris Maxwell.

It gave the visitors, and their fans, a huge boost, and Cardiff visibly lifted after Wickham's strike.

A rasping shot from Cedric Kipre and a driven effort from Jaden Philogene were both saved well by Maxwell before Kaba doubled the Bluebirds' lead.

Wickham lobbed a pass over the Blackpool defence, who simply didn't deal with the issue, and Kaba raced through before rounding Maxwell and tapping home his fifth goal in 10 games for the club.

But