Cardiff City 2-1 Stoke City: Bluebirds end home goal drought to see off struggling Potters

Cardiff City finally ended their goal drought at Cardiff City Stadium to see off fellow out-of-form side Stoke City and ease pressure on boss Erol Bulut.

Kion Etete headed home his first league goal since September to put the hosts in front, their first goal at home in five attempts, before Karlan Grant doubled the lead after half an hour.

Jun-ho Bae put Stoke back in it just before the interval after pouncing on a rebound from Lewis Baker's freekick, while Niall Ennis came close to restoring parity just after the break, but was twice denied by Ethan Horvath.

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Stoke might well consider themselves unlucky not to have claimed a point here, given their improved performance in the second half. They might also feel aggrieved that Rubin Colwill's elbow on Josh Laurent midway through the second half wasn't spotted by the officials.

But Cardiff's defensive resilience will, in contrast, have been just as pleasing as their efforts in front of goal for Bulut, who had previously overseen a run of just one win in eight games in all competitions before this triumph.

Bulut insisted he was encouraged by what he saw in the 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers here on Tuesday, but nevertheless opted for three changes for this showdown with the Potters, with captain Joe Ralls returning at the heart of midfield.

He arguably justified his return after just five minutes. Sign up to our Cardiff City daily newsletter here.

Colwill's deflected effort over the bar earned his side a corner, and the captain's bending corner bounced off