Cardiff City 2-2 Plymouth Argyle: Grant stunner not enough as Whittaker brace earns Pilgrims draw

Morgan Whittaker struck twice for Plymouth Argyle to earn them a 2-2 draw with Cardiff City in an evenly-fought contest in the Welsh capital.

In front of the watchful eye of Vincent Tan, Erol Bulut's side started well and showed the owner just how much they had improved from his last visit, a defeat by Hull City under Mark Hudson's stewardship in November 2022. But, against the run of play, Morgan Whittaker put the Pilgrims ahead early on.

The Bluebirds responded well, but their leveller came through a shocking mix-up between Matt Butcher and goalkeeper Conor Hazard, which saw the former pass the ball into his own net on 30 minutes. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here

It was a topsy-turvy clash, with both teams enjoying periods of dominance. Karlan Grant gave City the lead when he belted home a piledriver from the edge of the penalty area, but Whittaker returned the favour 20 minutes later to get the game on level terms with 25 minutes left to play.

Both sides huffed and puffed late on, but a draw, all things considered, was the fair result

Bulut opted to freshen the starting linup for the clash against the Pilgrims, giving Manolis Siopis a much-deserved rest and instead he selected a Joe Ralls-Ryan Wintle midfield axis. Rubin Colwill was called back into the starting lineup, while Kion Etete was given the nod up top after his bright showing up at Hillsborough before Christmas. Josh Bowler and Callum Robinson also took seats on the bench.

After a couple of poor games, it was heartening to see a decent contest at Cardiff City Stadium. The Pilgrims arguably looked more accomplished on the ball, but the Bluebirds had more of it and did cause some issues.

It was against the run of play when the visitors took the lead