Chelsea produced a dramatic late show to score twice in the last six minutes to claim a controversial 2-1 win at Cardiff that kept their Champions League hopes alive.
Victor Camarasa swept Cardiff ahead with a delicious volley straight after the restart, before Chelsea scored twice in the final six minutes through Cesar Azpilicueta and substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The win moves Chelsea to within one point of fourth-placed Manchester United, but Azpilicueta's equaliser was mired in controversy as he looked two yards offside when heading in after Marcos Alonso had flicked on Willian's corner.
Cardiff were also furious that Antonio Rudiger escaped a red card for dragging down Kenneth Zohore moments later with the striker breaking through on goal.
Rudiger was only shown a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson, but there was worse to come for Cardiff when Loftus-Cheek beat Lee Peltier to Willian's deep cross to head home in the first of four minutes of stoppage time.
"I have no idea what he can be looking at"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 31, 2019
Graeme Souness left baffled by the officiating at Cardiff.
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Cardiff fuming with decisions
The result is particularly painful for a Cardiff side who had looked like ending a run of 16 successive Premier League defeats against sides currently in the top six.
Wins for Burnley and Southampton on Saturday had opened the gap on the Bluebirds in the final relegation place to five points and they are fast running out of time to stay in the Premier League.
Before the late rescue act, Chelsea had been awful and the travelling fans had called for the dismissal of manager Maurizio Sarri.
Sarri's day was also laced with questionable selection as Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante were dropped to the bench. Callum Hudson-Odoi was again deprived of making his first Premier League start after impressing for England in Montenegro on Monday.
Chelsea fan protest
The game was crying out for Hazard's arrival, but there was no sign of the Belgian after the break and Cardiff were ahead within 52 seconds of the restart.
Arter swung over a cross after Aron Gunnarsson's long throw had been cleared back to the Iceland midfielder.
Camarasa met the low dipping ball on the volley to beat Kepa from 15 yards for his fifth goal of the season.
🗣️ "You don't know what you're doing..."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 31, 2019
🗣️ "We want Sarri out..."
Chelsea fans make their feelings known as Giroud replaces Higuain for the Blues' final change and so we will not be seeing Callum Hudson-Odoi today.
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"We want Sarri out," chanted the Chelsea fans as the manager responded with an overdue susbstitution, replacing Pedro with Hazard after 53 minutes.
The switch changed the direction of the game. Hazard brought finesse to Chelsea as Mateo Kovacic fired over from 25 yards and the Belgian himself was crowded out in a congested goalmouth.
Willian whistled another shot wide before growing Chelsea pressure brought joy that the visitors - and Sarri - barely deserved and left Cardiff seething.
Cardiff 1-2 Chelsea - Opta stats
- Cardiff City are only the third team in Premier League history to lose four consecutive matches against a particular opponent despite opening the scoring each time, after Leeds United v Newcastle (Jan 2002) and West Ham v Arsenal (Apr 2014).
- Chelsea have now scored 18 goals in the final 15 minutes of Premier League matches this season, no club in the competition has managed more (also Liverpool).
- Six of the eight Premier League points Chelsea have won from losing positions this season have come home and away versus Cardiff.
- Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s winner was his fourth Premier League goal of the season on his 17th appearance; one more than he managed in his previous 46 matches in the competition (3).
- Ruben Loftus Cheek’s goal for Chelsea was their first 90th minute winner in the Premier League since Frank Lampard scored against Everton back in February 2014.
- Cesar Azpilicueta is the 14th different player to score for Chelsea in the Premier League this season - only Man Utd (15) have had more different scorers in 2018-19.
- Victor Camarasa’s opener for Cardiff was his fifth Premier League goal of the season, more than any other Bluebirds player.
