sport news Sunderland 0-1 Cardiff: Mark McGuinness scores 87th minute winner as the ... trends now

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When Cardiff hired Erol Bulut, there were supporters asking: ‘Who?’ Now, they cannot stop singing his name, and maybe the latest man through the revolving door will turn out to be a keeper.

Cardiff’s loyal followers are happy to tell anyone who will listen that they are ‘Erol Bulut’s Barmy Army’ with the Bluebirds securing their third win on the trot here. It is their best start to a season since 2017-18 when they were promoted to the Premier League under Neil Warnock.

Though Cardiff were delighted with Sunday’s win, even they knew it was fortunate. Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland had been peppering Cardiff’s goal when the visitors went up the other end, won a corner, and scored from it via Mark McGuinness. It was in the 87th minute and the visitors’ first shot on target at the Stadium of Light. Not that Bulut cared.

‘Sometimes you have to fight to win, with less chances to score, and this was a game like that,’ said Bulut. Asked what he is targeting with Cardiff this season, given they narrowly survived last term, the 48-year-old who previously managed Gaziantep and Fenerbahce in Turkey added: ‘I try to give maximum and take maximum. I ask from my players the maximum and at the end we will see what we get.’

Stopping Sunderland at the Stadium of Light is no joke. There were more than 40,000 fans here, all of them screaming for the Black Cats to go unbeaten for a sixth straight league game.