Cardiff City 3-2 Sutton United: Debutant Marley Watkins scores twice in EFL Cup

New Cardiff signing Marley Watkins has won two caps for Wales

Sutton United were denied a shock win in their first EFL Cup game as Marley Watkins scored twice on debut to give Cardiff City a first-round victory.

League Two newcomers Sutton led after just four minutes as Donovan Wilson finished a swift counter-attack.

They had chances to extend their lead but Watkins equalised with a shot which Dean Bouzanis should have saved.

Watkins curled in a fine second goal and Josh Murphy added a third before Coby Rowe's late consolation strike.

It was a memorable debut for former Bristol City player Watkins, whose signing on a short-term contract until the end of August had only been confirmed an hour before kick-off.

His two goals offered relief for a much-changed Cardiff side, who eventually got their act together after a ragged first-half display.

As for Sutton, theirs was a vibrant performance which will give them encouragement for their first campaign in the English Football League.

For many, Sutton are best known for their shock FA Cup win over Coventry City, then of the top flight, when they were still a non-league side back in 1989.

Then last season Sutton won the National League title to earn promotion to the fourth tier of English football for the first time in their history.

Their League Two debut was spoiled by Forest Green Rovers' injury-time winner on Saturday but, against a Cardiff team showing nine changes from their Championship draw with Barnsley, Sutton sensed an upset might be in the offing.

Matt Gray's side seized the initiative and took an early lead, as David Ajiboye skipped past Cardiff's teenage debutant Tom Davies and crossed for Wilson to score with a first-time sliding effort.

The goal was no fluke, as Sutton proved with a purposeful display which led to chances for Kenny Davis and Harry Beautyman.

Cardiff were a shambles and it took a goalkeeping error by Bouzanis to bring them level a minute before half-time as he weakly palmed Watkins' shot into the net.

There was little the Sutton keeper could do about Watkins' second, an arcing low shot which the home forward guided into the bottom corner, and Bouzanis was also blameless as Murphy cut inside from the left wing and scored with a deflected right-footed shot.

That was the end of Sutton's hopes of an upset but they gave their travelling fans one last cause to cheer as Rowe scored their second goal in the final minute.

Cardiff manager Mick McCarthy said:

"It was important we won the game. When I was at Barnsley in the Fourth Division I used to love playing against First and Second Division teams - nothing to lose, everything to gain.

"You could see that, they played well and had a great start but all we can do is win the game.

"We're in the next round. By hook or by crook, you've got to get through."

Sutton manager Matt Gray said:

"I was very pleased with the first-half performance up until the goal. The timing of Cardiff's first goal killed us because I thought we deserved to go into half-time ahead.

"We wanted to stay in the game for as long as possible, but they got the second goal and then the late third.

"We watched three of Cardiff's games - the Barnsley one and two in pre-season - and we did a lot of work on them. I was pleased with the game plan and we created chances on the counter-attack.

"I'm disappointed with two defeats so far this season but, if we keep playing like that, we'll be okay. We have got attacking threats in the team."