Cardiff City 2-3 Hull City: Regan Slater brace stuns Bluebirds

Hull City have now beaten Cardiff City three times in a row, including the double last season

Hull City midfielder Regan Slater scored twice in two minutes as the Tigers came from 2-1 down to beat Cardiff City in south Wales.

Dimitrios Pelkas scored the first goal of the Liam Rosenior era, poking home Jacob Greaves' inch-perfect cross in the fourth minute of the game.

Republic of Ireland striker Callum Robinson capitalised on poor Hull defending to draw Cardiff level, before turning provider on 62 minutes for Gavin Whyte to put the Bluebirds ahead with a back-post header.

But Slater turned the game on its head once more, first scoring from outside the area with a low effort into the bottom left corner before arriving late into the box to thump home Ryan Longman's cross.

Another home defeat sees the Bluebirds drop to 18th in the Championship, one place above Hull City on goal difference.

Before kick-off, Cardiff owner Vincent Tan - who was attending his first game in more than three years - confirmed that interim manager Mark Hudson had been offered the job until the end of the season.

There was more good news for the Bluebirds who welcomed back striker Robinson from suspension for the first time since his red card in the south Wales derby, while Hull's top scorer Oscar Estupinan began his three-game suspension.

But in Estupinan's absence the visitors took the lead after just four minutes when captain Greaves, who was playing left-back as opposed to his usual position of centre-back, whipped a delightful ball across goal for Pelkas to tap home.

The early goal flattened the atmosphere at Cardiff City Stadium; the home fans had only seen seven goals before Wednesday and never more than one in a match.

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan last attended a home match when the Bluebirds hosted Crystal Palace in the Premier League in May 2019

The Tigers continued to dominate the chances in the first half, and Greg Docherty's deflected shot forced a smart save from Ryan Allsop to keep the score at 1-0.

Hull should have doubled their lead a minute later when Cyrus Christie's cross found an unmarked Longman three yards out but the midfielder somehow headed wide of the target.

The first half fizzled out without either team creating much in the way of chances and was met by a chorus of boos by Cardiff fans at its conclusion.

But the atmosphere changed rapidly in the second half, as Joe Ralls pressured a short pass out from Hull keeper Baxter and the ball fell kindly to Robinson who drew Cardiff level in the 47th minute.

Hudson brought on striker Mark Harris and winger Gavin Whyte to capitalise on the shift of momentum and with Tan watching on will have been delighted with the impact made.

Robinson, who was looking to make amends for his dismissal against Swansea, lofted a cross to the back post where blue shirts were lining up, and Whyte got the all-important touch.

Just as Cardiff looked set to record back-to-back league wins for the second time this season, Slater turned away from Ralls on the edge of the area to find a couple yards of space and fire low into Allsop's bottom corner.

And the 23-year-old completed the dramatic comeback a minute later as Hull worked the ball well down the right and Longman crossed for the arriving Slater to spark jubilant scenes among the travelling fans.

Cardiff looked to add yet another twist late on and came close when Curtis Nelson headed Ralls' corner over the bar.

But it was not to be for the Bluebirds, as Hull recorded another away win and a first victory for newly appointed Rosenior.

Cardiff City interim manager Mark Hudson told BBC Sport Wales:

"We didn't play well in the first half, so we spoke at half time and started the second half well.

"Then we were naive at a couple moments in the game and gifted the the goal which was the winner ultimately.

"We spoke about that afterwards, there's lot of things we need to learn but we'll stick together and continue to improve as a group."

Hull City manager Liam Rosenior:

"I'm just proud, the resilience, the character of the group.

"First half was I thought outstanding, the control, the dominance and the chances we created.

"I said we will make mistakes, it is part of the process, but I was so pleased with the reaction. To come back and for young Regan Slater to score two outstanding goals, I couldn't be prouder of the group."