Alex Robertson's goal was his first in the league for Cardiff since joining from Manchester City
Cardiff City hauled themselves off the bottom of the Championship table in style as they hammered 10-man Plymouth Argyle to secure only their second league win of the season.
In what was easily their best performance of the campaign, the Bluebirds raced into an early 2-0 goal lead thanks to Alex Robertson’s sumptuous 20-yard curling effort and a similarly elegant finish from Rubin Colwill.
Plymouth dug themselves deeper into trouble when Ibrahim Cissoko was sent off for shoving Perry Ng to the ground before half-time.
The irresistible Colwill, who had set up Robertson’s opener, got another assist in the second half as his low cross was turned in by Anwar El Ghazi, before Callum Robinson added a fourth with an excellent run and finish.
Chris Willock struck with a bouncing effort from the edge of the penalty area to make it five, as Cardiff more than doubled their goal tally for the season in one game, having mustered just four from nine matches previously.
Victory lifts the Bluebirds up two places to 22nd in the table, one point off safety, after scoring five goals in a league game for the first time since 2017.
Plymouth, meanwhile, remain without an away win this season as they drop down to 18th.
Even before Cissoko’s red card, this was a miserable performance from Argyle, whose manager Wayne Rooney had to watch from the stands as he served a one-match touchline ban.
Cardiff were meant to have a new boss by now, or at least that was the plan when they sacked Erol Bulut last month.
But with the search for his permanent successor dragging on, interim manager Omer Riza was eager to further his case to get the job having overseen a win, a draw and a defeat from his three matches before the international break.
That represented a big improvement on what had come before – just one point and one goal from six games – and this performance was a huge stride forward.
Cardiff set the tone with a vibrant and purposeful start, brimming with an attacking intent completely at odds with their previous offerings this season.
Colwill was instrumental, drifting into pockets of space and driving at Plymouth’s defenders before flummoxing them with his fancy footwork.
One such run created a chance for El Ghazi and another set up Robertson for his sweet first-time strike which sailed into the far corner.
Eight minutes later, Plymouth made a mess of a defensive clearance, the ball sailed high into the air and Colwill deftly controlled it before guiding his finish into the net.
As Argyle struggled to contain the Wales playmaker, they might have wondered what might have been had Michael Obafemi not fired wide from a promising position when the game was still goalless.
Any hopes the visitors had of getting back into the contest seemed to disappear when Cissoko saw red.
After the Plymouth forward was tripped by Ollie Tanner, Cardiff right-back Ng kicked the ball at Cissoko, who retaliated by grabbing Ng by the neck and pushing him to the ground.
Cardiff took full advantage in the second half as Colwill glided into the penalty area and fired a low cross to the back post, where El Ghazi could not miss for his first Bluebirds goal.
The chances kept coming as the home side ripped their opponents to shreds, with David Turnbull fizzing a long-range effort wide after Plymouth’s Bali Mumba headed another against his own crossbar.
Robinson added to the tally as he sped away down the left, cut inside on to his right foot and drilled a firm finish into the far corner before paying tribute to his close friend and former team-mate, George Baldock, following the Greece international’s death at the age of just 31 earlier this month.
Plymouth goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw made a fine save to deny Robinson another and, moments later, Willock fired a first-time shot into the ground and into the net to round off a resounding win and performance the home fans could scarcely believe.
Post-match reaction
Cardiff interim manager Omer Riza:
“I’m really pleased for the players and the fans. They’re the most important things, trying to bring everyone back together. Hopefully we did that today.
“In the previous games we showed glimpses and were unlucky or lacked the quality to finish, but today it came together. We were 2-0 up before the red card and were dominant.
“Rubin [Colwill] was excellent today, his work rate and intensity, same with Ollie [Tanner], Robbo [Callum Robinson], Anwar [El Ghazi] and the boys who came on. We need to work. If we do that, we’ll get our rewards.”
Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney:
“It's difficult to put into words. We started OK, we had decent control and should be 1-0 up, Michael [Obafemi] had a great chance.
“Beyond that we got really sloppy, we gave the ball away a lot, didn't win tackles or do the basics right. In this league, if you don't do that right you have difficult days like today.
“We were never in the game really after they scored the first goal. Of course 10 men makes it more difficult. It’s difficult to find any positives whatsoever from that game. Cardiff were much better. They deserved to win.”
