Plymouth Argyle 5-2 Cardiff City: FLW reports as Pilgrims smash hapless Bluebirds | OneFootball

League One action from Home Park as Plymouth Argyle hosted league leaders Cardiff City.

Plymouth Argyle stunned League One leaders Cardiff City on Saturday lunchtime, with a brace from both Lorent Tolaj and Bim Pepple helping the Pilgrims to a 5-2 win over the Bluebirds.

The first half took a while to kick into action, but when it did, it was absolute chaos. Lorent Tolaj opened the scoring after he was played in by strike partner Bim Pepple just before the half-hour mark.

This kicked off a crazy five minutes, which saw three goals scored. First, Pepple doubled his side's advantage with a textbook finish from a pinpoint Joe Edwards cross, before Omari Kellyman stroked home a loose ball which Plymouth failed to deal with.

Not even two minutes later, Pepple was at the double when he headed home Wes Harding's deep cross. Kellyman then found his second of the afternoon in stunning fashion on the stroke of half-time, leaving the score at 3-2 as the sides went in at the interval.

Tolaj doubled his tally from the spot in the second half after he was fouled by Cardiff skipper Calum Chambers, and the points were wrapped up in style fro Plymouth when Mathias Ross headed in Ronan Curtis' corner.

Plymouth Argyle 5-2 Cardiff City

The league leaders almost got off to the perfect start after 90 seconds. Ollie Tanner latches onto a loose ball out wide, before driving at Wes Harding. His cross to the back post was rifled into the side netting by Chris Willock.

Argyle then had an arguably an even better chance to take the lead just over a minute later. Some neat football from the Greens saw Tolaj slide in Caleb Watts, who's close-range effort was saved excellently by Nathan Trott.

Following some superb work from Pepple down the left flank, Plymouth won a free-kick in a great crossing position. Curtis played in a sumptuous cross which was directed goalwards by the Canadian and a Cardiff body, before bouncing off the crossbar and behind for a corner.

Tom Cleverley's side had the better of the chances, and deserved to take the lead just before the half-hour mark. Great hold-up play from Pepple saw him slip Tolaj in one-on-one with Trott, slotting past the Cardiff keeper to open the scoring.

The opening goal set off a stunning flurry of action, which started with Plymouth doubling their advantage. Skipper Edwards was afforded too much space on the right flank, and his cross to the back post was smashed home by Pepple.

Less than two minutes later, the Bluebirds gave themselves a way back into the game. Kellyman turned home a loose ball from inside the box to give his side a lifeline.

Just over a minute later, Argyle restored their two-goal advantage. Another pinpoint cross to the back stick, this time from Harding, was met by the head of Pepple for his second of the afternoon.

Thankfully, the game calmed down for a few minutes after three goals in five minutes, allowing everyone to catch their breath. Home Park was absolutely rocking after the third hit the net, with the travelling supporters rather stunned into silence.

Just before half-time, Kellyman was on hand to drag his side back into the contest once again. The Chelsea loanee with the pick of the goals, curling a beautiful strike into the top left corner of Conor Hazard's net.

After a lengthy period of stoppage time, referee Darren Drysdale called time on an incredible 45 minutes of action. The hosts headed into the break with the advantage, but Kellyman's late strike made that advantage a lot less comfortable.

Plymouth thought they'd restored their two-goal lead after 10 minutes of the second half when Alex Mitchell headed in what would've been his second goal for the club. However, he was judged to have strayed offside, which saw the goal ruled out.

Kellyman then came close to his hat-trick on the hour mark after he flashed a shot just wide of Hazard's far post. Brian Barry-Murphy's team looked threatening when they went forward, but couldn't quite find the quality needed to break Argyle's resolve.

The Greens needed a fourth goal, and they would get it at the perfect time. Tolaj was brought down in the box by Chambers, which saw Drysdale point to the spot. The number nine stepped up and converted, giving his side breathing space once again.

Cleverley's side then put the result beyond doubt with 10 minutes to play. An excellent corner from Curtis was met by the head of Ross, who rose like a salmon to head in Argyle's fifth of the contest.

The league leaders were probably pleased to be put out of their misery when Drysdale brought the contest to a close. It was a day to forget for Barry-Murphy's side, who'd been taken apart by an in-form Argyle.

As for the Pilgrims, the mood around Home Park was night and day from where it was earlier in the season. Cleverley's side made it three wins on the spin, and for the first time this season, had the play-offs in sight.

Plymouth Argyle player ratings

C. Hazard - 6

W. Harding - 7

M. Ross - 7

A. Mitchell - 7

J. Edwards - 9

R. Curtis - 8

B. Wiredu - 8 (B. Ibrahim 80'(5))

M. Boateng - 7

C. Watts - 7 (M. Sorinola 46'(6))

B. Pepple - 9 (O. Dale 85'(5))

L. Tolaj - 9 (X. Amaechi 85'(5))

Unused substitutes: L. Ashby-Hammond, J. MacKenzie, J. Pleguezuelo

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Cardiff City player ratings

N. Trott - 4

J. Bagan - 4 (C. Scanlon 88'(5))

G. Osho - 3

C. Chambers - 3

P. Ng - 4 (R. Kpakio 76'(5))

D. Turnbull - 5 (R. Colwill 46'(5))

A. Robertson - 5

C. Willock - 5 (C. Ashford 62'(5))

J. Colwill - 5 (C. Robinson 62'(5))

O. Tanner - 7

O. Kellyman - 8

Unused substitutes: R. Wintle, D. Lawlor

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Match attendance

Home Park was busy for the early kick-off with a total crowd of 16,713 supporters, including an excellent away following of 1748 from Cardiff.

Speaking to the press post-match, a jubilant Argyle boss Cleverley said: "[It was an] outstanding performance.

"I'm so proud of the players that they went toe-to-toe with the league's best and came out on top in every department.

"Really difficult moment when Kellyman sticks one in the top corner, and it's 3-2.

"That's why they're top of the league. They've got players who can create moments in really tight games out of nothing.

"The mentality we showed after that coming up against the top side who would be confident, who would be mentally resilient and then to be the team to kick on and really put the game to bed.

"It was a complete performance, and I'm so proud of the players that the hard work that they're putting in is being rewarded.

"We were really on the front foot today, but if you lose a duel or lose a 1v1 then that can cause an issue.

"A couple of times that happened, and we got punished once, but I thought the turnovers and what that created for us was worth the risk today.

"The players executed it [the game plan] to a tee, and they deserve a lot of credit today."

Brian Barry-Murphy gracious in defeat after Cardiff City lose heavily at Plymouth

Speaking to the press post-match, Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy said: "I have no arguments with the result at all.

"I thought Plymouth are a very effective team with a really good coach, and they deserved to win the game.

"We felt as though we were going to be really dangerous in the second half. The nature of the first half was a very up and down rollercoaster ride.

"In the second half , I thought we were really dangerous and we'd definitely score, but the nature of the penalty deflated us.

"I was very confident we'd score [an equaliser], we're a very dangerous team.

"I felt as if we started the game well, looked really dangerous and conceded from two of our attacks where we looked like we were trying to create goal and Plymouth break quickly. We knew they would do that, we prepared for it.