South Wales derby classics
As Swansea City and Cardiff City get set to lock horns in the latest edition of the South Wales derby, we take a look back at a string of classic encounters between the sides.
Swansea City 1-0 Cardiff City - League Cup – September 23 2008
Having beaten Hull City after extra-time in round two of the League Cup, Roberto Martinez’s side were drawn against their fiercest rivals in the third round for the first meeting between the sides outside of the Welsh Cup in nine years.
Jordi Gomez netted the only goal of the game as the Swans ended Cardiff City’s unbeaten start to the new season.
Stephen McPhail fouled Mark Gower and the Spaniard’s free-kick deflected off the bottom of the wall and found its way past Peter Enckelman.
Cardiff thought they had equalised through Ross McCormack after being put through by Miguel Comminges, but the flag was up, and the visitors’ misery was compounded when McPhail was sent off after a challenge on Gomez.
Swansea City 4-1 Cardiff City - Second Division - March 7 1995
This fixture remains Swansea’s biggest victory over Cardiff to date as Frank Burrows’ side delighted the home support at the Vetch Field.
On a snowy afternoon which created an idyllic backdrop, the Swans were on fire from the off and surged into a 3-0 lead with barely 20 minutes played.
‘The Flying Postman’ John Williams netted the opener, while David Penney and Colin Pascoe were not long in following the speedster’s lead with the next two goals.
The score remained 3-0 until the dying embers of the game, where substitute Shaun Chapple opened up a four-goal advantage.
Nathan Wigg clawed one back right at the death, but it was far too little, too late.
Swansea City 3-2 Cardiff City - Championship - November 7 2009
Darren Pratley will always be chiefly remembered for his play-off strike against Nottingham Forest, but his derby-day double in November 2009 is not far behind in the affections of Swansea City fans.
The midfielder produced an outstanding display at the Liberty, scoring twice and setting up the other in a thrilling victory.
Pratley’s delivery drew the goalkeeper out and Dyer headed into an open net to kick things off, with the energetic playmaker adding the second six minutes later with magnificent technique, acrobatically drilling a bouncing ball past David Marshall.
Jay Bothroyd and Mark Hudson responded to get the visitors level as they fought back strongly.
Ross McCormack smashed a free-kick against the bar, before Pratley stepped up once again on the hour mark.
Fede Bessone’s pin-point cross found Pratley, who opened his body up to side-foot a powerful volley past the helpless Marshall to seal the win and move Swansea into the play-off spots.
Swansea City 3-0 Cardiff City - Premier League – February 8 2014
The Swans were seeking revenge after defeat in Cardiff earlier in the season, while the stakes were heightened as Garry Monk took charge of the club for the first time against their old rivals.
The first half provided plenty of typically frenetic derby action and ended goalless, but as soon as the second half kicked off the Swans took control.
It took only two minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Wayne Routledge latched onto half-time substitute Pablo Hernandez’s wonderful through ball and curled an effort into the far corner and out of the reach of the keeper.
The visitors hit the bar but that would be as close as they came as Swansea eased to an ultimately comfortable victory.
Routledge was involved again as his cross found an unmarked Nathan Dyer, who couldn’t miss to double the Swans’ advantage.
Wilfried Bony got in on the act minutes later as he powered in Hernandez’s pin-point corner to finish off the perfect day for the Swans and new boss Monk.
Swansea City 2-2 Cardiff City - Championship – November 30 2008
This feisty clash was packed full of drama and incident from the first minute to the last as the Swans and Cardiff shared the spoils at the Liberty.
The visitors deservedly took the lead as the clock hit 19 minutes, having dominated possession during the opening exchanges. Jason Scotland beat the offside trap and laid the ball back for Darren Pratley to fire home.
Cardiff levelled on the stroke of half time as Joe Ledley reacted first to goalkeeper Dorus De Vries’ punch, and then struck again early in the second half to take the lead.
Michael Chopra was brought down in the penalty box and up stepped Ross McCormack to send De Vries the wrong way from the spot.
Cardiff had Stephen McPhail sent off just three minutes later and Swansea substitute Gorka Pintado exploited the extra man to equalise with a fantastic header that found the corner of the net.
The drama wasn’t finished there however as Leon Britton was given his marching orders in injury time to finish off a fiery affair in SA1.
Cardiff City 1-3 Swansea City - Third Division – December 3 1996
The Swans and Cardiff faced one another in the Third Division at Ninian Park as both sides looked to continue their push for promotion.
And it was an impressive performance from the Swans to take the bragging rights in the derby as goals from Kwame Ampadu, Steve Jones and Dai Thomas guided the away side to three points and continued their rich vein of form.
Amapdu and Jones quickly had Swansea into a two-goal lead and, while Steve White pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, Thomas put the seal on the three points for Jan Molby’s side.
The result helped Swansea climb to sixth in the table, level on points with their rivals.
Cardiff City 0 Swansea City 1 - Championship - November 7 2010
Marvin Emnes was the derby day hero as the Dutchman fired in the winner to give Swansea City victory at Cardiff City Stadium.
The on-loan Middlesbrough forward held off Gabor Gyepes to turn and fire the ball low into the Cardiff net with 15 minutes remaining.
Brendan Rodgers’ side had a firm grip on the game for much of the contest, and could easily have won by a greater margin had Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer converted good chances.
Craig Bellamy spurned Cardiff’s best pair of chances as the Swans closed to within three points of their rivals in the promotion chase.
Cardiff City 2 Swansea City 2 - Championship – April 5 2009
Joe Allen produced a wonderful goal but it was not enough to help Swansea City claim three points on their final visit to Ninian Park.
Roberto Martinez’s side had surged into an 11th minute lead as outstanding play between Nathan Dyer and Jason Scotland ended with the former racing in on goal for the opener.
The visitors led at the break but were pegged back nine minutes after the restart when Michael Chopra netted from a Jay Bothroyd pull-back.
The scores remained level until, with two minutes to go, Allen showed great poise to work room for a shot that he dispatched into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
It looked like being the winner until referee Mike Dean awarded a controversial penalty – adjudging Ashley Williams had fouled Ross McCormack – which the Cardiff striker converted in a frantic finish to a thrilling game.
Swansea City 1 Cardiff City 0 - Championship - October 27 2019
Ben Wilmot wrote his name into South Wales derby folklore as he marked his first league start for Swansea City by scoring the winner at a jubilant Liberty Stadium.
The on-loan centre-half – playing with Joe Rodon out injured – timed his run perfectly to glance home Wayne Routledge’s cross in the 24th minute.
In truth the margin of victory could – and perhaps should – have been far greater, as Swansea spurned a number of chances to put the game to bed.
But no-one seemed to mind too much when the final whistle went to spark the celebrations as the Swans secured back-to-back league victories over their rivals for the first time in 23 years.
Cardiff City 0 Swansea City 2 - Championship - December 12 2020
Jamal Lowe secured the South Wales derby bragging rights for Swansea City as the striker’s brace settled matters at Cardiff City Stadium.
Lowe opened the scoring in the sixth minute, firing home from close range to give the Swans the ideal start.
And he went on to seal the win with 18 minutes to go with a fantastic slaloming run through the Cardiff defence.
The result meant Swansea were now unbeaten in four South Wales derbies, and had not conceded a goal in any of that quartet of fixtures.
Swansea City 3 Cardiff City 0 - Championship, October 17 2021
Swansea City claimed the south Wales derby bragging rights with an emphatic victory over Cardiff City at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Jamie Paterson struck the opener and provided two assists for Joel Piroe and Jake Bidwell as the Swans were rampant in SA1.
Russell Martin’s side were in complete control as they made full use of their possession and territorial advantage.
Paterson’s goal opened the scoring, with his 25-yard left-footed shot striking both posts before crossing the line.
Piroe then doubled the lead on the hour mark following a superb pass from Paterson, before the latter crossed for Bidwell to hammer home the final nail.
Cardiff City 0 Swansea City 4 - Championship - April 2, 2022
Swansea City made south Wales derby history as goals from Michael Obafemi, Ben Cabango and Hannes Wolf saw them complete the first league double in the 110 years of the fixture.
Having won the first meeting on home turf back in October, the Swans made a dream start at Cardiff City Stadium as Obafemi finished from close range after a lovely flowing attack down the right.
And Cabango – a player who was once rejected by Swansea’s south Wales rivals as a youngster – fired home just before the hour mark before Wolf’s far post header put the visitors out of sight.
And Obafemi put the icing on the cake when he smashed his second of the game high into Alex Smithies’ net to give the Swans their biggest-ever away win in the derby.
Cardiff City 2 Swansea City 3 - Championship - April 1, 2023
Ben Cabango struck a last-gasp winner as Swansea City made more south Wales derby history by recording a fourth-straight victory in the fixture at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The Swans, who had won the previous three derbies without conceding, swept into an early lead when Joel Piroe fired home from the first meaningful attack of the contest.
Liam Cullen headed home a rebound for the second in the 34th minute, but any thoughts of a comfortable afternoon faded when Jaden Philogene immediately responded with a solo goal for the home side.
The second half was an altogether more cagey affair, but the hosts looked set to secure a point when Sory Kaba headed them level with seven minutes to go.
But Cabango scrambled the ball home after a Jay Fulton strike had cannoned back off the post in the final seconds of stoppage time.
