Cardiff caretaker manager Omer Riza was left “ecstatic” after his side’s dramatic 2-1 home win against in-form Norwich.
Borja Sainz, the division’s top scorer, hit his 11th league goal of the season to put the visitors ahead early in the second half at the Cardiff City Stadium.
But Callum Robinson came off the bench grab an 89th-minute equaliser before Callum O’Dowda’s left-footed winner deep into stoppage time.
Victory saw Cardiff extend their unbeaten run under Riza to six games and climb a further four places clear of the relegation zone.
He said: “It’s a really emotional one with the players in the changing room afterwards. It was a great comeback, a great result against a very good side. You to give the players every credit.
“We wanted to contain their wings, especially Sainz, but he got away from us in one moment to score a magic goal.
“It was tough at 1-0 but we made some changes, the boys dug in and never gave up getting back into the game.
“Given the way we came back against a top side like Norwich, I would have been happy with the draw but even then we didn’t stop driving forwards and now I’m ecstatic.”
Riza spoke with senior club officials on Friday night but there is still no decision on whether or not he will take over permanently, having stepped up following the sacking of Erol Bulut in September.
However, victories such as this will only enhance his application.
Riza added: “The situation hasn’t really changed. Things are going really well though there feels like a pressure at this moment waiting for the first loss.
“That is going to come at some point, that’s football, but it’s important everyone is still behind the team when that happens.”
This painful defeat was a first in eight games for Johannes Hoff Thorup’s injury-hit side, who slipped down to ninth place.
Striker Josh Sargent and midfielder Anis Ben Slimane were absent after joining an already hefty injury list and Thorup believes the pressure on his stretched squad ultimately cost his side.
He said: “We played a great game for the first 75 minutes and did everything right to get the three points.
“But we had a few more players missing and some guys out of position and others back after a few weeks out and that showed in the last 15 minutes.
“That’s why we needed to get that second goal to finish the game but I can’t really have asked for more from the players.
“I know we’ve lost and it’s disappointing but sometimes these games happen. Goals can come out of nothing and that’s what we’ve seen here.
“We just have to make sure these players learn from that last 15 minutes to be more solid for the next time they are in that situation.”
