It was a day where some high-flying Bluebirds had their wings clipped by a Green machine.
Cardiff City, deserved leaders of Sky Bet League One, the best team in the English third tier, played their part in a tremendously entertaining game of football that would easily have graced a higher division. However, they were supporting artists to a brilliant Argyle ensemble cast.
Star billing goes to the leading men leading the line; Lorent Tolaj and Bim scored two apiece, with Mathias Ross grabbing a fifth to round things off.
The game had been 3-2 at half-time, with four goals coming in just over six minutes at one stage. Tolaj and Pepple put Argyle two up, Omari Kellyman got one back, and Pepple scored again. Kellyman’s second had the game poised at the break, but Tolaj’s penalty and Ross’s header put the game out of Cardiff’s reach.
After coming on as a substitute at Leyton Orient in midweek, Tolaj was put in front the start against the Bluebirds, playing alongside in-form Bim Pepple up front. The midfield four consisted of Caleb Watts playing from the left, Ronan Curtis on the right, and Malachi Boateng joined by Brendan Wiredu in midfield, the latter coming in for the injured Herbie Kane.
In the back four, Joe Edwards and Wes Harding continued as full-backs, right and left respectively, with Mathias Ross and Alex Mitchell in central defence. Conor Hazard continued in goal.
On the bench, Bradley Ibrahim had recovered sufficiently from an ankle flare-up to take his place, and he was joined, among others, by Julio Pleguezuelo, back in the squad for the first time since Burton Albion on 4 January.
Cardiff, as one might expect from league leaders who are 12 games unbeaten, started quickly, and had a chance inside 90 seconds. Ollie Tanner burst forward, had a shot that deflected across the area, with Chris Willock following up and hitting the side netting.
Only a minute later, though, Argyle should have been ahead. A slick-as-you-like move filled with one-touch passes saw Argyle work it through into the box, with Tolaj teeing up Watts, who shot straight at a grateful Nathan Trott in the Cardiff goal.
The game was played at an intense, enjoyable pace, with both teams putting emphasis on attack. Tanner and Willock on Cardiff’s flanks looked constant threats, but it was Argyle, near the 15-minute mark, who went close twice.
A Curtis free-kick from the left struck the head of defender Gabriel Osho and came off the post. From the corner, Tolaj got free and probably should have done better than his steered header into the side-netting.
For 28 minutes of the game, little was there to separate the sides – including visually, as in the drizzly gloom, the respective kits looked almost identical at times.
And then the game descended into glorious, beautiful chaos.
First of all, Argyle broke the deadlock, with a cracking opening goal. Edwards advanced over the halfway line, on the right, and pinged a ball into the feet of Pepple. Pepple’s first-time offload to Tolaj was sweet, as was the Swiss forward’s first touch. Opening his body, Tolaj wrapped his left foot around the ball and drove it low into the net.
Argyle soon made it two, and Edwards played an even bigger part in this one. Firstly, the skipper stopped a Cardiff advance, and then strode into Bluebirds territory, with defenders retreating, and Tolaj and Pepple sensing a second. It was all about the timing of the ball, and Edwards got it just right. He waited, and then clipped a cross perfectly into Pepple’s path. The finish was not simple, but Pepple made it seem so. On the half-volley, he slammed past Trott.
Almost instantly, Cardiff were back in it. Tanner again was the instigator, and Kellyman the beneficiary. The former’s effort was blocked and fell nicely to the Cardiff number 8, who steered in to halve the deficit.
Then, about a minute later, the lead was back to two.
Argyle had the ball on the left, with Watts laying back to Harding. Harding shifted the ball to his right foot and crossed for the far post, where Pepple lurked, and headed powerfully into the net.
The previous five paragraphs encompass four goals, and about six-and-a-half minutes of action. In the correct sense of the words, it was incredible stuff.
We then had to wait a massive nine minutes for the next goal of the game, but although not a welcome one for Argyle eyes, it was a very fine strike from Kellyman, who got his second with a well-placed strike from the edge of the penalty area.
We were done with the goals for the first half, but not the action. There was a lengthy pause after Argyle were awarded a free-kick, as Pepple had gone down off the ball. After a conflab between officials, referee Darren Drysdale booked defender Gabriel Osho for his indiscretion.
From the free-kick, Argyle rose in appeal for a handball by Osho, who completed his busy, stressful couple of minutes by nervously looking at the referee, but would have been relieved by Mr Drysdale’s emphatic, somewhat performative, waving away of the claims.
There was still time – by now about six minutes into stoppage time – for Perry Ng to whistle a 20-yarder at goal, with Hazard making an excellent save, tipping over the bar.
For entertainment, it was a first half that you would struggle to top. From an Argyle perspective, you would be content with the dullest of second periods to get you over the line.
Both sides made a half-time change. Cardiff brought on Rubin Colwill, a player who has tormented the Greens before, and in process of coming back from a long-term injury. The Pilgrims brought on Matty Sorinola, who took over from Caleb Watts on the left flank.
Ten minutes into a less-frantic-but-still-frantic second half, Argyle had the ball in the net, but Mitchell’s headed from a clipped Sorinola cross was ruled out by an offside flag. At the other end, Alex Robertson whizzed a low effort wide from 20 yards.
Argyle were, understandably, getting deeper. Some hasty half-clearances inside their own area only felt to Kellyman, who was a lick of paint wide of the post trying to curl it in.
The Pilgrims were a threat, though, and Sorinola drew a block from a Cardiff on the line following a weakly-cleared Edwards cross.
The pivotal moment came shortly afterwards, as Argyle got a fourth goal, to give them a cushion again.
It came from a penalty, earned by the deadly combo of Pepple and Tolaj. Pepple set off powerfully down the left, and his cross on the run was aimed at Tolaj, who was pushed as he attempted to meet the cross.
A spot-kick was awarded, and Tolaj despatched, emphatically.
It would be unfair on Cardiff to say it knocked the wind from their sails, but there was a little less pep in the step about the team that had more than a bit of the Pep in their setup. But, for the visitors – and, let’s be fair, promotion-bound table-toppers – and all their false nines and advanced outside wingers, it was 4-2 to the 4-4-2.
Despite how poetic the above line feels, getting a fifth was more than worth it. Mathias Ross is getting the knack, now, and his bullet header from a Curtis corner was a lovely topper to one of the most electric Home Park days in many months.
It could have been even more glorious. Pepple drew a good save from Trott, which denied our Canadian hero a hat-trick, but nothing was spoiling this.
Argyle: 1 Conor Hazard, 2 Mathias Ross, 4 Brendan Wiredu (23 Bradley Ibrahim, 79), 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Lorent Tolaj (10 Xavier Amaechi, 85), 15 Alex Mitchell, 17 Caleb Watts (29 Matty Sorinola, half-time), 19 Malachi Boateng, 27 Bim Pepple (35 Owen Dale, 85), 28 Ronan Curtis, 45 Wes Harding. Substitutes: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond (gk), 3 Jack MacKenzie, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo.
Goals: Tolaj 28, pen 68 Pepple 31, 34, Ross 81
Booked: Watts 37, Ross 44, Boateng 70
Cardiff: 13 Nathan Trott, 3 Joel Bagan (23 Calum Scanlon, 88), 4 Gabriel Osho, 8 Omari Kellyman, 11 Ollie Tanner, 12 Calum Chambers, 14 David Turnbull (10 Ruben Colwill, half-time), 16 Chris Willock (45 Cian Ashford, 62), 18 Alex Robertson, 27 Joel Colwill (47 Callum Robinson, 62), 38 Perry Ng (44 Ronan Kpakio, 76). Substitutes: 6 Ryan Wintle, 48 Dylan Lawlor.
Goals: Kellyman 33, 43
Booked: Kellyman 15, Osho 45+5, Ng 67, Robertson 72
Attendance: 16,713 (1,758 away)
Referee: Darren Drysdale
