Goals galore!

Last week, we witnessed two Cardiff City league matches in which both teams scored three or more goals - the 3-3 draw with West Ham on Wednesday evening followed by the 5-4 victory over Burnley on Saturday afternoon. That led me to wonder just how often we’ve seen similarly dramatic, high-scoring games over the years, so I’ve taken a look back at City’s league results for the last 30 seasons up to and including the current campaign.

Since the beginning of 1997/98, the Bluebirds have been involved in 29 league matches in which both teams have scored three or more goals. Sixteen of those games finished as draws, six were wins for Cardiff and seven were defeats. Fifteen of the sixteen draws finished 3-3 and the infamous contest at Peterborough in December 2009 ended 4-4 after City had led 4-0 at half-time.

The list of the thirteen league games that were wins or defeats is:

Sheff Utd 5 Cardiff 3 (2003/04)
Sheff Utd 3 Cardiff 4 (2009/10)
Peterborough 4 Cardiff 3 (2011/12)
Cardiff 5 Barnsley 3 (2011/12)
Charlton 5 Cardiff 4 (2012/13)
Cardiff 3 Liverpool 6 (2013/14)
Bournemouth 5 Cardiff 3 (2014/15)
Cardiff 3 Barnsley 4 (2016/17)
Derby 3 Cardiff 4 (2016/17)
Cardiff 4 Leyton Orient 3 (2025/26)
Cardiff 4 Doncaster 3 (2025/26)
Mansfield 5 Cardiff 4 (2025/26)
Cardiff 5 Burnley 4 (2026/27)

During his six full seasons as Cardiff City manager, Dave Jones’ sides were involved in nine league matches in which both sides scored three or more goals. Seven of those finished 3-3, one finished 4-4 and one was a 4-3 victory at Sheffield United. By comparison, Brian Barry-Murphy’s Bluebirds have already been involved in five such games during his one-and-a-quarter seasons in charge, and City have won three of them.

The last time we saw anything similar to what happened last week was back in October 2011, when Malky Mackay’s side lost 4-3 at Peterborough on a Tuesday evening before beating Barnsley 5-3 at the CCS on the following Saturday.

After the incredible 3-3 draw at Stoke in October 2021 - a contest which marked the beginning of Steve Morison’s reign as City manager - it was another four years before the Bluebirds featured in a league game in which both sides scored three or more goals. That was the 4-3 home victory over Leyton Orient in October 2025.

During the last 30 seasons, there have been twelve without a Cardiff City league game in which both sides have scored three or more goals. Those were 1998/99, 1999/00, 2001/02, 2004/05, 2008/09, 2015/16, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Between the 4-3 win at Derby’s Pride Park in February 2017 and the 4-3 victory over Leyton Orient at the CCS in October 2025, there were only two Cardiff City league games in which both sides scored three goals. Those were the 3-3 draw at Leeds in December 2019 and the aforementioned 3-3 draw at Stoke in October 2021. Coincidentally, City came from 3-0 down to snatch an unlikely draw in both of those matches.

There have been just two seasons during the last 30 years in which both sides have scored three or more goals in three City league games. Those were 2007/08, when Dave Jones’ Bluebirds drew 3-3 in away matches at Sheffield United, West Brom and Burnley, and 2025/26, when Brian Barry-Murphy’s team beat both Leyton Orient and Doncaster 4-3 at the CCS and lost 5-4 at Mansfield. Based on the evidence so far, I reckon there’s a very strong possibility the 2026/27 campaign will see a few more games of this nature before it’s finished.

There are those among us who apparently believe City will stop conceding so many goals if and when our central defenders are all fit and available, but I just can’t see it. After all, there were many occasions last season in League One when opposing sides could and probably should have scored plenty more against us, but a combination of poor finishing at the lower level and some tremendous goalkeeping from Nathan Trott stopped that from happening.

The way Brian Barry-Murphy sets his team up, the tactics he favours, the side’s attacking attributes and the significantly higher quality of the finishing at Championship level almost guarantees City will be involved in open, exciting games of the kind we saw last week. That’s something I’ve been saying since the season began and nothing I’ve seen so far has made me believe otherwise.

January transfer requests - The Lone Gunman from other board to here. Take Nissan Bluebird as a swap.

Great read/post!

I'm with you on our defence. Wintle used to get readily thrown about in our early days' nightmare start but there were times in L1 when him plus a range of iterations of back 4 got run all over but we managed to scrape a point/win etc.

In BBM's credit, he's got the top end really firing. Every day a pundit is waxing lyrical about our form, style of individuals. I think we've got a top10 attack and the stats verify that. I think we've got a bottom 6 defence, again the stats back that up. Bielek looked like a steady inclusion but he's as absent as the rest at the moment. I think we need to recruit a top quality CB in Jan; Callum Doyle from Wrexham would be my mould of player. A leader in both boxes.

Having said that, BBM doesn't look like he's the type to protect conceding at the risk of not scoring. The comparison to the Dave Jones era is accurate!!

It is a big concern but at the moment especially at home the entertainment great value for money.