Man Utd loan star’s dream debut keeps Cardiff in the survival hunt

Poor Peter Whittingham must be the only man in Cardiff underwhelmed with Wilfried Zaha, after boss Ole Gunner Solskjaer replaced the 29-year-old with the on loan Manchester United man in the first half against Norwich to spectacular effect.

Zaha made the most of his 26 touches against the Canaries, with 92 per cent of his passes reaching their targets and two of them setting up teammates in front of goal, of which one was converted by Bluebirds captain Craig Bellamy.

Inevitable questions will again do the rounds as to why David Moyes saw fit to hand the England Under-21 regular just two starts, in the Community Shield and the Capital One Cup, since the pair arrived at Old Trafford during the summer.

The general consensus seems to be that Zaha, who was signed a year ago by Sir Alex Ferguson for £15m, does not fit into the Moyes Man Utd masterplan, which is great news for a Cardiff outfit battling to confound relegation odds of 5/4.

Solskjaer, who famously helped the Red Devils to 2-1 victories against Bayern Munich and Liverpool back in 1999 after coming on as a substitute when his team were trailing, pulled off his second come-from-behind victory since taking over the Welsh side at the start of this year.

‘The baby-faced assassin’ also gave Cardiff debuts to Fabio and Kenwyne Jones and while the Brazilian right-back’s gaffe led to Norwich’s opener, the Trinidadian former Stoke striker secured the winner a minute after Bellamy had levelled and threw in a trademark somersault to celebrate.

A south Wales derby clash with Swansea comes next for Cardiff at the Liberty Stadium and punters should keep their eyes peeled for a price on 2-1 to the visitors and Swansea HT/Cardiff FT odds.