Erol Bulut explained the reasoning behind his decision to keep Ollie Tanner at Cardiff after the young winger claimed South Wales derby hero status in the Bluebirds’ 2-0 win over Swansea.

Cardiff had lost the previous four derbies against their bitter rivals and were being held at bay before 21-year-old Tanner was sent on as a 70th-minute substitute.

Tanner, who was signed from Isthmian League side Lewes in July 2022 and spent the second half of last season on loan at York, scored his first Cardiff goal within 60 seconds of arriving and then won the penalty which captain Aaron Ramsey converted to seal matters.

Cardiff manager Bulut said: “He came from nothing and last season he was not here.

“When I had the pre-season, I gave everybody the chance to play and I saw that he had something in him.

“He has a good left foot, he has a good shot, he can dribble, he is strong on the ball. So I said I will give him a chance and keep him.

“I hope for his career he continues likes this, keep his feet on the floor. I said I would not give him away (on loan), I made the right decision.”

Bulut, the former Fenerbahce manager who has taken charge of passionate Istanbul derbies with Besiktas and Galatasaray, said before the game he had mingled with Cardiff fans in a city centre pub to understand the importance of the rivalry.

It was Cardiff’s first derby win on home soil since November 2013, which was a Premier League fixture.

He said: “To have a win is special. I’ve played a lot of derbies in my career as a player and a coach and I said to them this game was different.

“The fans told me it was 10 years since we won (in Cardiff) and this was very important for us. It was a must for the table and what pleased me is that we were really a team on the field.”

Swansea have yet to win a league game under Michael Duff and remain in the bottom three.

Duff was given short shrift by some Swansea fans as he went to them after the final whistle.

He said: “It’s part of the job. I don’t like getting beat. I’m not stupid.

“I’m sure there’ll be a vent at me, but I’ve been here before. This is where you see the true characters at the club.

“The ones that stick together, the ones that don’t blame everyone else and whisper in the corridor. There’s been a lot of change at the club. That’s not me hiding behind it.”

Swansea did not manage a shot on target until the final minute, with Duff adding: “It’s the lack of quality that cost us the game.

“I faulted them the last time we got beat because there wasn’t enough intensity, that was there today.

“We couldn’t sustain attacks, we couldn’t build momentum and every time we went forward we gave it away. That’s why we didn’t get any threat.”

Cardiff ended their South Wales derby losing streak with a 2-0 Sky Bet Championship win over Swansea.

Ollie Tanner wrote his name into the history of the fixture just seconds after coming on as a 70th-minute substitute with his first Cardiff goal and then won the penalty which Aaron Ramsey converted.

The 21-year-old winger was signed from Isthmian League side Lewes in July 2022 and spent the second half of last season on loan at York, but it was his name that reverberated around the Cardiff City Stadium as Swansea were finally sunk on derby day.

Swansea had won the four previous meetings between the bitter rivals and completed the first league derby ‘doubles’ into the bargain.

But those victories came under the management of Russell Martin and new boss Michael Duff had blotted his copybook by downplaying the derby before the international break.

Duff had backtracked from those comments two days before the trip east on the M4, but a first win of his reign was necessary to lift Swansea out of the relegation zone.

Cardiff had also made an indifferent start under new manager Erol Bulut with only one win in five matches, but performances on the whole had been encouraging with the Bluebirds punished by their failure to close out games.

Duff handed debuts to deadline-day signings Jamal Lowe – back for a second stint at the club and scorer of a derby double in December 2020 – Josh Tymon and Kristian Pedersen, but suffered a blow when the experienced Joe Allen was injured in the warm-up and withdrew.

Cardiff forced the early pace with a safely-gathered Mark McGuinness header and Carl Rushworth pushing out a vicious Jamilu Collins cross, which Ike Ugbo was unable to profit from at the far post.

The best chance of a frenetic first period high on endeavour but shot on quality came in the third minute of stoppage time.

Ramsey picked out Ugbo, who showed good strength to fend off Nathan Wood. Ugbo’s header fell into the path of Yakou Meite, but his powerful snapshot was well saved by Rushworth.

Meite tested Rushworth again within seconds of the restart with a ferocious 25-yard attempt that swerved in the air, and their personal contest continued as the Swansea goalkeeper clung on to another attempt from the Ivory Coast international.

Jay Fulton was booked for a lunge on Manolis Siopis as tempers began to rise and Tymon was also spoken to by referee Sam Barrott after clattering into Ramsey.

Duff replaced Lowe and Yates with Jamie Paterson and Josh Ginnelly after 63 minutes to try and inject some life into the Swansea attack.

The pair instantly combined to good effect as Tymon fired over, but Swansea did not muster a shot on target until the 90th minute.

Cardiff carried the greater threat as Ugbo missed Ramsey’s cross and Fulton cleared Karlan Grant’s effort off the line before Tanner struck.

Tanner took possession with his first touch and then cut inside Tymon to unleash an unstoppable shot into the far corner of Rushworth’s net.

Pedersen then dragged Tanner to the ground four minutes from time and Ramsey, as he had done for Wales on Monday, stroked home the spot-kick to start the Cardiff celebrations.