Zohore scores dramatic winner on emotional day for Bluebirds after Sala tributes as they climb out of drop zone
Cardiff players donned shirts bearing Sala's face as the players and crowd observed a minute's silence prior to kick-off
KENNETH ZOHORE gave Cardiff a huge lift following the Emiliano Sala tragedy.
Captain Sol Bamba earlier poked home a 69th minute goal and celebrated by pointing to the sky.
The travelling fans chanted Sala’s name and held a loft tributes to the Argentine, whose body was recovered from the wreckage of the plane he was travelling in from Nantes on January 21.
The goal earned Neil Warnock’s side a vita three points and lifts them out of the relegation zone after a difficult two weeks for the Welsh side.
There was a minute silence before the kick-off for Sala, who was confirmed dead on Thursday after a search and recovery team discovered the 28-year-old’s body still in the plane’s wreckage in the English Channel.
Cardiff’s entire bench and staff stood in a line on the touchline, while the club’s own stewards had issued the travelling fans with yellow daffodils as a mark of a respect following the confirmation of his death.
The Welsh club’s fans held aloft Argentine flags and sang the player’s name during the match in a moving tribute to the club’s recording signing, who tragically never got to play for the side.
It was a sombre St Mary’s and unsurprisingly the game started at a slow pace and never really got going.
There was not a shot on target until the 38th minute and even that was a weak effort from the Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who shot straight at Neil Etheridge.
Until then, Nathan Redmond burst down the left only to shoot straight into the side-netting while Aron Gunnarsson’s long-range effort went high over Alex McCarthy’s crossbar.
Then Sol Bamba almost deflected Redmond’s cross into his own net as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints started carving out half-chances.
The second-half followed the same pattern as Hojbjerg continued to frustrate the home fans by making some poor decisions with his passes.
And they were caught out as Bamba tapped after Joe Ralls’s corner had been headed goalwards by Callum Paterson before the Cardiff captain got the final touch.
Warnock’s side then denied Saints a leveller as Yan Valery’s initial shot was parried by Etheridge.
Right-back Lee Peltier then made a double block to deny Charlie Austin and then Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Jack Stephens nudged in a late leveller after Cardiff failed to clear James Ward-Prowse’s corner.
But there was still time for dramatic winner for the Bluebirds as substitute Kenneth Zohore fired home inside the box as Southampton’s defence crumbled.
