Lloris - 5.5. Looked ever so slightly shaky, coming dangerously close to sliding out of the area when patting the ball away from the on-rushing Campbell, failing to control a long punt backward and conceding a corner, and then losing track of the ball from that resulting corner, only being saved from conceding a goal by the referee's whistle. Still, pro-active over motionless any day for me.
Walker - 5.5. Was hassled and harried all day, and never really got to grips with it. Didn't do much wrong apart from that, though.
Daws - 6. Looked solid enough, and took one for the team by crashing into Kim Bo-Kyung when he was bursting through the back line.
Verts - 6. Solid, although Naughton's woes on the left side did drag him in somewhat.
Naughton - 5. Struggled with the relentless pressing of Bellamy and Catherine, and played a lot of poor passes. Playing out of his usual position, though, so not entirely his fault.
Dembele - 7.5. Looked calm, assured and in control. Twisted and spun out of heavy Cardiff challenges time and again, and proved incredibly difficult to dispossess while at the same time prompting a lot of our forays forward. A good game from him, and a slow return to form.
Paulinho - 8.0. See above, add last-minute goal. Beastly performance, which raises the question: do we actually need a holding midfielder a la Sandro?
Eriksen - 7.0. Flitted in and out of Cardiff's defence with ease, played good passes, almost never lost possession and tested Marshall with a few stinging shots.
Townsend - 7.0. Drove at Cardiff's back line time and again, jinking this way and that so frequently that in the end they just let him get on with it out wide and covered any passing options he had instead. Needs to be more purposeful, though, and I don't mean in an 'endlessly shooting' kind of way.
Siggy - 7.0. Cracked off some stinging shots, played some good passes to Naughton and Eriksen as they floated around him, hit the post and battled away tirelessly. Unlucky to be substituted.
Soldado - 6.5. Was involved more than in previous matches, but was unable to beat Marshall with the chances he did get. Not many people could have today, though.
Subs:
Kane - N/A. Had one shot off target and ran around a bit. Part of a switch to 4-4-2, though, which I enjoyed seeing.
Lamela - 7.0. Provided a great assist to Paulinho, the one moment that won the game. The pass went through Caulker's legs as well, and a nutmeg is always a plus when there's a goal at the end of the move.
Holtby - 7.0. Provided the pass to Lamela that enabled him to ping it in to Paulinho. Looks lively, energetic and passionate, and it looks like he's slowly regaining the confidence he had at Schalke. Great to see.
AVB - 7. If it was a draw, it would have been a standard 6.5. However, his subs won the game, so the score is warranted. Good day for the boss.
Special mention: David Marshall, the Cardiff team as a whole and their fans. The first had a fine game, the second worked their socks off and pressed like madmen while showing no little skill and inventiveness when in possession, and the third roared throughout the game, providing a bit of atmosphere to what was a cracking match. If they play like this, they'll stay up with no problems at all.
Overall, good result. Could have done with finishing it off a bit earlier, but the three points are the most important thing. Onwards and upwards. COYS!