West Ham draw 3-3 at Cardiff on Scott Parker’s opening night

West Ham rallied from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Cardiff at Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday in a Championship fixture, Scott Parker’s first match as the club’s head coach.

Parker was confirmed as West Ham’s head coach earlier on Wednesday, replacing Nuno Espírito Santo who was sacked on Tuesday; the former midfielder signed a two-and-a-half year contract. Cardiff’s Jack Moylan, meanwhile, stole the first-half headlines by scoring a hat-trick that briefly threatened to make Parker’s debut a painful one.

Moylan opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a right-foot drive from the tip of the D that flew into the top left corner past goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. He doubled the lead from the spot in the 37th minute, “spank(ing) it home to the left as Hermansen dived right,” and completed his treble within two minutes when Will Fish’s headed delivery was followed by Moylan’s final touch.

West Ham produced a markedly different second half. Divine Mukasa reduced the deficit in the 58th minute, finishing calmly over Nathan Trott after a fine over-the-top pass from Jarrod Bowen, and Arne Engels made it 3-2 by capitalising on a mix-up in the home defence. Max Kilman levelled in the 82nd minute when Bowen curled in a cross from the right that the centre-back turned in from close range.

At the Racecourse, leaders Middlesbrough were beaten 2-0 by Wrexham. The deadlock was broken in the 70th minute when George Thomason smashed a shot into the ground from just outside the area that rocketed past a crowd of defenders and through an unsighted visiting goalkeeper Radek Vítek, and Oli Rathbone added a second in the 84th minute.

At Ashton Gate, Scott Twine gave Bristol City the lead with a curling free-kick before promotion-chasing Wolves overturned the deficit with two late strikes from Sean Neave. Neave, on loan from Newcastle, came off the bench to score in the 82nd and 89th minutes to secure a 2-1 victory for the visitors.

The Championship round produced three notable results: West Ham’s 3-3 draw at Cardiff on Parker’s opening night, Wrexham’s 2-0 win over leaders Middlesbrough, and Wolves’ 2-1 comeback victory at Ashton Gate.