On the eve of his 70th birthday, Neil Warnock could not have scripted it any better. Love him or loathe him, it is impossible not to admire Warnock’s longevity and this was another victory for the Yorkshireman to cherish as Junior Hoilett produced a moment of individual brilliance to give his manager the perfect present and lift Cardiff out of the relegation zone.

Trailing to Matt Doherty’s first-half goal, Cardiff showed spirit and character in abundance to come from behind and win at home for the third time this season. They are a Warnock team in every sense in that respect and it is starting to look as though Cardiff’s relegation from the Premier League is not the foregone conclusion that many predicted it would be. “We’ve given ourselves a chance,” Warnock said. “But we’re not getting carried away.”

Cardiff v Wolves: Premier League – live! Read more

Wolves have far grander ambitions than Premier League survival but their promising start to the season has fizzled out and it will be fascinating to see how Nuno Espírito Santo, their manager, handles an alarming slump in form. The man who could do no wrong last season has now presided over a dismal run in which his team have collected only one point from a possible 18, with the back-to-back defeats against Huddersfield and Cardiff particularly worrying because of the way that Wolves have lost control of both matches.

From the moment that Aron Gunnarsson equalised midway through the second half, after a bad goalkeeping mistake by Rui Patrício, Wolves looked anxious and vulnerable and it was no real surprise when Cardiff struck again. The same could not be said for the identity of the scorer, however, given that Hoilett had gone six years without a Premier League goal and was not exactly enjoying his best evening in a Cardiff shirt.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Matt Doherty pounces on the loose ball and fires the ball into the roof of the net to give Wolves the lead. Photograph: Kieran McManus/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Everything fell into place for the Canadian, though, when he picked up possession on the edge of the penalty area, wide on the left, and curled a glorious right-footed shot that arced over the head of Patrício and into the top corner. “Vincent [Tan, the owner] will be delighted because he always says we don’t shoot enough,” said Warnock, who sprung a surprise by playing with three at the back.

Although Warnock claimed victory was no sweeter on the back of the furious row that overshadowed the meeting between the two clubs in April, when the Cardiff manager had reacted angrily to Nuno’s decision to run on to the pitch at the final whistle without shaking his hand, the outcome here must have been particularly gratifying for him.

For Nuno, there are more questions than answers right now and he has to find a way of instilling some self-belief into his players prior to Wednesday’s visit of Chelsea. “After the equaliser the game became difficult and that was the moment we lost a bit of control,” he said. “We stuck together as a team but individually we have to raise our standards in the moments that can define games. We had numerous situations to cause more damage to Cardiff.”

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Wolves were ahead as early as the 18th minute, when Doherty marked his 200th league appearance for the club by sweeping home at the far post after Neil Etheridge had repelled Raul Jiménez’s header. Gunnarsson, caught on his heels, should have been marking Doherty but he atoned for that error in the second half. Patrício found himself in no man’s land when Harry Arter, who had earlier hit the upright, lofted a high ball into the area, Sean Morrison flicked it on and Gunnarsson acrobatically hooked home from four yards out.

Roared on by raucous home support, Cardiff were now buoyant and Hoilett, rolling back the years, relished the chance to take centre stage with his splendid goal. “In the Premier League you’ve got to have ability and skill but it does nothing without character, determination and togetherness,” Warnock said. “This is why I’m still in the game.”