League Division One · Matchday 22

Manchester United v Cardiff City

3–1

Wednesday 26th December 1956 · Old Trafford · Att: 28,607

Manchester United beat Cardiff City 3–1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday 26th December 1956 in the League Division One. Tommy Taylor (19'), Dennis Viollet (53') and Billy Whelan (70') scored for United.

Timeline

Running score

Kick Off
2' Danny Malloy pen 0–1
19' Tommy Taylor 1–1
Half Time
53' Dennis Viollet 2–1
70' Billy Whelan 3–1
Full Time 3–1

Match Facts

Starting XI

Player

8 William Whelan 70'

9 Tommy Taylor 19'

10 Dennis Viollet 53'

11 David Pegg

Substitutes

Substitutes were not permitted

Managers

MUFC

Matt Busby

Manchester United

OPP

Trevor Morris

Cardiff City

United vs Cardiff City History

Meeting 20 of 31

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

Goals For

Goals Against

All-time record, from the first meeting on Saturday 7th January 1922. After this match United had played Cardiff City 20 times: 8W 6D 6L.

26 Feb 1955 L 0–3 D1 29 Oct 1955 W 1–0 D1 10 Mar 1956 D 1–1 D1

26 Dec 1956 W 3–1 This match

27 Apr 1957 W 3–2 D1 26 Nov 1960 L 0–3 D1 29 Apr 1961 D 3–3 D1

All-time	P	W	D	L	F	A	Win%
Home	16	6	6	4	31	25	37.5
Away	15	9	2	4	29	21	60.0

All 31 meetings with Cardiff City →

Match results, lineups and goalscorers compiled from mufcinfo.com; advanced match statistics (xG, shots, possession) via FBref and FotMob where available. Last updated 29 September 2026. How we compile this data →