Cardiff City's unseen £1m striker has fans saying the same thing as stunning footage emerges

The Bluebirds' goalscorer was at the centre of City fans' conversations after the match

"The under-21s just turned into prime Brazil," wrote one Cardiff City fan after Roko Simic's first strike of the afternoon was posted on social media.

The Croatian netted the Bluebirds' second - and third - in a 4-0 thumping of Peterborough United on Tuesday afternoon and it was a real stunner. A team goal of the highest order.

Started by Dylan Lawlor with help from Tanatswa Nyakuhwa, Troy Perrett and Will Spiers, City carved open their opposition in eye-grabbing fashion, but Simic's finish perhaps slid under the radar as a result.

The forward took the ball under pressure in the box, following sumptuous build-up play down the left, and had to pull the ball away from a defender before picking his spot and burying it into the corner with a sweeping strike.

Watch the goal below.

"Oh wow. Just like watching Brazil!" wrote fan Tim Wegener. "Could show the first team a thing or two," another said.

"This under 21 team is genuinely better than our first team," Nathan Jenkins added. "Unreal goal."

"Best football seen at the ground in about seven years, any of these available Saturday?" wrote Daniel Lewis.

While the goal itself certainly caught the eye, there was no escaping the fact that the scorer of that goal - and his current situation - has left some supporters scratching their heads.

Signed in an initial deal of well over £1m last summer, Erol Bulut's last signing as Bluebirds boss, it was understood that Simic would be a signing earmarked for next season and beyond.

That was contingent on a successful loan spell away at sister club KV Kortrijk, with Cardiff hopeful he would embark on a similar journey to Isaak Davies, who thrived in Belgium last year, scoring 12 goals.

But the Croatian striker's spell in West Flanders was disastrous. Injury, lack of game time and change of manager all contributed to a miserable first half of the season for the 22-year-old. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

He cannot be faulted, however, for his application and goalscoring ability since returning. The forward now has five in seven for Matt Bloxham's side and it was that sort of form which had supporters pleading for Michael Reindorf to receive a first-team call-up before Christmas.

The signing of Yousef Salech, who has hit the ground running since joining from Sirius in January, has likely roadblocked Simic's pathway to the first team. Salech and Callum Robinson represent a far better striking duo than earlier this season, when the poor Wilfried Kanga simply couldn't buy a goal for love nor money, and Simic has had to bide his time as a result.

Yakou Meite popped up and scored the winner - and a crucial winner at that - against Blackburn Rovers before the international break, which might have cemented him in the squad for a few games, too.

But Simic cannot do much more than he has done.

His second goal against Posh was no tap-in, either, after some tricky wing play from Spiers, who beat his man before driving into the box and rifling a cross into the box. It was an awkward height for Simic, who showed he can also be a fox-in-the-box type of striker as he lifted his leg up before steering home a volley first time.

With Salech and Robinson as the first-choice forwards, with Meite and the returning Isaak Davies as back-ups, though, first-team boss Omer Riza has seemingly been reluctant to hand Simic, who has a Champions League goal to his name from his time with former club RB Salzburg, his opportunity, despite naming him on the bench against Portsmouth and Bristol City.

"For me, fans want to see players who have been brought into the club play. We see the players every day. We know how they train and how they perform," manager Riza said of Simic at the end of February.

"Roko has come in and he's working hard and I've always said it - I said it about Michael Reindorf in the past - he is a good lad, works his socks off, wants to do well, but you've got to be better than the players in your position to get in front of them. At the moment, Roko's not.

"If you look at his finishing, he doesn't finish like some of our players can. If you look at his hold-up, he can't hold up like other players can. He is a willing runner, but we've got willing runners, Isaak Davies is a willing runner and he is quick, the quickest in the team. Ash (Cian Ashford) is a willing runner, powerful, strong.

"Look, he is here and part of the squad, working hard. But for me, he is a long way off starting. There is stuff competition. His attitude and character is good and he works hard, but we've got to win games and pick the right teams and the right players to do the job."

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It's fair to say that were Cardiff not in such a precarious position, two points above the drop zone and only one place at time of writing, then Riza might be more inclined to gamble - if such a word is applicable - on an unknown quantity in Simic.

The Bluebirds have rarely had the luxury of having nothing to play for in the final few games in recent seasons, therefore they have been unable to field young talent or test the water with fringe players as much as they would have liked in a bid to plan for the season ahead. So Simic has almost certainly fallen victim to the club's shocking form this term.

Nevertheless, for some supporters, they seem to think that while there is a confident goalscorer within the ranks - and with it being high time to get points on the board - the Croat's latest showing has simply corroborated their theory that he deserves a first-team shot.

Fan account Giggsy said: "I know Riza has said he’s not Championship ready but he seems to be getting goals with the U21s regularly. He must be knocking on the door of a team who fail to put away chances. Need as much firepower as possible right now no matter where it comes from."

"Got to be worth a place on the bench and be thrown on over Meite to pinch a goal," Craig Mallett said.

"Criminal that he’s not part of the first team squad," wrote fan account Ffwlpelt.

"Needs to be given a chance this season," Connor Kivelhan said of Simic.

"When will he get a chance in the first team!" pleaded Alfie Brown.

"Watching the goals on YouTube really makes you think how are players like (Anwar) El Ghazi, Meite, (Chris) Willock and (Dimitrios) Goutas getting a game," said Dilan. "(Dylan) Lawlor should be in the first team squad at least and Simic needs to make his debut soon, otherwise we’ll have another clear talent off the books in the summer."