Match Report | Brentford 1-1 Cardiff City
The Bluebirds shared the spoils with the Bees at the Brentford Community Stadium on Tuesday evening with a 1-1 draw.
Kieffer Moore opened the scoring from the penalty spot to give City the lead, with Tariqe Fosu striking from distance to earn a draw for Thomas Frank’s side.
Mick McCarthy named the same starting eleven which recorded a point against Reading last time out, with Leandro Bacuna returning to the squad following a four-match absence.
There were few chances of note in a lively first half, with City’s Alex Smithies the busier of the two goalkeepers. The Bluebirds stopper denied Marcus Forss after 11 minutes with a fine save, with Forss passing up another good chance just after the half-hour mark. With the ball nodded back to him, the Finnish striker fired high and wide from close range, wasting the opportunity to put the hosts ahead.
Smithies was called into action once again soon afterwards, preventing Ivan Toney from breaking the deadlock with an excellent one-on-one stop. A mistimed back-pass put the division’s top scorer through on goal, with Smithies quick off the mark to narrow his angle. The City goalkeeper did well to deny the former Newcastle United striker, turning the ball behind for a corner-kick which came to nothing.
The Bluebirds moved the ball confidently throughout the first period, with Joe Ralls, under pressure from Ethan Pinnock, calling Brentford keeper David Raya into action. However, neither side could force the breakthrough before the interval, with the two teams going into half-time with the score goalless.
City took the lead twelve minutes after the restart, with Kieffer Moore netting his second goal in consecutive matches from the penalty spot. Mick McCarthy’s men were awarded the spot-kick after Curtis Nelson saw his header illegally blocked by Pinnock; Nelson’s goal bound effort was diverted onto the post by the Brentford defender’s arm. Welshman Moore made no mistake from twelve yards, firing into the bottom right-hand corner for his 18th goal of the campaign.
The hosts got back on level terms five minutes later, with Tariqe Fosu striking from distance. The winger cut into a central area from the left flank and drove a dipping strike with plenty of swerve on the Bluebirds goal, which Smithies was unfortunate to misjudge. The ball snuck past the City stopper and into the back of the net, equalling the score with just under 30 minutes to play.
Mick McCarthy’s men had a golden opportunity to regain the lead soon afterwards, with Harry Wilson unlucky not to find the target. The loanee got onto the end of Aden Flint’s flick-on at close range, but was unable to make a strong enough connection on the ball in order to turn it on target.
As the Bees pushed men forward in search of a winner, Smithies was called into action once again to deny Sergi Canós. The Spaniard, who had been introduced as a second half substitute, fired on target from outside the penalty area, with the ball swerving towards the centre of the goal after initially veering to the left. The City stopper did well to react to the moving ball, parrying it away from danger to maintain parity between the two teams.
The final whistle confirmed that the points would be shared by both sides after an even contest in west London. With three matches remaining in the 2020/21 Championship season, the Bluebirds next face Wycombe Wanderers at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday 24th April (3pm).
Brentford: Raya, Jansson, Nørgaard, Pinnock, Roerslev (Canos 58’), Janelt (Ghoddos 58’), Jensen, Mbuemo (Marcondes 68’), Fosu (Goode 90’), Forss, Toney.
Subs not used: Daniels, Bech, Gordon, Stevens, Bidstrup.
Cardiff City: Smithies, Sang (Williams 87’), Flint, Nelson, Brown, Ng (Osei-Tutu 81’), Pack (Bacuna 73’), Vaulks, Ralls, Wilson (Ojo 73’), Moore (Murphy 81’).
Subs not used: Phillips, Hoilett, Harris, Watters.
