City claimed a valuable away point in a goalless draw at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon.
Omer Riza named an unchanged squad following our 2-0 victory over Portsmouth in midweek.
The Bluebirds made a bright start, looking dangerous going forward and confident in possession. It was the hosts who had the first chance however, as Mikey Johnston found space on the left to cross low into the area, just evading striker Josh Maja. With momentum from that opportunity, Baggies captain Darnell Furlong headed just wide from a free-kick. Fellow defender Semi Ajayi also had a headed effort, which flew over the woodwork.
At the other end, City went agonisingly close to taking the lead, as a brilliant delivery from Perry Ng was headed onto the bar by Callum Robinson. Posing a threat on the counter-attack, winger Anwar El Ghazi then broke forward and cut inside onto his right foot, before firing over.
Just before the break, the hosts had a great chance to open the scoring, as the ball came kindly to John Swift, only to be denied by a brilliant save from captain Jak Alnwick. From the rebound, Uros Racic fired towards goal, but midfielder Alex Robertson produced a fine block.
At the start of the second half, the Bluebirds had a huge opportunity, as David Turnbull played in Ollie Tanner on the right, who delivered a dangerous low cross into the area, which couldn’t quite be converted by Robinson.
City shot-stopper Alnwick was then called into action, making a fine save to deny Grady Diangana, who cut inside from the right and fired an effort at goal. With just over ten minutes left, the Bluebirds went close to an opening, as Tanner won the ball back on the halfway line, but couldn’t quite get past Ajayi as he looked to drive towards goal. In the same attack, Rubin Colwill looked to beat the offside trap, but was denied a chance to shoot by Callum Styles.
In the final proceedings, a cross into the area found Maja at the back post, whose header was saved by Alnwick, who was in the perfect position to make the stop.
After claiming a point and a clean sheet at The Hathorns, the Bluebirds are back at home next weekend, hosting Norwich City on Saturday, November 2nd.
FINAL SCORE: WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0–0 CARDIFF CITY
West Bromwich Albion: Palmer, Furlong ©, Ajayi (Holgate 79’), McNair (Styles 4’), Heggem, Racic, Mowatt, Diangana (Grant 79’), Swift, Johnston (Fellows 71’), Maja. Subs not used: Wildsmith, Molumby, Diakite, Wallace, Cole.
Cardiff City: Alnwick ©, Ng, Chambers, Goutas, O’Dowda, Robertson, Turnbull (Siopis 62’), R Colwill (Willock 78’), Tanner (Bagan 78), El Ghazi (Méïté 62’), Robinson (Kanga 68’). Subs not used: Horvath, Fish, Daland, Rinomhota.