Cardiff 1, West Brom 1: Chris Lepkowski's report and player ratings
Feb 17 2010 by Christopher Lepkowski, Birmingham Mail
ALBION’S shirts remained blank for their game at Cardiff – but the Red Cross wouldn’t have been a bad choice of sponsor as Roberto Di Matteo’s patched up squad returned to the Championship top spot.
Gianni Zuiverloon’s goal in first-half injury-time equalised Cardiff’s opener, which came through Peter Whittingham’s eighth minute penalty after Jay Bothroyd had been clumsily brought down by Jonas Olsson.
It was a case of ‘bring boots, might play’ for Roberto Di Matteo’s men. NINE players were unavailable through injury or suspension, with Roman Bednar being ruled out after failing a pre-match fitness test on his back.
The Czech striker was named among the subs, but his inclusion was merely to fill the bench with seven players.
But Albion didn’t make excuses for their lack of bodies or weariness.
They played with purpose, convinction and a spirit which deserved more than the one point they got.
Graham Dorrans in particular oozed quality in a deeper, defensive role.
He controlled play alongside an Albion midfield which was dominant.
Had Albion fans travelled to Cardiff with the premise of ‘we’ll settle for a draw’, then they no doubt returned knowing that they could have won, with a little more luck.
Albion’s first attack came through Luke Moore chasing a long ball down.
He got away from Gabor Gyepes, only for his low shot to go wide of David Marshall’s far post.
But it was Bothroyd – an Albion nemesis of days gone by – who once again unsettled the Baggies backline.
He managed to get behind Olsson, who tried to muscle him off the ball only to bring the Cardiff man down.
Referee Andy Woolmer didn’t spot the initial foul and acted on the call of the linesman, who immediately flagged for the spot-kick.
Whittingham slammed his penalty past Scott Carson to put the Welshman ahead.
Albion remained spirited. The hub of the midfield continued to switch around trying to find a way through the Cardiff resilience.
Too often Albion’s last pass was lazy or over-enthusiastic. It was that little bit of quality they lacked in the final third. They lacked Dorrans’ finesse – the Scotland midfielder playing a far deeper than usual role.
But he played it with brilliance, underlining his ability to tick every midfield box.
A swift and incisive passing move by Albion in the 21st minute summed up their fortunes.
