West Bromwich Albion 3 - Cardiff City 3

Date: Saturday 29th March 2014 
Competition: Barclays Premier League
WBA:
5.9
(4-3-3) Foster 5.0, Reid 4.2, McAuley 6.1, Dawson 6.1, Ridgewell 6.1, Morrison 5.0, Mulumbu 6.4, Dorrans 7.5 (Gera, 85 4.7), Amalfitano 5.7 (Berahino, 71 4.1), Vydra 4.0 (Thievy, 78 5.3), Sessegnon 5.7
Unused subs: Myhill, Lugano, Roofe, O'Neil
Manager: Pepe Mel 5.4
Cardiff:
5.3
Scorers: Amalfitano (2), Dorrans (9), Thievy (90)
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) 6.1
Attendance: 25,771   Home Fans 7.2   Away Fans 6.3

Summary:

Albion twice threw away the lead to end up with a draw from a game they should really have won. The side had an almost makeshift look to it due to injuries and suspensions, with youngsters Liam O'Neil and Kemar Roofe being given places on the bench.

Going two goals up inside the first 20 minutes is never a guarantee of an Albion win these days. Morgan Amalfitano scored the first in just the second minute when his looped cross from near the touchline dropped just inside the far post, and Graham Dorrans doubled the lead when Matej Vydra set him up for a neat finish seven minutes later. Long range lobs were apparently the order of the day, and Jordon Mutch obliged on the half hour mark to pull one back for Cardiff after Albion had wasted numerous chances to extend their lead and put the game out of reach.

Matters got worse in the second half when Steven Caulker lobbed Foster from shorter range with a header to level the scores with just over fifteen minutes left, but in the third minute of four added on at the end Thievy Bifouma looked to have won the game with a close range tap in. It wasn't to be, however, because instead of taking the ball into the corner after an Albion break with only seconds remaining, Saido Berahino chose to pass it to a Cardiff defender who started an attack that ended with Mats Daehli's deflected shot levelling the scores again.

The point leaves Albion in seventeenth place, three points above Cardiff in eighteenth.

Mark Koppel:

Today confirmed why we are in such a mess ,and we shouldn't be. The fundamental problem continues to be a Chairman who is trying to get away with doing things on the cheap (apart from his own salary of course). He has now been caught out because Ashworth is not there to bail him out.

I hear a lot of fans saying well Odemwingie and Long wanted to go, and we couldn't afford Lukaku's salary.

Ask yourselves the question why did they want to go ? They went because our Chairman would not offer them salaries other Clubs would.

So there is the choice, don't be competitive on salaries ,lose your best players, and get relegated.

Or at least try to be competitive with the likes of Hull, Southampton, Norwich, Crystal Palace who have all had LESS Sky Money than Jeremy Peace. Even Cardiff today had Whittingham, Zaha, and Jones on the bench versus our kids.

So where has all the money gone?

We have had 6 years of Sky Money, now up to ?60 million per year.

The AGM gave no answers this week as our Chairman did not even have the guts to turn up to answer questions or justify his ?1.2million plus salary.

Peace I, and the majority of WBA fans, believe you first and foremost are the person responsible for our terrible decline and hope for once in your life you do the honourable thing.

Player ratings today.

  • Foster 4 - Got caught flat footed for both the first two goals.
  • Reid 4- It is not his fault, he is just too old and slow nowadays.
  • Ridgewell 6 - One of his better days defending.May have even got a higher score had he not hit the first defender with nearly all of his crosses.
  • Dawson 5 - Quite solid but only half the player Olsson is.
  • McAuley 6 - Played through pain barriers apparently and for that must be applauded.
  • Morrison 6 - Battled hard in midfield and set up the second goal superbly.Not sure where his shooting boots of 2 years ago have gone though.
  • Vydra 3 - Powder Puff, amazing he stay on the pitch that long.
  • Mulumbu 6 - Like Morrison, battled hard but with not much impact.
  • Dorrans 7 - More direct than against Hull and got some decent tackles in.
  • Sess 5 - Lots of nice runs but not always sure if they are dangerous to the opposition.
  • Amalfitano 2 - Even more powder puff than Vydra.Lucky first goal than reverted back to losing the ball every time in possession.Not sure even if he was on the pitch second half ?

Subs:

  • Thievy 5 - Scored yes but otherwise ran around with no purpose.
  • Gera 4 - Cannot remember if he got a touch.
  • Berahino 6 - Hero and Villain at the same time. He is still young and learning so I don't feel he should be chastised too much .If you want experienced strikers we should have not sold Shane Long.

Brendan Clegg:

Another game thrown away.

I thought with the options available Mel picked the correct side - my only contention would be that Thievy offers more than Vidra all round.

I normally agree with most of the things that Paul Gainham says, but I would disagree with him about Thievy. Last week he wss our best player for 30 minutes while Anichibe was woeful all game. He is raw, but does have pace, strength and height, 2 good feet and can beat a man. All our other options up front have only one dimension to their game - he has more, but obviously he needs a lot of work. The potential is there and he nipped in to score a goal again today that none of our other forwards would have.

Great start, but after going 2 up we should have put the game to bed with both chances and opportunities around their box. I don't think any Albion fan in the ground felt we'd keep a clean sheet. We needed 3 or 4 goals.

I thought the 1st Cardiff goal was harsh but the real tunring point in the game was Mel's fault.

From about 50 minutes Vydra was knackered and he couldn't keep the ball, therefore the pressure was mounting. We had nothing to build on and Morgan was also a passenger.

Rather than the obvious straight swap of Vydra Thievy (and possibly Gera for Morgan), Saido came on and we went 4-4-2.

From there Cardiff's midfield were totally on top and we couldn't get out.

Worse, Dorrans who had been our best player by a mile in the centre and had tried to keep the ball sensibly was shunted out wide and Morrison panicked and hooked the ball aimlessly whenever he got near the ball.

The equaliser came from a free kick we conceded due to being outnumbered and exposed. A fortuitous header but we really shouldn't be losing the first header like that form such and lofted set piece.

Perhaps it was because McAuley was clearly injured for about 30 minutes but with one leg is still better than Lugano. I thought heading was Dawson's key strength?

By the time Thievy came on in a 2 up front the service was poor and there were no spaces for him to exploit, and yet Saido did well to keep the ball alive and then setup the winner.

Calamity at the end. Take the ball in the corner. Exactly like Popov against Chelsea. Saido can be forgiven more due to his age and we were only a goal up thanks to him, but still a sickening way to concede.

At least we didn't lose. A point a game average from our final 7 games might just about be enough.

  • Foster - 6 Not a lot to do, I thought he was suspect for 2 goals but would need to see them again.
  • Reid - 6 Not awful, clearly doing his aged best.
  • Dawson - 6 Tried. He's not as good as mad Tams if we're honest.
  • G-Mac - 7 Extra mark due to him playing on despite not being able to run.
  • Ridgewell - 7 Gave it everything, bombed up and down - attacked aerial balls really well. Obviously lacks quality and pace but I find some of the criticism really harsh. He's not Mattock or Shorey yet cost less than either of them.
  • Mulumbu - 7 Steady, disciplined.
  • Morrison - 5 Started well and good energy but too many aimless hoofs.
  • Dorrans - 8 Delighted for him, kind of a performance in the centre that makes a mockery of playing Brunt there. Tenacious, sensible with the ball, ran his legs off, good goal. Did not deserve to be subbed or sent wide.
  • Morgan - 6 Started well and great goal as well as other bits of magic but faded badly and was a complete passenger for 20 minutes before coming off.
  • Sess - 7 first 60 minutes was fantastic, always wanting the ball and causing them real problems. Off the left is his best position for me. Again faded badly once we went to a 5 and also before that when we had no attacking focal point.
  • Vydra - 6 Ran his legs off for 50 minutes and showed good movement, plus a selfless assist for the Dorrans goal but as we started to go longer in our passing he disappeared and was never going to win aerial balls. By the time he went off the crowd were on his case because he couldn't do the basics on holding the ball up.
  • Saido and Thievy - I would say neither of them did anything at all apart from the goal.