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West Bromwich Albion 3 - Cardiff City 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.
Subs:
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.
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