West Brom 0-2 Cardiff

By Peter Shuttleworth At the Hawthorns

Chris Burke celebrates his goal with Michael Chopra

Cardiff City ended their 52-year league Hawthorns hoodoo in controversy to beat second-placed West Brom to go third.

Chris Burke's second goal in successive games gave Cardiff an 18th minute lead as his left-foot shot flew past Albion stopper Scott Carson.

And Cardiff completed a superb victory when captain Carson was dismissed for a head-butt on Michael Chopra late on.

Referee Paul Taylor then awarded the Bluebirds a penalty which Peter Whittingham scored from the rebound.

Replacement goalkeeper Dean Kiely's first touch was to save Whittingham's weak left-footed penalty diving to his right but the former England under-21 international kept his composure to slide home the rebound.

The defeat was a blow to Albion's promotion hopes and was West Bromwich Albion's first defeat in seven games since Cardiff's Welsh rivals Swansea won here on 20 October.

Roberto Di Matteo's men - looking to close the gap on leaders Newcastle to one point - were furious official Taylor sent England international Carson off for the second time in his career.

606: DEBATE Give your thoughts on West Brom v Cardiff City

Chopra had clipped Albion skipper Carson when the Cardiff striker attempted to convert Burke's 82nd minute cross but the former Liverpool and Aston Villa stopper planted his head into Chopra's face when the ball had been cleared.

Marek Cech was sacrificed by Baggies boss Di Matteo so Kiely could come on after Carson's moment of madness but to add insult to injury for West Brom, Taylor awarded the spot-kick to the amazement of the home side.

Whittingham, at the second attempt, converted his 14th goal of the season in all competitions to move him to the top of the Championship's top-scorers list as Cardiff celebrated their first win at the Hawthorns in the league since February 1957.

The battle of the division's two top-scorers lived up to its billing as after Graham Dorrans' early 30-yard strike - saved by Cardiff keeper David Marshall - Roman Bednar should have given West Brom an early lead.

Dorrans beat Paul Quinn and the Scottish left-winger's cross eluded the statuesque visiting defence but Bednar, with just the keeper to beat, could not control and convert before a sprawling Marshall smothered the Czech striker's weak effort from a difficult angle.

Within 60 seconds it was Carson keeping his team level as the England international tipped Gavin Rae's rising left-foot 20-yard drive over after Paul Quinn's right-wing cross was not cleared.

Michael Chopra reels after an alleged head-butt by Scott Carson

But Carson was helpless to stop Burke's fourth goal of the season in the 18th minute after the Scottish winger clinically finished a sweeping Cardiff counter attack.

Burke dashed onto Kelvin Etuhu's flick on the half-way line and the Baggies backline were punished for not closing down him down as the man who celebrated his 26th birthday last week fired a low 20-yard low left-footed shot into the net.

Cardiff's lead was deserved for their endeavour and work-rate against a serious promotion contender but Burke's opener was a wake-up call for Albion as the Baggies began to crank up the pressure.

And it was only Anthony Gerrard's bravery that came between Bednar and a clear chance as the Bluebirds centre-back dived in to incept a pass bound for the West Brom hitman.

Albion, though, were fortunate not to be reduced to ten men earlier in the match as Gonzalo Jara appeared to elbow Gavin Rae in the final minute of the first-half but official Taylor only punished the Chilean midfielder with a caution.

In the opening minutes of the second-half, Marshall had a taste of things to come as the Scottish international had to be at his best to keep out Bednar as he looked set to score his fourth of the season.

The relentless Albion attacks opened up the Cardiff defence again just before the hour as Bednar's presence created an opening for Dorrans but with a clear sight of goal and from 15 yards out, the Scotsman skewed his left-foot shot wide.

West Brom were camped in the Bluebirds half as Chris Brunt and Bednar again went close before counter-attacking Cardiff - the Championship's second highest-scorers - completed a battling smash-and-grab win amid the late drama.

Whittingham remained cool - when commotion reigned all around him - to complete a remarkable win that was credit to Cardiff's heroic defence as much as Whittingham's nerve.

West Brom will undoubtedly rise again while Cardiff's first season's win over one of the Championship's top six sides will be a morale-booster ahead of games against fellow play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough and Leicester City.

West Brom boss Roberto Di Matteo:
"Personally I have not seen what happened, the game was being developed in the middle of the pitch.

"It's disappointing, he's [Scott Carson] going to be suspended now for three games.

"I haven't spoke to him about it yet, I need to see first what happened. Then I will have a conversation with him."

Asked whether club discipline could be on the cards, he replied: "That's too early to decide now, I need to find out what happened exactly."

Cardiff boss Dave Jones:
"I felt our first-half performance was superb. We could have come in two or three up and I don't think West Brom would have had any complaints.

"Second half, a lot of tired bodies out there. We limited them to long-range shooting and crossing from deep.

"So the whole back five did the job. We didn't allow them to get around the back of us and we made them hit long balls and two centre-halves gobbled everything up.

"But as a rearguard action it was superb and I think we frightened them as well because they couldn't get everybody going forward because they knew that we could break on them."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version