Cardiff earn draw in hard fought game against strugglers Watford.
Cardiff City take a point with them into the international after Vakoun Bayo cancelled out Mark McGuinness' first-half volley in a 1-1 draw with Watford.
By Glen Williams
The Bluebirds struck from a corner in the first half, but as the game wore on it looked more and more likely that Watford would score not only the equaliser, but the winner, too. And their leveller came through an awful mistake from goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, whose heavy touch gifted the ball to Bayo, who rounded him and poked it home.
Watford started the game quickly, harassing the Bluebirds and they were lightning-quick with their press. It forced Cardiff into a couple of mistakes, but the Hornets didn't necessarily punish the hosts.
Cardiff, on the other hand, looked far more dangerous on the breakaway and architected a couple of chances via that route. The first major chance came halfway through the first half when Ike Ugbo did splendidly to chop inside and mount a counter-attack. The ball found its way to Karlan Grant on the opposite flank and he did well to beat his marker on the outside and hammer a low shot on target. Daniel Bachmann had to get down low and paw the ball into the danger zone, but Ugbo's outstretched leg just couldn't poke it home.
Grant looked lively and it was him just minutes later who had the next big chance of the tie. He stole the ball from Edo Kayembe on halfway and zipped it past the last defender, leaving only clean air between him and Bachmann. The winger made his way to the edge of the box before lashing his effort from 20 yards over the bar. It was a golden opportunity for the Bluebirds to take the lead.
But the hosts were emboldened by a flurry of chances and, fortunately for the home fans, they didn't have to wait long to open the scoring. Ollie Tanner did well to battle to get the ball off his marker before his left-footed shot was deflected wide. The resultant corner saw Joe Ralls send an in-swinger in towards Dimitrios Goutas, who flicked it towards the back post for McGuinness to hammer home with a first-time volley.
As expected, though, Valerien Ismael's team hit back strongly, although they were helped by a few careless errors from the Bluebirds. A misplaced Jamilu Collins pass saw Vakoun Bayo played on the edge of City's box, but his lack of composure was akin to Grant's as he dragged his effort wide of the mark despite having time and space to pick his spot.
Cardiff were under the cosh a little towards the break and it looked like they were going to concede, particularly when Wesley Hoedt flicked on a header at the near post towards only for Yaser Asprilla, who was practically under the crossbar, to head over, almost inexplicably.
And it took a marvellous intervention from Jak Alnwick just before the break to keep City ahead. Perry Ng's uncharacteristically poor backpass was intercepted by Bayo, who rounded Alnwick before looking to square to a team-mate for an easy tap-in. But the Bluebirds stopper managed, somehow, to get his legs in the way of the square ball.
Unfortunately, after the break, when Alnwick was rounded again, it was all his own doing. McGuinness played the goalkeeper a simple backpass and Alnwick took an incredibly heavy touch, with Bayo bearing down on him. The striker nicked it off him and this time made no mistake as he passed it coolly into the Cardiff net. The Bluebirds shot stopper was distraught.
And another sloppy, individual mistake almost cost them again as the clock ticked on. Ryan Wintle was the culprit this time, ceding possession to Tom Ince inside the Bluebirds' penalty area. The Hornets winger snatched at his effort, though, and hammered the ball over the crossbar from just 12 yards out. It should have been the winner.
Cardiff dropped deep, made tactically defensive changes and clung on for the draw, which wasn't universally welcomed by the home supporters, but a point was the result in the end. And it means they head into the break just a point off the play-off spots.
Cardiff City XI: Alnwick; Ng, McGuinness, Goutas, Collins; Siopis, Ralls (Robinson 58), Wintle; Tanner (Bowler 71), Ugbo (Sawyers 87), Grant.
Subs: Runarssson, Panzo, Romeo, Adams, R. Colwill, Evans.
Watford XI: Bachmann; Ngakia, Hoedt, Sierralta (Porteous 63), Lews; Livermore; Asprilla (Ince 59), Dele-Bashiru (Louza 59), Kayembe, Martins (Rajovic 85); Bayo.
Subs: Hamer, Kone, Healey, Chakvetadze, Morris.
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