Cardiff City 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion

Conor McAlleny challenges Rohan Ince of Brighton

Cardiff's winless run stretched to six games as they played out a dreary draw against relegation-threatened Brighton.

A forgettable first half prompted boos from the Bluebirds' fans as neither side played with any fluency.

The second period was only marginally better as Cardiff's Aron Gunnarsson and Kenwyne Jones both missed free headers.

The result leaves Cardiff just six points above the relegation zone, while Brighton are now level on points with the bottom three.

With both sides entering this match having lost four of their last five fixtures, this seemed a clash between two teams in apparent freefall.

While Cardiff's run of one win in 10 league games had increased pressure on manager Russell Slade, Brighton were in the more precarious position of being just one place and two points above the relegation zone.

The two sides' poor form was evident in a scrappy opening at Cardiff City Stadium which was almost entirely devoid of scoring opportunities.

Cardiff's best effort was Sean Morrison's diving header which bounced over, while Brighton's only shot on goal from Rohan Ince was blocked.

There were cheers early into the second half, but of the ironic sort as Gunnarsson registered the game's first shot on target with a deflected strike from 20 yards.

It was not until 70 minutes had passed that Brighton had a meaningful effort, as Lewis Dunk headed wide from Joao Teixeira's free-kick.

Cardiff missed a golden opportunity soon afterwards as an unmarked Gunnarsson headed over from a Peter Whittingham corner.

Jones had a similarly inviting chance moments later, but he nodded Craig Noone's excellent cross narrowly wide as the game finished goalless to heap yet more pressure on Slade.

Cardiff manager Russell Slade:

"It was poor, it was a really poor game in that first half where the two sides cancelled each other out.

"We tried to show more intent after the break by going with two strikers up front and we had two decent chances to win the game.

"You would have to say that [top six] is now unrealistic. If you were being honest, we would have to put some run together to get us up there.

"That does not mean it is impossible, it can happen, but we do not look capable of that at the minute. We have had two draws in a row and we are not picking up wins."

Brighton manager Chris Hughton:

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Hughton on Cardiff v Brighton

"It was a hard earned draw for us and we have to be happy. This is a difficult place to come, they are a good side and we knew what we were up against.

"They are direct and you have to be able to cope with that. Kenwyne Jones is better than many at that sort of thing and we handled him pretty well.

"So I felt we could have capitalised on the possession we had and some breaks we formed well. I am disappointed we did not make more of our opportunities, but we deserved nothing less than a draw."

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Cardiff

• 1Marshall
• 2PeltierBooked at 90mins
• 5Ecuele Manga
• 36Morrison
• 4Malone
• 11Noone
• 22O'KeefeBooked at 37minsSubstituted forDoyleat 45'minutes
• 17Gunnarsson
• 7Whittingham
• 15McAlenySubstituted forK Harrisat 68'minutes
• 9Jones

Substitutes

• 3da Silva
• 13Doyle
• 16Connolly
• 18Adeyemi
• 29Revell
• 33Moore
• 40K Harris

Brighton

• 13Stockdale
• 14CalderónBooked at 68mins
• 3Greer
• 5Dunk
• 30Bennett
• 24Ince
• 28KayalSubstituted forLua Luaat 71'minutes
• 2BrunoBooked at 86mins
• 18Forster-Caskey
• 17Vilaca TeixeiraSubstituted forStephensat 86'minutes
• 19BestSubstituted forO'Gradyat 63'minutes

Substitutes

• 4Hughes
• 6Stephens
• 11O'Grady
• 12Mackail-Smith
• 25Lua Lua
• 31Walton
• 33Halford

Referee:

Iain Williamson

Attendance:

19,206

Match Stats

Home TeamCardiffAway TeamBrighton

Possession

Home40%

Away60%

Shots

Home10

Away10

Shots on Target

Home1

Away1

Corners

Home5

Away2

Fouls

Home18

Away14

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Cardiff City 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+4'

Second Half ends, Cardiff City 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.

Booking

Posted at 90'+3'

Lee Peltier (Cardiff City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 90'+3'

Kazenga Lua Lua (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 90'+3'

Foul by Lee Peltier (Cardiff City).

Posted at 90'+2'

Offside, Brighton and Hove Albion. Jake Forster-Caskey tries a through ball, but Íñigo Calderón is caught offside.

Posted at 90'+1'

Attempt blocked. Kazenga Lua Lua (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Chris O'Grady.

Posted at 90'

Chris O'Grady (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 90'

Foul by Lee Peltier (Cardiff City).

Posted at 90'

Corner, Cardiff City. Conceded by Bruno.

Posted at 88'

Attempt missed. Dale Stephens (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Kazenga Lua Lua.

Posted at 87'

Foul by Joe Bennett (Brighton and Hove Albion).

Posted at 87'

Eoin Doyle (Cardiff City) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Booking

Posted at 86'

Bruno (Brighton and Hove Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 86'

Foul by Bruno (Brighton and Hove Albion).

Posted at 86'

Craig Noone (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Substitution

Posted at 86'

Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Dale Stephens replaces João Teixeira.

Posted at 84'

Attempt missed. Kenwyne Jones (Cardiff City) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Craig Noone with a cross.

Posted at 81'

Attempt blocked. Kadeem Harris (Cardiff City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Lee Peltier.

Posted at 81'

Foul by Chris O'Grady (Brighton and Hove Albion).

Posted at 81'

Sean Morrison (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 80'

Attempt missed. Aron Gunnarsson (Cardiff City) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Peter Whittingham with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 80'

Corner, Cardiff City. Conceded by Íñigo Calderón.

Posted at 79'

Attempt missed. Bruno Ecuele Manga (Cardiff City) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Peter Whittingham with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 79'

Corner, Cardiff City. Conceded by Chris O'Grady.

Posted at 77'

Corner, Cardiff City. Conceded by Gordon Greer.

Substitution

Posted at 71'

Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Kazenga Lua Lua replaces Beram Kayal.

Posted at 70'

Attempt missed. Lewis Dunk (Brighton and Hove Albion) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by João Teixeira with a cross following a set piece situation.

Posted at 70'

João Teixeira (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 70'

Foul by Scott Malone (Cardiff City).

Substitution

Posted at 68'

Substitution, Cardiff City. Kadeem Harris replaces Conor McAleny.

Booking

Posted at 68'

Íñigo Calderón (Brighton and Hove Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 67'

Foul by Íñigo Calderón (Brighton and Hove Albion).

Posted at 67'

Conor McAleny (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Substitution

Posted at 63'

Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Chris O'Grady replaces Leon Best.

Posted at 63'

Beram Kayal (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 63'

Foul by Peter Whittingham (Cardiff City).

Posted at 60'

Foul by Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton and Hove Albion).

Posted at 60'

Peter Whittingham (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 59'

Rohan Ince (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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