Match ends, Cardiff City 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
CardiffCardiff City0BrightonBrighton & Hove Albion0
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:
"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
Cardiff
Formation 4-4-1-1
- 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
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 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
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Cardiff City 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 0.
Booking
Lee Peltier (Cardiff City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Kazenga Lua Lua (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Lee Peltier (Cardiff City).
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Offside, Brighton and Hove Albion. Jake Forster-Caskey tries a through ball, but Íñigo Calderón is caught offside.
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Attempt blocked. Kazenga Lua Lua (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Chris O'Grady.
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Chris O'Grady (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Lee Peltier (Cardiff City).
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Corner, Cardiff City. Conceded by Bruno.
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Attempt missed. Dale Stephens (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Kazenga Lua Lua.
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Foul by Joe Bennett (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Eoin Doyle (Cardiff City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Booking
Bruno (Brighton and Hove Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Foul by Bruno (Brighton and Hove Albion).
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Craig Noone (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Brighton and Hove Albion. Dale Stephens replaces João Teixeira.
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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.
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Attempt blocked. Kadeem Harris (Cardiff City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Lee Peltier.
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Foul by Chris O'Grady (Brighton and Hove Albion).
