By Freddie Owers
Cardiff City held mid-table West Brom in a scrappy 1-1 draw to claim a vital point in their bid to avoid relegation.
Sabri Lamouchi’s men came back from a goal down in the second half to take a point after Daryl Dike put the visitors on course for victory.
Dike’s goal came on 17 minutes after an inch-perfect ball by Jed Wallace left the American striker with a free volley inside the box.
The hosts had a golden chance to level straight after when a deflected shot by Callum O’Dowda found Isaak Davies at the back post, who failed to turn his shot goalwards.
Two minutes after the break Albion were denied a second goal when Ryan Allsop tipped a powerful Jed Wallace shot over the bar.
City weathered the storm and on 65 minutes they got their reward when Sory Kaba headed through the hands of Josh Griffiths following a Ryan Wintle cross to level the game up.
West Brom thought they had provided the perfect response when Adam Reach pounced on a spilled shot by Allsop but the linesman’s flag spared the Bluebirds’ blushes.
The quality of the game fizzled out following the equaliser as both sides failed to exert any consistent pressure.
The contest got livelier in the final 15 minutes with Reach and Wallace failing to capitalise on clear-cut chances for Albion, and Griffiths keeping out a firm Jaden Philogene drive from 20 yards.
Cardiff boss Lamouchi agreed that the result was a point gained for the Bluebirds instead of two dropped, praising his side’s attitude.
The result leaves them four points clear of the drop zone, and they will be hoping to take all three points from this weekend’s six-pointer at Rotherham.