Cardiff City 1-1 Blackpool: Gary Madine earns point for Tangerines

Striker Gary Madine returned to haunt his former club Cardiff with a second-half equaliser that secured a 1-1 draw for Blackpool.

Madine, who failed to find the net in 28 games for the Bluebirds across three seasons after joining from Bolton for £6million in 2017, scored with a deflected header in the 67th minute to rescue a point for the Tangerines, who up to then had been dismal.

Cardiff had led through a 36th-minute Kion Etete strike and will be deeply frustrated at letting slip a victory which for much of the contest looked comfortably in their grasp.

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Ultimately, a point was inadequate for both sides who remain firmly in the Championship relegation mix.

Mark Hudson's home side were completely dominant throughout the first half and should have led by more than the solitary goal at the break.

They spurned a host of good chances as Blackpool were cut open by a series of sweeping counter-attacks.

Etete's strike partner Callum Robinson and midfielder Ryan Wintle both should have done better with close-range shots and left winger Gavin Whyte twice missed tamely from promising positions.

There was also fury among home supporters in the 15th minute when Robinson went down in the penalty area under a challenge from Blackpool goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw - and was booked for diving rather than awarded a spot-kick.

Etete's goal was worth waiting for though, his measured side-footed strike lifting over the advancing Grimshaw after a pinpoint Robinson through-ball.

Madine cancelled it out midway through the second half when his downward header from half-time substitute Ian Poveda's cross beat Bluebirds goalkeeper Ryan Allsop via the leg of Cardiff defender Perry Ng.

The draw completed a worrying day for the Welsh club - now with two league wins from their last 10 outings - following news they have been placed under a transfer embargo for the next three windows.

The embargo is a result of the ongoing dispute with Nantes over payment for striker Emiliano Sala, who was killed in a plane crash shortly after joining from the French club in January 2018.

Cardiff are appealing to the Swiss Federal Court after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in August that they must pay the first instalment of the Sala fee amounting to £5.1m plus interest.

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman described it as "a technical embargo" and insisted the club is confident it can negotiate a way out of it in time for business in January.

What the managers said...

Cardiff manager Mark Hudson accused the club's former striker Madine of a pre-meditated stamp in their 1-1 draw with Blackpool.

Madine, a £6million signing for the Bluebirds from Bolton in 2017 who never scored for the club in 28 appearances, clashed with defender Perry Ng in the 51st minute.

Referee Josh Smith showed only a yellow card and Madine went on to head a 67th-minute equaliser after Kion Etete had fired Cardiff into a first-half lead.

Afterwards, Hudson claimed Madine had warned of his intentions to Ng during the half-time interval.

Cardiff's Mark Hudson: "It's pre-meditated, he (Madine) said it at half-time that he was going to go out and do Perry. We warned the ref that he had said out loud he was going to go out and do that. They were aware of it, and it was clear as day. It was a stamp.

"There was a coming together between them in the first half and he (Madine) has gone out and done exactly what he said he was going to do. It is a leg-breaker. If his leg had been planted on the floor then it's snapping his leg. I've watched it from four or five different angles, but you don't need to see it from different angles. You could see it live."

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