Stoke City vs Cardiff City. Sky Bet Championship.
Bet365 StadiumAttendance23,089.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Stoke City and Cardiff City at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday | The Potters and the Bluebirds battle it out for goalless draw.
Saturday 4 November 2023 18:16, UK
Stoke and Cardiff preserved their unbeaten runs as the points were shared in a goalless draw in the Potteries.
The hosts continued their resurgence following three successive wins, while the Bluebirds dropped out of the top six despite a third outing without defeat.
Cardiff forward Callum Robinson looked to continue his rich vein of form against Stoke and came closest to a decider, but his deflected effort was pushed on to the post.
The Potters' best opportunities fell to Dwight Gayle, who blazed wide and was then denied by Jak Alnwick, both before the interval.
Despite a high tempo end to the fixture, neither side could find a decisive moment of quality to clinch victory.
Cardiff started promisingly as they looked to consolidate their position in the SkyBet Championship play-offs.
Inside six minutes, the travelling Bluebirds had their first effort on goal with Mark McGuinness heading straight at Jack Bonham.
A lively Robinson, who had scored three goals in as many games versus Stoke in his career, also came close early on.
The Republic of Ireland international nearly pounced on a slack Michael Rose back-pass, but an alert Bonham rushed out to diffuse the danger.
Robinson then nearly turned provider when his enticing free-kick delivery wreaked havoc, only for Yakou Meite to head wide from close range.
And Erol Bulut's side sustained their control beyond the half-hour mark with McGuinness again going close with a glancing header.
The Potters gradually grew into the tie and threatened to snatch the advantage against the run of play.
A delicate Wouter Burger ball found Gayle in a promising position, but the forward snatched at his chance and dragged wide.
The hosts finished the half strongly thanks to Mehdi Leris and Gayle, with the latter denied by stopper Alnwick.
Cardiff nearly broke the deadlock prior to the interval when Robinson's cutback wrongfooted Bonham, but the Stoke stopper tipped on to the post.
The visitors' threat was not swayed by the break as Bulut's outfit continued to impose themselves after the restart.
Karlan Grant nearly notched his second goal of the season after the hour mark, but his strike on the swivel drifted agonisingly wide.
Like the first period, the hosts began slowly but Michael Rose's free header from a corner handed the Bluebirds a warning sign.
As the clock ticked on and legs began to tire, Alex Neil's side flexed their attacking muscle but Josh Laurent blazed a volley harmlessly over the target.
And their wastefulness was almost punished in stoppage time by Ryan Wintle, who saw a goal-bound strike stopped impressively by Bonham.
Stoke's Alex Neil:
"A point was probably a fair result but obviously we wanted to win it.
"We played extremely well in the past three games and all our chances today came in the first half.
"We had two or three really good chances to score but unfortunately didn't take any.
"If we take a chance then it becomes a different game, but then in the second half we played ourselves into trouble when we were trying to play.
"We were wasteful with the ball more than what we've been, and that's the biggest thing I'll take from the game."
Cardiff's Erol Bulut:
"I'm really happy with my players, they've made big progress. It's not easy for many players here when we remember the last two years with what's happened and how we started pre-season and the first games.
"It's not easy to change everything in a positive way. Right now we've done it but we need to continue in that way and keep believing in our target.
"We knew that it was going to be a tight game because Stoke have had three great wins against great teams.
"In the first half, we weren't like what I expect from my team. The second half was so much better and in the end I'm happy with a point.
"We have to look forward and it'll be good for us to keep our run of clean sheets."
