West Brom player ratings v Cardiff City: Semi Ajayi has 4/10 nightmare, Uros Racic dominant
West Brom failed to score for the third time in four games as they drew 0-0 against Cardiff City at The Hawthorns on Saturday (26 October).
The first half began in the worst possible fashion for Albion, with Paddy McNair pulling his hamstring just four minutes in, but that didn’t stop the Baggies’ quest for an opener amid one-way traffic at times.
Although former Hawthorns man Callum Robinson hit the bar, the hosts saw chances go amiss for Darnell Furlong, Uros Racic, Alex Mowatt, John Swift and Josh Maja, with Furlong’s flying volley going closest.
Chances continued to flow in the second half as Swift, Grady Diangana and Maja right at the death tested Cardiff keeper Jak Alnwick, but Cardiff survived and could have won it themselves after being gifted opportunities by defensive lapses from Semi Ajayi and Mason Holgate.
West Brom News rates the performance of each player out of 10.
Alex Palmer – 6
Caught in no-man’s land when coming for Perry Ng’s cross but bailed out by Robinson hitting the bar, Palmer looked hesitant again to come for a high ball as Cardiff ramped up the pressure in the early stages. Quiet for much of the second half, Palmer was out of position again thanks to Holgate’s poor back-pass, but was spared by Chris Willock sending his attempted chip over the top.
Darnell Furlong – 7
Captaining in the side in Kyle Bartley’s absence, Furlong had some of Albion’s best chances, sending a diving header wide from a free-kick which he won before being out-jumped for Robinson‘s far-post header. Furlong then almost scored a goal-of-the-season contender, with a first-time volley at the back stick which was well-parried by Jak Alnwick. Continued to get forward in the second half, teeing up Swift brilliantly after being played in by Diangana, but was booked late on for a mistimed challenge on Yakou Meite.
Semi Ajayi in nightmare display for West Brom v Cardiff City
Semi Ajayi (off for Mason Holgate, 79′) – 4
Put in a good block inside his own box to keep Callum O’Dowda’s early shot at bay as the visitors applied pressure, but then gifted El Ghazi a chance after the defender’s poor pass was cut out. The Nigerian was all at sea again in the second half; sliding in and being fortunate as Robinson mis-hit his shot, before being dispossessed and picking up an injury as he tried to recover, hobbling off after a poor day at the office.
Paddy McNair (off for Callum Styles, 4′) – N/A
Starting in Bartley’s place after impressing against Blackburn, McNair got back to clear a long ball forward inside the opening seconds, but then pulled up with a hamstring problem which led to the Northern Ireland international needing to come off after just four minutes.
Torbjorn Heggem – 5
Switched to centre-back early on after Styles replaced the injured McNair inside four minutes, but kept his positional sense well enough to help keep Cardiff at arm’s length for much of the match.
Uros Racic – 7
A domineering performance in the middle, kicked off by a huge challenge to keep possession for Albion, sparking another goalscoring opportunity which eventually saw the Serbian have a shot being blocked after Swift’s earlier effort was saved. Racic got on the end of a Furlong cut-back from the edge of the box, but sent his first-time strike just over the top and then saw a half-volley blocked behind for a corner.
Alex Mowatt – 6
Pulling strings in midfield as ever, Mowatt was given space to get forward and saw a 20-yard effort blocked behind for a corner, before missing the chance to shoot after Swift teed him up. Set up brilliantly by Maja on the inside-left channel, but his ball across the face flashed wide of goal, and was then harshly penalised in the second half for a foul on Alnwick which brought a dangerous chance to an end.
Grady Diangana (off for Karlan Grant, 79′) – 5
The least involved of Albion’s attackers in the first half, Diangana had a chance to get on the end of Mowatt’s cross, but made the wrong run to the near post. In the second, he slipped Furlong through on goal only for Alnwick to deny Swift from close range, and then had another chance to tee Johnston up but massively overhit his pass. Went closest for Albion in the second period after cutting inside onto his left foot, but Alnwick tipped the curling strike over the bar and Diangana was taken off soon afterwards.
John Swift – 6
A glorious early touch opened up a chance for Johnston down the left, but he delayed the pass ever so slightly and the winger strayed offside. Swift put another chance right on Furlong’s head from a free-kick, but the defender glanced wide. Later set up by Maja on the edge of the box, Swift saw his first-time strike blocked, and then had two more close-range efforts kept out by Alnwick either side of half-time.
Mikey Johnston (off for Tom Fellows, 71′) – 5
Had an early opening down the left flank after combining with Swift, but didn’t time his run and was correctly flagged offside. Could have had an early assist too with a great ball across the face which Maja almost steered home, and then saw his own shot from distance in the second half blocked with ease before his withdrawal.
Josh Maja – 4
Involved early on as he slid in at the far post to get on the end of Johnston’s cross, but couldn’t quite get the contact he needed to score. Maja then teed up a Swift strike from the edge of the box, seeing a header across the face of goal cleared off the line just minutes later, before being shown a yellow card for a fracas with Ng in the Cardiff box. Kept quiet for much of the second half, Maja had a golden chance to win it at the death, but his header from Swift’s cross was straight into the chest of Alnwick.
Substitutes:
Callum Styles (on for Paddy McNair, 4′) – 5 – Thrown into the action much earlier than anyone would have expected due to McNair’s hamstring injury, Styles got forward freely and teed up the chance which led to Swift blazing wide, but also overhit a cross straight out of play as options queued up in the box.
Tom Fellows (on for Mikey Johnston, 71′) – 5 – A surprise benching for the youngster, who was doubled up-on by Cardiff’s defence as soon as he came on but was still able to get some decent crosses into the middle.
Mason Holgate (on for Semi Ajayi, 79′) – 4 – Making his second debut for the Baggies after his loan spell in 2018-19, Holgate almost gifted Cardiff a goal as his dismal clearance fell straight to Willock, only for the Cardiff man to clear the crossbar. Blushes all round were spared in injury time though, as Holgate stepped in to prevent Wilfried Kansa from shooting after Cardiff opened the Baggies up.
Karlan Grant (on for Grady Diangana, 79′) – 5 – Brought on much later than many an Albion fan would have hoped, Grant’s only real chance saw his dangerous cross into the middle palmed away by Alnwick.
In other West Brom news, Corberan went into detail regarding his discussions with one Albion player on the way back from injury.
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