Cardiff City vs Burnley. Sky Bet Championship.
Cardiff City StadiumAttendance18,508.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Cardiff City and Burnley at the Cardiff City Stadium as Callum Robinson's late goal earned a point for the managerless Bluebirds.
Saturday 1 October 2022 18:40, UK
Callum Robinson headed a last-minute equaliser to secure Cardiff a 1-1 draw against Burnley in Mark Hudson's first game as manager.
Nathan Tella struck three minutes into the second half to reward the increasing superiority of Vincent Kompany's Clarets.
But Cardiff refused to surrender and Robinson rose at the far post on his home debut to meet Mahlon Romeo's cross and find the corner of the net.
Hudson was put in interim charge following the surprise departure of Steve Morison, who left just 10 games into the season after making 17 summer signings.
Morison, during his 11 months in control, had attempted to change Cardiff's style to a more passing game.
But he was stymied by the lack of a cutting edge in the final third and the same problem was evident as Cardiff took an hour to produce their first shot on target.
The Bluebirds made a lively start with Robinson twice off target in the opening 10 minutes.
Romeo's strong surges from right-back hinted at a route to goal, and Burnley were relieved when Robinson met Joe Ralls' corner only for his near-post header to fall wide.
Burnley eventually drew Cardiff's sting by dominating possession and the Clarets posed their first threat after 26 minutes. Tella's backheel gave Josh Cullen space for a shot which was held at the second attempt by Ryan Allsop in the Bluebirds' goal.
Burnley had a clearer chance when Jay Rodriguez launched a counter-attack from deep inside the visitors' half. Tella and Josh Brownhill combined to free Johann Berg Gudmundsson, but the Iceland international curled his shot wide of the far post with Allsop scrambling.
Burnley were not so wasteful when their next chance arrived three minutes after the interval.
Brownhill's cross to the far post was driven back by Ian Maatsen, and Tella was unmarked six yards out in the middle of the goal to divert home.
Tella was a growing influence on the contest and he had another effort deflected over the crossbar by Cedric Kipre before Jack Cork sent a free header wide from Gudmundsson's corner.
Cardiff finally tested Ari Muric when a ball ran loose to Ryan Wintle, but it was easily handled by the giant Kosovan goalkeeper.
Muric had to be more alive to bat away Romeo's piledriver from the edge of the box, but Burnley's solid defensive organisation was undone when Robinson scored for the first time following his move from West Brom.
Cardiff caretaker Mark Hudson: "I really enjoyed that - you saw fight and togetherness against what I think is the best team in the league. It has been a tough two weeks and everyone around the football club has felt it. But you have to respond, you have to show character, and you have to fight hard for every yard on that pitch.
"We've gone toe to toe with them after going a goal down at home. We could easily go under, but they didn't. We kept fighting."
Burnley's Vincent Kompany: "It's something you have to work through. It's happened and you can't deny that. But we are looking close in those moments to finish games off, which we don't, and that's crucial. We have made it a little bit difficult for ourselves. But it was always going to be a game with a little bit of an unpredictable narrative.
"You've got a new coach coming in, with that little bit of a lift it creates and the (different) tactics before the game. You've got the international break as well, players travelling all over the world and coming back, so it was a bit more of a challenge to us."
