Cardiff City 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
- Published
Glenn Murray is the joint second-highest scorer in the Championship with 11 goals, but he is yet to score away from home this season
Ten-man Brighton & Hove Albion narrowed the gap on Championship leaders Newcastle to one point but could only draw against lowly Cardiff City.
Newcastle's defeat at Nottingham Forest on Friday meant the Seagulls would have replaced them at the top with a win.
Neither they nor Cardiff looked likely to claim victory in a torpid encounter.
Brighton pressed for a winner but had Gaeten Bong sent off in added time, the draw keeping Cardiff one point adrift of safety in 22nd place.
Chris Hughton's visitors may rue this result as a missed opportunity, as they were seldom troubled by their relegation-threatened opponents.
Brighton extended their unbeaten run to 13 league games and remain in second place in the Championship but did so without impressing against a Cardiff side who had lost three of their previous four league fixtures.
Despite the gulf in the teams' standings, there was little to differentiate them in this uneventful match.
Aron Gunnarsson had an early shot saved but Cardiff may have felt their best hope of a goal was Brighton centre-back Shane Duffy, who scored two own goals as a Blackburn player at the same ground in August - making him Cardiff's joint-fourth top scorer this season.
The Republic of Ireland international almost contributed at the right end on this occasion as his header found Glenn Murray in the Cardiff penalty area, but referee Roger East blew for a foul before the Brighton striker had swept the ball into the net.
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock:
"The lads are going out tonight, but I don't think Joe Bennett would've enjoyed his night out if Brighton had scored early on.
"We had to work really hard and there wasn't anyone who didn't give everything, and we knew we had to because they're such a good team.
"Brighton rip people apart and we had to be well-organised and catch them on the break."
Brighton manager Chris Hughton:
"I'd say over the 90 minutes, we were the better side and the onus was on us to break down a tough defence.
"There are more places than Cardiff where I've come away disappointed. They will make it very hard for teams to come here.
"After a game like this there are the disappointments, but the positives are another clean sheet, and a run that's kept us going."