Cardiff City 1-1 Bournemouth: Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson strikes for hosts

Cardiff's Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson (left) spent last season on loan at Bournemouth, scoring seven goals

Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson scored his first Cardiff City goal to earn the Bluebirds a draw against his former side Bournemouth in an entertaining Championship encounter.

The Cherries led at half-time after a well-crafted goal for Dominic Solanke, who was denied a second after the break by a stunning save from Alex Smithies.

Bournemouth keeper Asmir Begovic then tipped a Wilson free-kick on to the bar, before the Wales international struck with a first-time effort against the club where he had spent last season on loan.

The woodwork continued to take a battering as the Cherries' Junior Stanislas blasted a free-kick against the bar but, despite chances at both ends, neither side could find a winning goal.

Bournemouth remain unbeaten but drop to fourth in the table - four points behind early leaders Reading after six games - while Cardiff are 13th.

This was a good early test of Bournemouth's promotion credentials, against a Cardiff side who reached last season's Championship play-offs but were struggling to recapture that form at the beginning of this campaign.

A clash of styles made for an intriguing tactical encounter - Bournemouth controlling possession and building patiently from the back against opponents who were content to go without the ball for long periods and try catching the Cherries on the break.

Cardiff's occasionally passive approach played into Bournemouth's hands, with the visitors monopolising the ball and creating early opportunities for Arnaut Danjuma and Adam Smith.

The home side's counter-attacking style was not without its bright moments - as half-chances for Junior Hoilett and Will Vaulks showed - but the longer they allowed their opponents to keep possession the likelier it felt they would fall behind.

Bournemouth's opener came from such a sequence, static Cardiff defending allowing Jefferson Lerma to thread a through ball for Jack Stacey, whose pull-back from the right was converted by Solanke from close range.

Dominic Solanke (second left) joined Bournemouth from Liverpool for £19m in 2019

Wilson fired a warning shot for the Cherries soon afterwards as he fired narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area - but the visitors' pressure early in the second half suggested Jason Tindall's men were still in charge.

They could scarcely believe they were not 2-0 up when Solanke connected from point-blank range from another Stacey cross, only for Smithies to produce a moment of remarkable reflex and athleticism to turn the ball on to the bar.

It was to prove a crucial save because, after his opposite number Begovic tipped Wilson's free-kick on to the bar, Cardiff were level.

Hoilett played a low ball across the Bournemouth penalty area and, striding forward, Wilson struck with a low first-time shot to score on his first start for Cardiff.

There was no sitting off for the home side now as they brought on Wilson's Wales team-mate, striker Kieffer Moore, in search of a winning goal.

It was Bournemouth who came closest to that decisive strike, Stanislas rendering Smithies motionless as he whipped his 20-yard free-kick against the bar.

Chances for both sides followed - Cardiff from set-pieces, Solanke heading wide from a promising position - but after an eventful second period, a draw felt like a fair result.

Cardiff City manager Neil Harris:

"I enjoyed that one. I think you saw two really good teams and a point was fair. We had good chances and it was toe-to-toe in the second half particularly.

"We gave them too much respect in the first half as the home team, but credit to my players for coming back.

"We can't underestimate the importance of that. It's a big point at home and now we are up and running here.

"I think any team which finishes above Bournemouth will be promoted. They are a good side, but we will get better."

Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall:

"I'm disappointed we have come away with only a point, because I felt we deserved all three.

"The save their keeper made was outstanding and so full credit to him. Junior Stanislas also hit the bar, but there were three or four other chances as well we might have taken.

"But we know all about Harry Wilson. If you give him room from that kind of distance, then nine times out of 10 the ball will end up in the back of the net

"But we have to take the positives - it's six matches unbeaten and we move onto the weekend."