West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Cardiff City: Three red cards in draw

West Brom beat Cardiff City 4-0 in the reverse fixture

Three players were sent off, two after the full-time whistle, as Cardiff held West Brom to a 1-1 draw.

Alex Mowatt was sent off for a foul on 76 minutes and Sam Johnstone and Aden Flint saw red for their part in a melee after the final whistle had blown.

James Collins' second Bluebirds goal put the visitors ahead as he headed home Joe Ralls' corner on 34 minutes.

West Brom equalised three minutes after the restart as Callum Robinson finished while Cardiff appealed for offside.

Albion were then denied a penalty within the final seconds of the match, prompting an angry clash at full-time that led to Johnstone and Flint getting red cards.

The draw is nonetheless a welcome result for Cardiff, who remain 20th in Championship, while West Brom are fourth, four points behind Blackburn Rovers in second.

West Brom boss Valerien Ismael - who charged on to the field at full-time to confront the referee - made four changes to the side beaten 1-0 by Derby County on Monday, while injury and suspension saw Cardiff boss Steve Morison without Kieffer Moore (foot) and Leandro Bacuna, who was sent off in Cardiff's 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth.

The visitors were competitive in the first half at Scott Parker's league leaders and they made an assertive start at the Hawthorns with a succession of long throws pinning the hosts back.

However, despite Cardiff's assured start, it was Callum Robinson who came closest to opening the scoring, with the forward firing just wide on 15 minutes before he forced Alex Smithies into a fingertip save four minutes later.

The Bluebirds might have led with their first attack of note, as Ralls' effort was deflected wide.

But Cardiff scored from the resulting corner when Collins rose to head into the bottom corner of the net as Ralls made amends for his miss with a superb delivery.

West Brom barely created any other chances in a first-half display that resulted in them being booed off the field by the home fans, perhaps underlining why Albion have signed USA international striker Daryl Dike for an undisclosed fee.

The hosts started the second half far more positively and they equalised within three minutes of the restart as Karlan Grant's pass found Robinson, who calmly beat Smithies as Cardiff appealed for an offside flag that never came.

Grady Diangana forced Smithies into a fine save within a minute of coming on as West Brom pushed for a second, while Cardiff threatened with a counter-attack as Mark Harris found Will Vaulks, but he shot over the crossbar from a good position.

Both Ralls and Grant fired off target as the game swung from end-to-end, but Cardiff gained the initiative when Mowatt rightly saw red for a foul on Vaulks.

Cardiff sent on forward Isaak Davies as they chased a winner, his first appearance since manager Morison described his display at Bournemouth last time out as "more a hindrance than a help".

The Bluebirds fashioned a good chance to win the match in stoppage time, but a cross flashed across goal before West Brom's last-gasp penalty appeal for a foul by Flint was waved away, prompting the chaotic scenes after the final whistle.

West Brom boss Valerien Ismael said:

"It's a clear penalty - I can't say anything else, it's a penalty.

"We can't change anything now. It's frustrating - at some point you need the luck that the referee does his job.

"It was not only the penalty decision, some decisions were for us, some against us, in my opinion it was a poor refereeing performance."

Explaining his own actions, Ismael added: "I just wanted to tell him I couldn't understand why he didn't give the penalty.

"The situation came and my emotion was high because it was at the end of the game, but I came down quickly."

Cardiff City boss Steve Morison told BBC Sport Wales:

"It was all caused by them having a stonewall penalty and the referee not giving it. It all went off.

"We were thankful he didn't give it, but as for the two sendings-off at the end, I think they grabbed each other to stop the other doing what they were going to do.

"I will appeal it - as I'm sure they will - but I'm sure the powers that be will not overturn it as they tend to back the referee. Hopefully we don't lose Aden Flint and common sense will prevail."

On the West Brom equaliser and other offside decisions, Morison added: "We were let down by decisions - not by our players."