Omer Riza praises Cardiff’s defence after draw at West Brom

Posted Sunday, October 27, 2024 by PA

Cardiff interim manager Omer Riza praised his side’s defensive qualities after they held promotion hopefuls West Brom to a 0-0 draw at The Hawthorns.

The result stretched Cardiff’s unbeaten run to five games, and leaves them a point above the Championship relegation zone.

Albion’s miserly record in front of goal continued, but that was largely down to Cardiff goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, who produced a series of important saves, most notably from Grady Diangana.

“We knew this would be tough – but we had to defend, it was relentless and nice to get a point,” said Riza.

“But Jak’s been first class, he’s a leader on and off the pitch. He’s been given the captain’s armband while Joe Ralls is injured – and he’s led us really well.

“Jak pulled off some magnificent saves and dealt with the ball in the box, credit to him, he deserves a lot of credit, he was superb.

“If I’m being honest, we came here to win the game, that was our first thought. But West Brom were very good, they don’t give much away.

“We created a couple of opportunities where we maybe could have scored. We felt in the first 30 minutes, with the way we play, we might have opened Albion up, but we weren’t tidy enough. That allowed Albion to come at us.

“In the second half, we made little tweaks and it was a really good defensive display.”

Riza said there was no further update on the managerial situation at Cardiff.

“You’d have to ask the board, I don’t have anything much to say, the board will talk to the media and then, potentially, everyone will find out what’s happening,” he said.

West Brom manager Carlos Corberan admitted he was frustrated by his team’s lack of goals after a game which saw them have 19 shots.

On what was the second anniversary of him taking over as manager, he saw his side’s winless run extend to six games – continuing the worst sequence of his time at Albion.

“I won’t criticise a single player, but they cannot focus on the noise of this situation,” said Corberan.

“They should focus on the things we’re doing well. We had opportunities to score and didn’t, we were in control of the game.

“But we’ve only lost two matches, and kept seven clean sheets, we’re doing something right, but we need to create more. It was disappointing for everyone, the players and myself.

“We still have to do better. We weren’t far away from scoring but we couldn’t do it and we didn’t achieve the result we wanted to achieve.

“I wouldn’t say we were unlucky. What we have done in recent games has not been enough to win, we need to reach those levels. I can understand the frustrations when you have the ball and don’t create enough.”