Stoke City and Cardiff City met in their Premier League clash on Wednesday at the Britannia Stadium.
Both sides were in need of points following heavy defeats in their previous Premier League games at the weekend, which left them just three points above the relegation zone.
However, they were forced to settle for a point apiece as neither could find a breakthrough in the clash.
Read how all the action unfolded in our commentary below.
Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the Premier League clash between Stoke City and Cardiff City.
Mark Hughes will be looking for a response from his side tonight following their humiliating loss at Everton as they were crushed 4-0 as the Toffees ran them ragged across the park.
That defeat saw Stoke slip to 16th in the Premier League, just three points above the relegation zone. This could be a huge game for the Potters and especially Hughes.
Despite their defensive struggles away from home, Stoke have continued to be stout at home conceding just three goal in their six matches at the Britannia Stadium this season. That has helped them lose just one of those six games.
Cardiff's recent form will be of a worry to Malky Mackay has they have won just one of their last seven games. However, they have had some very difficult fixtures of late. Their last victory came over bitter rivals Swansea at the start of last month.
However, Mackay's side will need to start picking up points quickly as they have began to slide towards the relegation zone as they are 17th in the table. Just three points separates them from Fulham and Crystal Palace in 18th and 19th places.
Cardiff's away form has been decent for a recently-promoted side although their last win came in September when they beat Fulham. They've taken just a point since then and that came in October against Norwich City.
The team news has been announced and we'll start with the home side.
STOKE STARTING XI: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Arnautovic, Nzonzi, Whelan, Adam, Assaidi, Crouch.
STOKE SUBS: Sorensen, Muniesa, Pennant, Palacios, Jones, Walters, Ireland.
CARDIFF STARTING XI: Marshall, Theophile-Catherine, Caulker, Turner, John, Whittingham, Medel, Gunnarsson, Mutch, Cowie, Campbell.
CARDIFF SUBS: Lewis, Connolly, Hudson, Cornelius, Odemwingie, Kim, Noone.
Hughes has made two changes to his side to take on Cardiff this evening. Marko Arnautovic returns from injury and replaces Jonathan Walters from the defeat to Everton while Marc Wilson also comes into the side for Marco Muniesa.
Cardiff have also made two changes from the weekend following their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal. Kim Bo-Kyung and Andrew Taylor drop out of the team and are replaced by Andreas Gunnarsson and Declan John.
Potters boss Hughes believes that it is important that his side bounce back from their defeat at the weekend this evening, he told the club's official website: "We’ve got another opportunity at home when Cardiff visit our place and confidence is very much in a good place. We’re a group that wants to bounce back very quickly if we can and I’m confident the players can do that.”
Bluebirds midfielder Jordon Mutch has revealed that his side are up to the challenge of facing Stoke at the Britannia this evening, he told the club's website: “It feels weird playing a midweek match at Premier League level because it’s not often something you do in this league – most of us are all used to that here from our experience in the Championship and we are ready for that challenge.”
STAT ATTACK! Stoke are unbeaten in their last six games against Cardiff, winning four of the matches.
STAT ATTACK! Stoke have won just one of their last 10 Premier League games and that came in their last game at the Britannia against Sunderland.
STAT ATTACK! As a result of being dropped to the bench this evening Jonathan Walters' run of 122 consecutive starts in the Premier League is broken.
The players are out on the pitch and we should be underway shortly.
KICKOFF: We're underway at the Britannia Stadium.
Stoke win an early free kick down the right and Cameron pumps the ball long into the box for Crouch who wins the flick on for Shawcross in the area but the defender is flagged offside, as he tried to shoot.
Cardiff win a corner down the right and Cowie whips the ball into the box and at the back post Turner wins the header but he can only direct his effort wide of the target.
Stoke win a free kick in a dangerous area as Crouch is brought down by Turner and that will give the Potters a chance to threaten.
Adam lines up the kick and fires his effort straight into the wall from 25 yards out and the Bluebirds clear the danger with ease.
Scrappy game so far as both teams are attempting a lot of long balls forward and neither have been able to string a lengthy period of possession together.
10 minutes of the clock and Stoke have dominated possession with a staggering 83% of the ball but they have done nothing with it. Cardiff need to find a foothold in the game somehow.
Campbell tries to raid forward for the visitors but he gets hauled down by Wilson and that will allow Whittingham to lift a cross into the box.
Whittingham whips a cross into the box but it goes above the heads of Turner and Caulker and straight into the hands of Begovic who gathers the ball with ease.
Stoke work the ball nicely on the edge of the area and Whelan tries a blast from about 20 yards but his effort gets deflected behind for a corner. Another chance for a set piece for the hosts.
Adam crosses into the box from the left but Cardiff are able to clear their lines and hack the ball to safety.
Cardiff threaten down the right and Theophile-Catherine fires a cross into the area which falls into the path of Campbell but before he can get a shot away Wilson is there to rob him of the ball.
Stoke build down the left and Assaidi turns Theophile-Catherine inside and out and tries to win a corner and he succeeds as he his attempted cross clatters off the defenders legs and goes out of touch.
CHANCE! Shawcross gets up highest in the penalty area and heads Adam's cross at goal but his effort goes wide of the target as Marshall watched the ball past his post. A poor effort given how much time he had.
Stoke have had the majority of the play inside the Cardiff half and have had a lot of the ball but have produced very little with it in the opening 22 minutes.
Whittingham pushes forward unchecked and drills a low effort at goal which goes wide of the target but it took a deflection on its way out and Cardiff will have a corner.
Whittingham takes the resulting corner and Begovic tries to punch the ball clear but it's far from convincing, a shot comes in from Cowie from the edge of the area that goes just wide.
Adam does well down the right as he beats John with a back-heeled move and whips in a cross looking for Crouch in the middle but he can't get on the end of it, as he fouls Turner attempting to get a header on the ball.
CHANCE! Arnautovic lifts the ball over the top of the Cardiff defence and Assaidi beats Caulker in attempting to get onto it but his first touch is poor and Marshall rushes out to make a block and the Scot gathers the ball.
CHANCE! Adam again causes havoc down the right and again he drills a cross for Crouch in the middle, who tussles with Turner and eventually gets a shot away from the ground but Marshall saves showing good reactions and Caulker clears.
Replays show that Crouch handled the ball as he poked the ball towards the goal, if the referee had seen that a yellow card could have been in order but luckily for the striker he didn't.
YELLOW CARD! Adam brings down Campbell in the Stoke half and Oliver deems that enough to hand out the first yellow card of the evening. The crowd aren't happy about it.
Whittingham whips the resulting free kick into the box from 35 yards out and he floats the ball to Caulker who wins a header but Begovic comes out to gather it with ease.
A long ball is played forward from the back looking for the run of Arnautovic who gets in space and tries to raid towards goal but a good tackle from Cowie dispossesses him in a crucial area of the pitch.
Cardiff are slowly getting into the game and are advancing further into Stoke's half as Theophile-Catherine wins a corner for his side as his blast from 30 yards out is deflected behind.
CHANCE! Whittingham fires the corner at the near post and Mutch wins the header and it looks goalbound before Begovic springs to his left and turns the effort away and Stoke clear.
The home side are starting to look a bit bereft of ideas at the moment. The long ball game hasn't worked particularly well as he referee seems to be calling fouls against Crouch. They may need to adopt different tactics.
Assaidi infuriates the Stoke crowd as first his cross from the left is poor and doesn't beat the first man but he gets the ball back seconds later but this time when he has a clear passage to raid down the flank but he opts to go back to Pieters.
OFFSIDE! Adam fires a cross from the right and this time Crouch does win the flick on down to Cameron who turns the ball into the net from close range but he's flagged offside.
There will be two minutes of added time.
Cardiff get a chance to threaten late in the half with a free kick from deep from Whittingham but his cross is too deep for anyone and goes comfortably over the bar.
HALF-TIME: Stoke 0-0 Cardiff
It's goalless at the break as neither side created a great deal in the first half. It is a typical fixture between two struggling sides, who don't know where their next goal is coming from.
Cardiff have come the closest to taking the lead as Mutch's header from Whittingham's corner was well beaten away by Begovic. Other than that Turner had another opportunity for the Bluebirds when he could have directed his effort at goal from another corner while Shawcross had a similar incident at the other end.
Mackay will be a lot more pleased with his side's performance than Hughes will be with his. Stoke's long ball tactics didn't seem to work at Crouch was well marked by Turner and Caulker and when he did win the occasional header he was penalised by referee Oliver. A different approach could be needed.
Statistically the stats are pretty even. Both sides had seven shots in the first half, where Stoke had two on target compared to Cardiff's one. The Potters have shaded possession 56% to 44%.
The players are making their way back onto the pitch and we should be back underway shortly.
SUBSTITUTION: A change for Stoke at the break as Muniesa replaces Pieters at left-back.
We're back underway at the Britannia.
Crouch wins a header early on deep in Cardiff territory and Arnautovic races onto it, the midfielder tries to slip a through ball for N'Zonzi but he gets nowhere near the ball and the visitors clear.
CHANCE! Whittingham whips a corner to the back post where Campbell tries to latch onto it but his poked effort goes inches wide of the target.
Assaidi does well down the left for the hosts as he manages to clip a cross in at the near post and Crouch nearly gathers but his effort is deflected to Cameron who tries to pull the trigger but another block this time from Caulker stops the shot and the ball is cleared.
Even start to the half as both teams seem to have a decent idea of what they're doing at the moment. An open game, the sort either team could just knick.
Stoke win a free kick down the right and the ball is hoofed forward into the box by Adam but Cardif clear their liness, only as far as Arnautovic on the edge of the area but he hits his shot well over the bar.
PENALTY SHOUT! Campbell races onto a flick on from Mutch and gets into the penalty area down the right side and under pressure from Wilson goes down but the referee waves play on. It would have been soft but you have seen those sorts given, it was clumsy play from the defender.
YELLOW CARDS! Cardiff win a free kick 25 yards from goal as Whittingham gets clattered late, as the teams lineup in the wall Crouch and Campbell have a coming together and Oliver decides it's best to book both of them. Good decision.
Whittingham takes the free kick after the melee and fires his kick straight into the hands of Begovic who collects the ball with ease.
CHANCE! John throws the ball into action from the left and Whittingham lets the ball run onto his left foot inside the box but he can't get his volleyed effort on target, when he had all the time in the world to shoot.
Cardiff are coming into the game more and have looked much more of a threat this half than the hosts. However, they are yet to really test Begovic.
SUBSTITUTION: Whelan comes off for the hosts and is replaced by Ireland.
PENALTY SHOUT! Stoke want a penalty as Crouch and Turner tussle in the area for the umpteenth time of the game but again the decision goes in favour of the defender, who wins a free kick.
Assaidi shows a turn of pace to beat Theophile-Catherine down the left and he whips a good cross into the penalty area looking for Crouch who wins the header but his effort goes over the bar.
CHANCE! Cardiff come close as Medel whips in a free kick to the back post and Turner wins the header putting it across the face of goal, Mutch takes a swing with a volley but can't get good contact and the ball falls to Campbell but he loses his balance at the crucial moment and it goes out for a goal kick.
The pace of the game has slowed in the last few minutes after frenetic 20-minute period after the break. Cardiff are looking stronger at the moment.
Assaidi finds room down the left and crosses with his left foot but it gets cleared out of the area and it lands at the feet of Cameron and he tries a first-time volley but it sails well over the bar.
SUBSTITUTION: Campbell is replaced for the visitors by Odemwingie.
Stoke work the ball down the right and the ball comes to Adam on the edge, he shoots at goal but Turner is there again with a crucial block and Marshall gathers the loose ball. The defender has been exceptional for the visitors this evening.
CHANCE! The home side up the ante as Arnautovic raids into the area but Turner is there at the last moment as he was about to shoot to get in with a last-ditch tackle. It's not over as Assaidi tees up Muniesa but he lifts a shot over the bar.
Ireland raids forward and slips a through ball into the area but no player in red and white can get a foot to the cross and Theophile-Catherine clears the danger.
Stoke are desperately upping the ante here and the ball comes to Adam on the edge of the area and he drills a left-footed shot at goal but it flies wide of the target.
YELLOW CARD! Turner goes into the book for the visitors as he brings down Arnautovic on the edge of the area, a real chance for Stoke as Adam stands over the ball.
CHANCE! Adam drills a shot at goal but Marshall makes a great save but the rebound falls straight into the path of Ireland but he puts his effort wide. That was so close for the hosts but they still couldn't find the net.
There will be four minutes of added time.
CHANCE! Cardiff nearly nick the game as John raids forward from the back and drills a shot at goal but Begovic makes a brilliant save to keep the ball out and may have earned his a point.
FULL-TIME: Stoke 0-0 Cardiff
Both sides settled for a point at the Britannia Stadium as neither could force a breakthrough somehow in the 90 minutes. Either team could have won the game at the end, as they each had a plethora of chances but it stayed goalless.
Stoke's lack of potency in front of goal cost them yet another time at home this season and they were fortunate not to let Cardiff get away with the points as Begovic was forced to keep them in the game late on. Given their current predicament they can't afford to keep dropping points in these winnable home games.
Cardiff will take this result although it could have a lot better for them had they taken some of their chances that were on offer, but a point in the Premier League at the Britannia Stadium is nothing to be disappointed about.
Thanks for joining our commentary this evening. We'll be back with all the action from the Premier League at the weekend. Until then, goodbye.
Written by
Simon Sinclair
Simon Sinclair
