West Brom 3 Cardiff City 3 - match report and pictures

A dramatic, at times pulsating, relegation struggle finished all square when Mats Daehli squeezed home an equaliser two seconds from time and less than a minute after Thievy Bifouma looked to have pinched victory for the Baggies.

It meant that a match Albion began with a dramatic flourish which saw them two-up inside nine minutes ended with frustrated and furious Baggies fans booing Pepe Mel's team off the pitch.

And you could hardly blame them.

They had already seen Albion squander a two-goal lead for the third time this season after a blazing start which saw Morgan Amalfitano and Graham Dorrans strike two cracking goals.

Cardiff's Jordon Mutch pulled one back before the interval – another gem on an afternoon full of incident – and the survival struggle was squared off in the 73rd minute with a Steven Caulker header.

Both teams looked to have punched themselves out but The Hawthorns, already electrified by the return of beloved fans' anthem "The Liquidator," went crazy in the final minute of added time when Thievy sneaked in to steer a near-post cross past David Marshall.

But Albion were guilty of shambolic errors in the seconds remaining, twice carelessly conceding possession to eventually give Cardiff the chance for Daehli's equaliser.

The end result could be so damaging for the Baggies after Crystal Palace's shock victory over Chelsea to leapfrog Albion and leave them one place clear of the drop zone. They head for Norwich City next week for yet another crunch contest and this game finished with the team looking more vulnerable to the drop than at any stage this season.

The tension that has infected the Hawthorns was writ large in the atmosphere towards kick off. But it was transformed as the first notes of The Liquidator - the anthem both Albion and Wolves are not supposed to play – blared out.

Suddenly the stadium was alive with passion and Mel's team fed off the energy and gave their fans something to remember in the first 10 minutes.

Amalfitano's opening goal after two minutes was sensational. Restored after injury, he chased down a long Ben Foster clearance and stunned Cardiff keeper David Marshall with an amazing, angled lob from out wide which found the target.

The Baggies were further inspired and with Cardiff reeling, constructed a wonderful second goal as an Amalfitano cross was cleverly touched by Matej Vydra into the path of Dorrans as he arrived from deep to beat Marshall easily.

But Cardiff would have their own memorable moments in this game and Mutch's 30th minute goal was the first of them – either a heck of a strike which curled over Foster from deep or a heck of a fluke.

Whatever, it set up an end-to-end second half in which Vydra and James Morrison failed to capitalise on their team's best chances before Cardiff retrieved their disastrous start when Caulker climbed between Gareth McAuley and Craig Dawson to head home a Gary Medel free-kick.

The final quarter-hour saw play become disrupted and both teams seemingly unable to seize the initiative – although Cardiff were finishing the stronger side.

But then the substitutes made their impact. Saido Berahino did wonderfully well to chase down possession on the left touchline and cross for Thievy to score.

But he was then guilty of a woeful pass in a counter-attack which followed which gifted Cardiff possession. Even then Steven Reid had the chance to calm down his jittery team mates only to needlessly head a clearance straight to Medel – and that would be the trigger for the move which saw Daehli equalise.

Albion were stunned and will need to recover from this missed opportunity to take a major stride forward towards safety. But they are looking far from convincing and the damage of these last points could come back to haunt them.