Barnsley drew for the first time under Valerian Ismael as they threw away a two goal lead to miss out on 10th place.
Cardiff are the first team Barnsley have failed to beat who don’t currently reside in the top six of the division since they lost at Blackburn on the 28th November, with this the first bottom half side they have failed to beat since drawing 0-0 with Coventry on the 26th September when they were 13th in the league.
The aforementioned Blackburn defeat is also the last time Barnsley failed to win a game in which they have scored – they had failed to win five games since (all defeats) and all blanks in front of goal.
Barnsley ended a run of 20 games without a draw in all competitions, with this their first stalemate since a 1-1 draw at Millwall on the 24th October, the final game of Adam Murray’s caretaker stewardship.
Barnsley threw away a 2-0 lead for the first time since the 22nd October 2019 when they drew 2-2 at West Brom, whereas it the first time it has occurred at Oakwell since New Year’s Eve 2016 when they drew 2-2 with Birmingham.
Barnsley have failed to win any of their first four league games of a calendar year (D1 L3) for the first time since 2009 when they lost all four.
Mads Andersen opened the scoring for Barnsley, his first goal coming on his 71st appearance. It is the first time Barnsley’s first league goal of a calendar year has been scored by a defender since 2018 when Ethan Pinnock headed a winner at Sunderland on New Year’s Day.
Despite drawing Barnsley are now unbeaten in their last 26 games (all comps) when opening the scoring but this draw ended a run of eight straight wins (W22 D4) last losing when breaking the deadlock at Cardiff in December 2019.
This was Brad Collins first league start since the 3rd October at Middlesbrough and only his second of 2020-2021. Barnsley have failed to win any of the last four league games he has started (D1 L3)
Meanwhile it was Toby Sibbick’s first league start for Barnsley since the 23rd November 2019 at Blackburn.
This draw ended a run of seven straight wins in all competitions when Cauley Woodrow has scored.
Kieffer Moore scored Cardiff’s equaliser, the striker who scored 23 times in 55 games for Barnsley between January 2018 and August 2019 became the fifth ex Red to score against them this season following Michael Smith, Adam Armstrong, Jack Hunt and Ivan Toney.
It is the seventh Barnsley match in which both Woodrow and Moore have scored!
This was only the sixth game this season in which two Barnsley goals were both directly assisted by a team-mate.
Each of the last two Oakwell meetings between Barnsley and Cardiff have been booking-less
It is the first time successive Barnsley matches (Norwich, Cardiff) have been card-less since November 2018 v Southend in League One and then Manchester City Under 21s in the Football League Trophy.
Since winning promotion in 2019 Barnsley have drawn 18 Championship matches, seven of them 2-2 (39%)
Barnsley’s last 12 league matches have seen them either score two goals or none at all. (2-2, 0-1, 0-2, 0-1, 2-1, 2-1, 0-2, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1, 0-4, 2-1)
Barnsley have failed to win any of their last seven meetings with Cardiff but this draw does end a run of five straight defeats against the Welsh outfit.
They have also failed to win any of the last seven Oakwell meetings (D2 L5).
Indeed they have won only one of the last 11 Oakwell clashes – a 1-0 success in November 2009.
There were only four corners in the game, the lowest amount in 13 Barnsley games.
A total of one corner is Barnsley’s lowest at Oakwell since QPR in Ismael’s first match in charge (also 1)
There were 34 fouls in the game, the most since the 11th January 2020 v Huddersfield (35) whilst the 21 committed by Barnsley is the most since Derby at home on the 2nd October 2019 (22)
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
20. Toby Sibbick
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
21. Romal Palmer
27. Alex Mowatt
4. Callum Styles
28. Dominik Frieser
9. Cauley Woodrow
29. Victor Adeboyejo
Substitutes:
14. Carlton Morris (for Frieser 58)
8. Herbie Kane (for Palmer 72)
26. Michael Sollbauer (for Sibbick 79)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 2. Jordan Williams, 11. Conor Chaplin, 19. Patrick Schmidt, 22. Clarke Oduor, 44. Ali Omar.
Cardiff Team:
12. Alex Smithies
38. Perry Ng
5. Aden Flint
16. Curtis Nelson
32. Joel Bagan
7. Leandro Bacuna
6. Will Vaulks
27. Sheyi Ojo
8. Joe Ralls
33. Junior Hoilett
10. Kieffer Moore
Substitutions:
11. Josh Murphy (for Hoilett 50)
4. Sean Morrison (for Bacuna 58)
21. Marlon Pack (for Ojo 90+4
Unused Substitutes:
1. Dillon Phillips, 9. Robert Glatzel, 23. Harry Wilson, 28. Tom Sang, 29. Mark Harris, 39. Isaak Davies.
Cardiff manager Mick McCarthy said:
"I'm delighted with the point today. We can all learn a little bit from a committed and determined Barnsley.
"The way we came back and responded, I'd say we fought fire with fire.
"We will only succeed together, and we showed a real willingness tonight to get a point out of the game. Hopefully the result will give them a shot of confidence.
"There are parts of the game that Barnsley dominated, but I have to give my players real credit for fighting back.
"It was such a tough game and they all had to stand up to it. We scrapped out a really good point today."
Sky Bet Championship results
TUESDAY 26TH JANUARY 2021
Bristol City (8th) 2-1 Huddersfield Town (14th)
Diedhiou 22
Diedhiou 26
Bacuna 59
Millwall (16th) 0-0 Watford (3rd)
WEDNESDAY 27TH JANUARY 2021
BARNSLEY (12th) 2-2 Cardiff City (15th)
Andersen 20
Woodrow 52
Ojo 58
Moore 68
Coventry City (17th) 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday (23rd)
Gyokeres 57
Allen 90
Middlesbrough (7th) 0-3 Rotherham United (22nd)
Crooks 43
Smith pen 79
Giles 90
Swansea City (2nd) 1-1 Brentford (4th)
Fosu 74
Hourihane 78
Barnsley lie in 12th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 35 points from 26 games. We are 7 points off the Play-Offs, 12 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 18 points off First Place and 12 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 28/1/21
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Twenty Seven: Nottingham Forest v Barnsley, Saturday 30th January 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Twenty Eight: Barnsley v Derby County, Saturday 6th February 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm