By Jake Maddaford

A dramatic Welsh derby began with a Liam Cullen strike before Callum Robinson’s equaliser meant the points were shared at the Swansea.com Stadium.

The Bluebirds were given optimism as new signing from Manchester City Alex Robertson made his first start for his new club.

As for the hosts, they were boosted by the return of veteran midfielder Joe Allen to the matchday squad, for the first time since April.

Swansea started the match brightly, as Cullen found himself one-on-one with visiting keeper Ethan Horvath, but his effort was tame and straight at the American.

Five minutes later, a cross from the right-hand side made its way to Ronald, whose shot was well saved but pushed into the path of Cullen, who tapped home to give Swansea a deserved lead.

That could give Cullen a boost up the ranks as Craig Bellamy is set to name his first Wales squad on Wednesday, so another goal against Cardiff might move him up the pecking order for the new gaffer.

Swansea continued to put pressure on the Cardiff goal but struggled to create a clear chance. Josh Tymon’s cross-come shot was the closest they came following the goal.

Luke Williams makes frank Cardiff City admission and reveals Swansea City are close to a signing #swans https://t.co/n06vh9R81I pic.twitter.com/Fk3Fsj5sbt

— Swansea City Online (@SwanseaCityLive) August 25, 2024

Cardiff finally created their first chance ten minutes from time, as summer signing Wilfried Kanga found himself in space on the edge of the box, but his shot with high and wide, causing no trouble for Lawrence Vigouroux.

The second half started as the first did, Swansea putting the early pressure on, Ronald fired over seven minutes in after good link up play with Goncalo Franco.

The Bluebirds didn’t help themselves, as Callum O’Dowda passed a free kick straight back to Swansea, which luckily for him, Franco fired over.

For the next 20 minutes, the game was starved of much action, until the 79th minute, where Ollie Tanner crossed on the right-hand side, for fellow substitute Callum Robinson to fire low and hard passed Vigouroux to equalise, scoring Cardiff’s first league goal this season.

“He’s done really well in pre-season,” Bulut’s assistant Omar Riza said.

“His attitude has been brilliant; he’s working hard even when he’s not in the team.”

The celebrations were wild as an advertising board on the side of the pitch was knocked over, leaving Tanner with a slight injury that he quickly got over.

“He’s got a big cut on his leg.” Riza stated.

“He was able to play on but he had to go off for 30 seconds, that could have hurt us in that period.”

Swansea City head coach Luke Williams delivers his verdict on today’s 1-1 draw with Cardiff#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/3wB8Cd95G8

— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) August 25, 2024

There was yet more drama as soon after seven minutes of injury time was indicated, Cardiff manager Erol Bulut was shown a red card.

It came after he clashed with Swansea’s Kyle Naughton, where the Turk appeared to shove the right back on a number of occasions.

“We think it’s a bit harsh.”  Riza said.

“He got pulled onto the pitch, and a player put his hands on him.”

“He was only making a point that there was a foul.”

“We will probably appeal it.”

Both sides pushed for a winner, but neither were able to find the right pass late on.

This leaves Swansea in eighth place, giving them a win, draw and loss in their first three games, whereas Cardiff pick up their first point of the season and hope this can be a catalyst for better results in their upcoming games.