Carling Cup Result: West Brom 2-4 Cardiff

	West Brom 2 - 4 Cardiff 4' 0 - 1 Robbie Fowler 23' 0 - 2 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 27' 0 - 3 Robbie Fowler (pen) 30' 0 - 4 Trevor Sinclair 33' Ishmael Miller 1 - 4 87' Ishmael Miller (pen) 2 - 4
2		4

West Brom were dumped out of the Carling Cup 4-2 as Cardiff's old guard ran riot in their third round tie at The Hawthorns.

Robbie Fowler opened the scoring after only four minutes, before Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink unleashed an unstoppable second from fully 30 yards midway through the first half.

Baggies fans were left shell-shocked as Fowler grabbed his second from the penalty spot and Trevor Sinclair got in on the act to put the visitors 4-0 up inside the opening half an hour.

Ishmael Miller grabbed a brace for Albion either side of the break to put a respectable slant on the scoreline, but it was not enough to prevent Cardiff claiming their first away win over West Brom since 1957.

Baggies boss Tony Mowbray rang the changes for the tie, resting seven players who were included in Albion's starting line-up for Saturday's 3-2 victory over Scunthorpe.

Cardiff, however, fielded an almost identical side to the one held at home by Preston, Paul Parry the only casualty after Glenn Loovens completed his recovery from a foot injury.

And the decision to field a near full-strength XI paid dividends almost immediately as Fowler netted his third goal in two games for the South Wales club.

Stephen McPhail broke free down the left wing and whipped in an inviting cross for the ex-Liverpool striker, who swept the ball into the top corner from 12 yards out.

The strike ended Albion's impressive record of over nine hours without conceding at The Hawthorns, and the home side's reponse would have left Mowbray fuming.

Gavin Rae cut in from the right and fed Hasselbaink, who turned quickly before firing a powerful effort into the top corner from distance.

Fowler added a third from the penalty spot just four minutes later after defender Shelton Martis brought down Joe Ledley in the area.

Matters went from bad to worse for Baggies as Sinclair popped up to fire home from close range, before Miller gave the hosts some hope at the break with a well-taken effort after Craig Beattie's shot rebounded off a post.

Mowbray was forced to adopt a new gameplan at the interval and both Jonathan Greening and Andrade Filipe Teixeira were introduced to add an attacking element.

And the changes almost bore fruit within the opening three minutes of the second half as Teixeira fired wide from six yards when he really should have scored.

Chris Brunt was next to try his luck with a great free-kick that drifted narrowly wide as Albion looked for a quick route back into the game.

As the half wore on, the hosts threw more bodies forward and both Brunt and Martin Albrechtsen could only watch as their efforts were kept out by a resilient Cardiff defence.

The home side were doing all the pressing in the closing stages, and Miller deservedly grabbed his and Albion's second of the night from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Chris Gunter.

Full Report: Soccernet.com