By Callum Buckle
Cardiff City triumphed in a fiery Severnside derby to cement their place in the Championship play-off zone.
A first-half header by full-back Perry Ng and a late stunner by midfielder Rubin Colwill secured three points against their bitter rivals from just down the M4.
The win advanced Erol Bulut’s side to fifth in the table as they followed up their 4-0 midweek thrashing of Huddersfield in some style.
Cardiff took the lead in the 33rd minute, as defender Ng rose highest to direct Joe Ralls’ left footed in-swinging corner past Robins’ ‘keeper Max O’Leary.
Then, as Cardiff were soaking up late Bristol City pressure for the equaliser, Colwill, with a delightful piece of skill, cut through two Bristol defenders and slammed the ball home from a wide angle for his first league goal in 19 months.
Late on in the game Nigel Pearson’s visitors had a penalty appeal waved away by referee Darren England, as Ephraim Yeboah went to ground in the box after attempting to squeeze through a forest of blue shirts.
Bristol City had a chance in the 4th minute, Cardiff centre-half Dimitrios Goutas giving away possession in an advanced area of the pitch to Ahmed Mehmeti, who slipped it through to Harry Cornick whose shot which was saved by Jak Alnwick.
At times it was scrappy. The Robins picked up two booking in the first half – one for centre-half Rob Dickie as he brought down Callum Robinson on the edge of the box, the other for Ahmed Mehmeti for a shirt-pull on Cardiff winger Josh Bowler.
Cardiff attacker Yakou Méïté also went into the book for persistent fouling, but it scarcely mattered on a day when the derby result was all that mattered.