Cardiff moved top of the Coca-Cola Championship after a deserved 3-0 win over Bristol City.

The Bluebirds dominated the match and took the lead with 37 minutes gone when Robins captain Jamie McCombe turned Adam Matthews' cross into his own net.

In-form Michael Chopra grabbed his fifth goal in three games to double Cardiff's lead on the stroke of half-time before Gavin Rae wrapped up the points in the second half.

The Bluebirds punched forward in search of the opener and a poor clearance from Dean Gerken fell straight to Paul Quinn who tried his luck from distance, only for Gerken to get back and make the save.

However, the visitors did not escape minutes later when Chris Burke played Matthews in down the right and his low cross was inadvertently diverted into his own net by the luckless McCombe.

Cardiff made the visitors pay for that missed opportunity with half-time approaching when Burke played in Chopra, who controlled well and lobbed the ball over Gerken to continue his purple patch in front of goal.

The home side continued to dominate after the break with Jay Bothroyd and Chopra causing the Bristol City defence all sorts of problems.

However the Robins gradually began to get more of the possession and John Akinde knocked the ball down for Nicky Maynard, who fired in a powerful volley from 20 yards that was well dealt with by David Marshall.

With 66 minutes gone and the visitors starting to threaten Cardiff grabbed the crucial third goal when Burke embarked on another fine run down the right and picked out Rae, who slotted the ball past Gerken from close range.

Bristol City did try to find a way back and John Akinde tested Marshall late on - but Cardiff comfortably held on for a thoroughly deserved three points.