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Norwich provided stiff opposition during an opening 45 mins that could have swung either way with Cardiff clinical in attack but at times on the back foot with Norwich enjoying spells of pressure.
It took only 8 mins for City to take the lead. A Whittingham corner was headed back across goal by Gabor Gyepes and Jay Bothroyd was strong enough to hold his position head home.
Bothroyd was involved again as he headed on Tom Heaton's punt into the path of Michael Chopra who sowed his striking class by slotting the ball in for a 2 nil lead.
Norwich were tenatious though, they kept the ball well and caused anxiety for the Cardiff defence and the fans watching. The neutral would have loved it. A wide open game with end to end football and Norwich were rwarded with a goal. We Houlahan bravely diving between the City defenders to get a goal and a kick in the face.
But the Canaries threw away the momentum they were building by conceding a penalty just 90 seconds later.
Again Bothroyd was involved. His ball into the box was cleared the the defender but he hit it straght at his own player who's hand made obvious contac with the ball and both referee and linesman in unison gave the penalty.
Peter Whittingham stepped up to score with a lovely executed finish into the bottom corner. The keeper guessed right but could not reach.
And that was the end of the scoring. The second hald saw a more comfortable City performace with Norwich seeming to have had the stuffing knocked out of them after the penalty.
Sitting in the stand I still felt if Norwich could pull another one back they would have made it very uncomfortable for City but the better chances were coming at the other end. Bothroyd showed his class when setting himself up for a stunning left footed effort against the bar but then let himself down with a needless bump to earn himself a yellow card that sees him miss the Swansea match next Sunday.
Kevin McNaughton was turning his man inside out with some sublime tackles at right full back and I've not had to mention Craig Bellamy yet. He played around 70 minutes before being replaced by Jason Koumas. That was Bellamy's sixth game for City and we've won every single one of them. He was part of a team today with Bothroyd and McNaughton that stand out performers for the Bluebirds.
Credit to Norwich, nice club, great fans who applauded Craig Bellamy when he took a corner in front of them. They were 3 - 1 down at the time but still gave him their former player a great acknowledgment.
As news filtered through from Loftus Rd that Q.P.R. had failed to win again City fans were happily singing 'We are top of the League'. The victory created a nine point gap over Norwich who drop to 5th with Coventry moving into 4th 8 points behind Cardiff.
The top of the table reads
Cardiff 32 pts
Q.P.R. 30
Swansea 26
Coventry 24
Norwich 23
All teams have played 14 games.
External Reports
Urban 75
The Observer
BBC
Wales On Sunday
Norwich official website
Cardiff official website