Cardiff swept to an impressive 3-1 home victory over third-placed Brentford and could even afford to miss a penalty.
Peter Thorne (15), Robert Earnshaw (35) and Danny Gabbidon (75) netted for the Bluebirds, with Paul Evans scoring for the Bees.
City could have increased their margin of victory when Earnshaw was brought down in the area by Paul Gibbs, who was then sent off, but the striker could only hit the crossbar when taking the spot-kick himself.
Thorne chested down a Scott Young pass to slot in the opening goal and Cardiff went 2-0 up when Earnshaw raced onto a Graham Kavanagh through-ball which he lashed into the roof of the net.
Brentford reduced their deficit when Evans' shot was deflected past Neil Alexander, but Gabbidon made the points safe with a near-post header.
Cardiff fully deserved their second win in four days, which lifts them to fifth in the Division Two table and signals their arrival as true promotion contenders.
