Cardiff City benefited from two own goals to beat Bristol City 2-1 at Ashton Gate in the Championship this afternoon.
The hosts had an early penalty appeal turned down when the referee deemed that Ben Turner's handball was accidental.
They should have taken the lead just before half time when Brett Pitman found Stephen Pearson, but the Scottish midfielder lacked composure and blasted his shot high over the bar.
Pearson was immediately punished for this miss, as Cardiff went up the other end and scored with one of the last kicks of the half. Joe Mason drilled the ball across the six-yard box, resulting in Stephen McManus turning it into his own net.
Bristol City didn't have to wait too long for their equaliser, however, as Jon Stead converted Richard Foster's cross ten minutes into the second half.
Both sides continued to look for a second goal in an end-to-end match, and the hosts almost got it through substitute Sean Davis' curling effort, only to be denied by a fine save from David Marshall.
In the end it was Cardiff who got the all-important winning goal in the 88th minute. Haris Vuckic's drilled shot deflected off Khalifa Cisse and past David James to give Cardiff all three points.
The result means that Cardiff move up into the play-off positions, while Bristol City remain just one place above the relegation zone.
Barney Corkhill
