Norwich secured a fifth successive win to tighten their grip at the top of the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Cardiff at Carrow Road.
Beautifully taken goals in either half from Emi Buendia and Todd Cantwell took Daniel Farke’s in-form side six points clear of second placed Bournemouth, ahead of the Cherries’ clash with Luton later in the day.
It was a thoroughly deserved victory for the hosts, whose win broke a sequence of hard-fought 2-1 successes and would have been even more emphatic had they taken more of the plentiful chances that came their way during a one-sided clash.
The leaders gradually got into their stride after a slow start and top scorer Teemu Pukki almost opened the scoring midway through the first half, steering his shot just wide of the far post after being slid in by the recalled Cantwell.
At the other end, keeper Michael McGovern did well to grab a powerful header from Sean Morrison on the line, but Norwich were looking the stronger side and deservedly took the lead on 27 minutes through a superb strike from the in-form Buendia.
The Argentine was picked out by Kenny Mclean just inside the Cardiff half and raced to the edge of the box before unleashing a low shot into the bottom corner to make it five goals in seven games.