Match Report | Cardiff City 3-1 Coventry City

Cardiff City defeated Coventry City 3-1 at CCS to secure a third consecutive Sky Bet Championship victory.

Kieffer Moore's brace and Josh Murphy's first of the season stretched Mick McCarthy's unbeaten run at the helm to five matches.

The Bluebirds made two enforced changes to the side that beat Rotherham United in midweek, with Marlon Pack and Murphy coming into the starting line-up.

The home side started on the front foot and Will Vaulks was first to try his luck, driving just wide from outside the area.

City also had the ball in the net early on thanks to Aden Flint's fine back-post finish. Unfortunately, the centre-half was in an offside position when he fired home.

However, they would only have to wait until the half-hour mark to find an opener in some style. 

Moore ran onto a perfectly weighted ball from Murphy before cutting inside from the left and hitting the back of the net.

Within ten minutes, City's number ten doubled his tally. This time, Murphy almost turned home from a long throw, before the ball fell to the Welsh international at the back post and he made no mistake for his thirteenth of the season.

On the stroke of half-time, the Sky Blues looked certain to pull one back, only for Curtis Nelson's superb sliding tackle in the box to thwart Matty James.

With City's lead preserved into the interval, they then made it three within a minute of the restart.

After Moore was fouled, Perry Ng was alert to take a quick free-kick to Murphy. And the winger got the goal his performance deserved, drilling across goal and into the bottom corner.

The visitors did have their opportunities, with Leo Østigård diverting a free-kick onto the bar.

The Bluebirds were miserly in defence, with Nelson in particular stepping up with a number of important blocks. But Dominic Hyam did pull one back ten minutes from time, lashing into the net from inside the area.

City comfortably saw out the final ten minutes, with the Academy's Rubin Colwill coming on to make his Bluebirds debut, before the full-time whistle confirmed a third victory on the bounce. 

Cardiff City: Phillips, Ng, Morrison, Nelson, Flint, Bennett, Pack, Vaulks, Wilson (Colwill 90+2), Murphy (Bacuna 72), Moore.

Subs not used: Ratcliffe, Brown, Bagan, Sang, Harris, Davies, Watters.

Coventry City: Maroši, Rose, Østigård (McFadzean 60), Hyam, Dacosta, Hamer (Walker 60), James (c), McCallum (Shipley 79), O'Hare, Allen, Biamou (Gyökeres 78). 

Subs not used: Wilson, Sheaf, Pask, Bakayoko, Bapaga.