Bruno N'Gotty and Cameron Jerome scored their first goals for Blues to secure an excellent away victory to put Steve Bruce's boys top of the table, despite the second half dismissal of Nicklas Bendtner.

N'Gotty's first half goal put Blues on their way but Bendtner's sending off midway through the second half threatened to undo all the good work.

However, Jerome's injury time goal sealed the points as Blues pulled away clear at the top of the Championship courtesy of Darren Purse's late own goal at Plymouth that prevented Cardiff from picking up maximum points.

There were two changes to the Blues side with Neil Danns making the starting line-up at the expense of Julian Gray.

It meant another reshuffle to the side with Seb Larsson dropping to left-back for the first time this season.

Also back in the side was Fabrice Muamba in his expected midfield role at the expense of the injured Mehdi Nafti.

Blues started brightly forcing two corners early on but neither Gary McSheffrey or David Dunn could create an opening for the visitors.

In the ninth minute burly centre-half N'Gotty was on hand to head clear Marc Bircham's outswinging corner.

Moments later Dunn cleared Lee Cook's free-kick to keep the home side at bay.

Blues' first shot came on 20 minutes with a weak effort from long range by Larsson that rolled wide.

Midway through the half McSheffrey picked out the unmarked N'Gotty but he failed to meet the target with his header.

Just over a minute later N'Gotty made amends as he headed Blues into the lead.

It was the same combination again, only this time McSheffrey picked him out again from a free-kick and N'Gotty made no mistake with his header from eight yards.

On the half-hour mark Dunn continued to show his defensive qualities with another clearance from Bircham's free-kick.

A minute later Maik Taylor was tested for the first time with a rising volley by Paul Cook from 25 yards that saw the Blues number one handle safely.

Moments later Bendtner had a great chance to double the lead but took too many touches and the chance was gone.

In the 38th minute McSheffrey had another attempt to break his duck but once again the keeper was equal to the task with Paul Jones saving safely.

Five minutes before half-time Damien Johnson was the first man in the book for a wild challenge on Dexter Blackstock who was racing towards the penalty box.

Bircham swung the free-kick into the box where Taylor fumbled but was able to gather at the second attempt.

Dunn almost doubled the lead in injury time with a fierce volley that Brummie Zesh Rehman blocked for a corner.

McSheffrey's resultant kick proved to be the last action of the half.

Half-time: QPR 0 Blues 1

QPR made one change for the re-start with Ray Jones replacing the injured Blackstock.

Blues had a chance early on with DJ Campbell getting clear before slipping and then recovering to set up Bendtner.

The ball was eventually cleared to Muamba who hit his shot high into the Blues fans in the top tier.

In the 52nd minute Dunn was the second Blues man in the book for a foul on Bircham.

The further the game went on, the more the need to increase the slender one-goal lead became apparent as Blues sought to put away the home side.

Ten minutes into the half Campbell tested keeper Jones with another effort from 12 yards.

Marc Nygaard worried the Blues fans on the hour mark when he headed just wide from just inside the box.

Campbell went even closer in the 64th when Bendtner teed up his strike partner but his shot rebounded back off the post.

Disaster struck in the space of two minutes when Bendtner received a yellow card and then a red following an altercation with Matthew Rose.

Both bookings were needless and Steve Bruce showed his disdain for the young striker by ignoring him as he trudged off.

Bruce then replaced the tireless Campbell with fit-again Jerome coming on to lead the line on his own.

This now left Blues in a situation that once again they should never have been in.

In the 73rd minute Gary Waddock threw on striker Shabazz Baidoo for defender Zeshan Rehman in a bid to grab something from the game.

Minutes later Dunn was replaced with the fresh legs of Neil Kilkenny.

In the 78th minute Danns set up McSheffrey for a spectacular scissor kick that flew wide of the target.

Despite Blues being a man down they still carved out chances and McSheffrey was guilty of being greedy, choosing to shoot from a tight angle instead of passing to Jerome.

Moments later QPR substitute Jones went close with an overhead kick for the home side but still Blues managed to maintain the one goal advantage.

A couple of minutes later Jones went close again, this time with his head but the same end result.

Two minutes before the end Nygaard got clear of Larsson and fired the ball across the box but failed to pick out any of his team mates bombing into the box.

Blues fans' hearts were in their mouths but the visitors worries soon turned into joy as Jerome doubled the lead.

The substitute got off the mark when he latched onto Maik Taylor's long clearance before hooking the ball over keeper Jones.

Bruce threw on Martin Taylor for Muamba in the dying seconds.

As the final whistle blew the 1,300 loyal Blues fans celebrated as the Cardiff result filtered through confirming their place clear at the top.

Blues: Maik Taylor, Sebastian Larsson, Damien Johnson, Bruno N'Gotty, Radhi Jaidi, David Dunn (76, Neil Kilkenny), McSheffrey, Neil Danns, Fabrice Muamba (90, Martin Taylor), DJ Campbell (71, Cameron Jerome), Nicklas Bendtner.
Goals: Bruno N'Gotty (24), Jerome (90)
Bookings: Damien Johnson (40), David Dunn (52), Bendtner (65)
Sent Off: Bendtner (68)

QPR: Paul Jones, Matthew Rose, Zeshan Rehman (73, Shabazz Baidoo), Damion Stewart, Mauro Milanese, Egutu Oliseh, Marc Bircham, Nick Ward, Lee Cook, Marc Nygaard, Dexter Blackstock (45, Ray Jones).

Attendance: 10,936