Cardiff 0-2 Brighton

Cardiff City's lead at the top of the Championship is down to five points after Brighton's hard-earned 2-0 win. Midfielder Andrea Orlandi struck just before the interval to give the Seagulls a 1-0 half-time lead. Brighton's former Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak produced a string of good saves in the first half. And Leonardo Ulloa scored a deflected goal in second-half added time to seal the victory for Brighton and boost their play-off bid.With main rivals Hull and Watford both winning, it was bad news all around for Cardiff manager Malky Mackay on his 41st birthday. Middlesbrough's draw at Burnley leaves Brighton two points outside the promotion play-off positions. Much of the pre-match publicity had surrounded the decision by Cardiff City's Malaysian owners to hand out red scarves to the Cardiff fans. But it was the points given away which will be of greater concern to the supporters, though they still have an eight-point cushion over Watford in the automatic promotion places. The Bluebirds went into the game unbeaten in nine matches, having won seven of those. And for much of the first half, they looked the more likely to take the lead as Brighton goalkeeper Kuszczak had to be on his toes to keep a clean sheet. Craig Noone had a chance in the 15th minute after a strong run by Andrew Taylor, but his delicate attempt was saved by the Pole.