Two and a half months is a long time for Leicester City fans to wait to cheer a home league victory, but Paul Gallagher's double strike kept alive their play-off hopes for another week.

For a side with such strong promotion aspirations, home draws with strugglers Peterborough United, Ipswich Town and Portsmouth, coupled with a home defeat by Barnsley, were not exactly what City fans had been expecting this season. But that is what they have witnessed in recent months.

The FA Cup aside, there has not been a whole lot to cheer about at the King Power Stadium in recent weeks but, thanks to Gallagher's dead-ball double, at last the City fans could savour a deserved victory.

There is no question that City have under-performed this season but it is arguable that, on their day, they are as strong as any side in the division.

City's record against the Championship's better sides is admirable.

They have done the double over second-placed Southampton, beaten fifth-placed Blackpool comfortably on home soil, drawn twice with Middlesbrough and have now taken four points from perennial promotion candidates the Bluebirds.

As City's recent home record demonstrates, it has been against the sides they have been expected to beat where they have slipped up and that is why they remain in mid-table, facing a huge challenge to gate-crash the play-offs.

In the past two seasons, Cardiff have effectively ended City's promotion challenges.

Two seasons ago it was that dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat in Cardiff and last season Sven-Goran Eriksson's side were steaming towards the play-offs until they were derailed by the Bluebirds in south Wales and never recovered.

It would be ironic if it was a victory over Cardiff that kick-started something very special for Nigel Pearson's men now.

This win has certainly kick-started Gallagher. The midfielder had been struggling to find his best form in recent weeks and appeared to have been affected after being targeted by some elements of the City support.

He was left out of last week's defeat at Brighton but returned to the starting line-up following Neil Danns' suspension and looked fired up.

His delivery from open play was always a threat to the lacklustre Bluebirds but it was from dead-ball situations that he was City's match-winner.

City completely bossed the first half against Cardiff, who slipped to their first back-to-back defeats in almost a year, but failed to take advantage until Richie Wellens was upended by Slovenian midfielder Haris Vuckic, who had a debut to forget, inside the penalty area.

After the aforementioned play-off defeat and this season's Carling Cup exit against Cardiff after spot-kicks, City fans could be forgiven for not being completely full of confidence as Gallagher stepped up.

He has a unique style of taking penalties, which has been emphatic for City, and he smashed the ball home past David Marshall.

If there was no doubt about referee Mark Halsey's award of the penalty, there was some debate over what would have been an undeserved equaliser for Cardiff when Kenny Miller latched on to Vuckic's flick-on just before half-time and lobbed Kasper Schmeichel, but the linesman's flag correctly cut short the celebrations.

City continued to dominate in the second half but needed a second for breathing space and Gallagher duly obliged in the 71st minute with a trademark free-kick after Lloyd Dyer had been tripped from behind by Don Cowie.

Again Marshall was left helpless as Gallagher's strike curled over the wall and nestled inside his right-hand post.

Cardiff had failed to muster one shot on target in the entire game, but they were given hope with 15 minutes remaining when a push by Sean St Ledger on Rudy Gestede brought a penalty and Peter Whittingham sent Schmeichel the wrong way from the spot.

But, even after that, there was to be no late drama as City held their nerve.

It was a win that keeps alive City's faint play-off hopes and, with just one more home game in the next five league games, City's fate may be decided away from the King Power Stadium.