Stoke scrambled an 85th-minute own goal winner to steer themselves away from the relegation dogfight and plunge Cardiff deeper into it.
A long throw into the home box by Junior Tchamadeu caused panic in front of goal and Sam Gallagher got his head to the ball. Ben Wilmot latched onto it and from five yards turned and shot.
Cardiff goalkeeper Ethan Horvath got his foot to it but the ball ricocheted onto his defender Will Fish and went into the net to earn the visitors all three points.
Stoke moved five points clear of their hosts who are in the third relegation spot and remain a point adrift of safety with four games to go.
Both teams came out and tried to play on the front foot and the tone was set in the first minute when Stoke’s Eric Bocat made the first of many forays down the left wing and put in a cross that went right across the face of the home goal without anyone getting a touch.
Bocat was outstanding in the first half and caused problems for the Bluebirds with his pace and passing.
One sweeping pass from deep in his own half set up the best chance of the half in the fifth minute when he gave Ali Al-Hamadi a ball to chase into the Cardiff box.
Having won it, Al-Hamadi back-heeled to Bae Junho, who passed it on to Lewis Baker 10 yards out in the middle of the goal with only the keeper to beat. With five goals in his last eight games it looked odds-on Baker would score, but he snatched at the ball and lifted it well over the crossbar.
At the other end, Cardiff created early chances as well and acting skipper Callum O’Dowda flashed a 30-yard shot just wide of a post in the 11th minute.
The game was brought to a halt in the 35th minute due to a medical emergency in the Ninian Stand. Referee Michael Salisbury eventually took the players off the field and after a 17-minute break he gave each team five minutes to warm-up following their return.
Stoke came close to scoring when Jordan Thompson smashed a volley from the edge of the area into the back of Alex Robertson and onto the Cardiff bar and Perry Ng then sent a header into the side-netting for the home side from a Calum Chambers cross from the left.
Stoke boss Mark Robins brought on striker Gallagher for Al-Hamadi at the start of the second half and his opposite number Omer Riza made three substitutions between the 57th and 66th minutes to try to breathe new life into his side.
Riza threw on Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill in the 80th minute and it was a Colwill cross two minutes later which presented Davies with a golden chance from two yards. He stuck out his left foot and managed to put the ball over rather than into the back of the net.
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