Rotherham manager Matt Taylor pinpointed the strike partnership of Tommy Conway and Nahki Wells as the key difference between the two sides on Saturday.
The duo's flourishing partnership in attack, built from the duo's time spent together on the bench and in the reserves, has been one of the positives to Bristol City's season so far. The pair have 16 goals between them in all competitions and a further nine assists.
It was the first half where the damage was done from a City perspective with both Wells and Conway playing key parts in the opening two goals.
City pinpointed a weakness in the Rotherham backline and utilised the pace of the strike duo by clipping balls over the defence and exploiting the space. The hosts couldn't deal with their movement, with one dropping deep and the other making the run in behind.
Rotherham started with 35-year-old Lee Peltier on the right of the defensive three while Richard Wood, 37, marshalled the middle. The opening goal came from City's left when Wells worked his way down the touchline before his cross was turned in by Wes Harding.
The second came from a similar area of the pitch when a simple ball over the top by Kal Naismith found Conway. He ran at Wood, used a turn of pace to get into a crossing position and hit Joe Williams who had made the run from deep.
City should have had another when Naismith's through ball released Conway but his pullback couldn't find Alex Scott lurking unmarked on the penalty spot.
"It was a couple of moments in the first half in terms of basic goals against and basic deliveries in behind our back line which we couldn't quite deal with," Rotherham manager Taylor said after the game.
"It was obvious where the ball was going to go, obvious where the threat was. It was a poor day defensively. The first half was a bitter blow because we had a bit of life about us but twice we got punctured.
"It was a match up, they played wing-backs, we played three centre-halves, they played two strikers. Conway and Wells really hurt us today and that was maybe a higher level of player but I think we can defend better than we did today.
"We were set up three versus two, that’s why the simplicity of the goals was disappointing. But that’s uncharacteristic. I said to the group we’ve spent so much time this season deep as a team, defending our 18-yard box. It wasn’t that type of game today but we’ve conceded three really poor goals."
Wood, in particular, struggled to deal with the pace of the City duo. He came off at half-time after receiving a yellow card as Rotherham looked to get themselves back into the contest.
The second half wasn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination but City were effective with their defending before Cam Pring put the game beyond doubt with his first goal for the club.
"They sat a little bit deeper (in the second half) and took away the space that we had in the first half. They negated that in the second half," Taylor added. "Their front two caused us a problem all afternoon and as much as I tried to fix it, we couldn’t quite get the platform from that back line."
City manager Nigel Pearson was pleased with how his side showed efficiency to see out the game. There have been moments this season, including the defeat at home to Sheffield United, where he called his side to be more street-wise later in the contest.
Pearson said: "I thought we managed the clock really well today to the extent where we annoyed the crowd which always amuses me.
"We've had it done to us so many times and it's interesting for me to observe that we can do it. But I still think we could have run the clock down more efficiently in the corner."
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