Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Brentford

Anthony Knockaert won promotion to the Premier League with Leicester in 2014

French midfielder Anthony Knockaert scored his first goal for Brighton as the Seagulls beat mid-table Brentford to go third in the Championship table.

Chris Hughton's side are two points behind second-placed Middlesbrough.

Knockaert, who joined the Sussex club from Standard Liege in January, beat David Button with an angled shot.

Tomer Hemed expertly headed in Beram Kayal's right-wing cross, his first goal since 5 December, before Jamie Murphy added a third in stoppage time.

Brighton's 3-0 win over Brentford as it happened

Bruno also had a first-half shot deflected onto the crossbar by Brentford centre-back Harlee Dean, as Brighton strolled towards a third successive win.

At the other end, with the score at 0-0, goalkeeper David Stockdale made a flying save to keep out Alan Judge's powerful first-time shot.

Knockaert set up both goals in a 2-1 win over Huddersfield on his home debut 13 days earlier and he was in fine form once more against the Bees, although he should have opened the scoring inside the second minute but poked wide from eight yards.

Israel striker Hemed had started the season with five goals in his nine appearances for Brighton but, like his team-mates, had struggled for goals during a seven-match winless run in the league over the festive period.

That dip in form appears to be at an end, with Murphy's late goal on the counter-attack sealing Brighton's biggest win of the season.