Brentford 4-0 Derby County

Brentford's Lasse Vibe (right) has scored 15 goals this season

Two goals apiece from Lasse Vibe and Jota helped Brentford to victory over Derby, to all but end the Rams' slim hopes of a Championship play-off place.

Denmark forward Vibe picked up Jota's shot, turned and slotted in to give the dominant Bees a first-half lead.

David Nugent should have put Derby ahead before the goal, but his shot was saved by Dan Bentley when one-on-one.

Jota added a brilliant second after the break from 20 yards, Vibe curled in and Jota's cool finish got the fourth.

Brentford completely outclassed Gary Rowett's side and only some poor finishing at times and fine goalkeeping from Scott Carson prevented a rout.

Derby had won three straight games before the visit to Griffin Park, but looked short on energy and attacking threat to leave them 10 points behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday with four matches remaining.

Brentford move up to 11th in the table, still in with a chance of finishing higher than their ninth-placed finish last season.

Spanish midfielder Jota and Vibe were a constant menace for the hosts, with Jota seeing his early effort cleared off the line before netting his ninth goal of the season, low into the corner.

Vibe almost added a third but former England goalkeeper Carson saved well with his legs, before he deservedly netted his second from outside the area with Carson rooted to the spot.

Jota then jinked past Richard Keogh and smashed in Brentford's fourth for a third straight home win without conceding.

Brentford manager Dean Smith:

"He [Lasse Vibe] is a good finisher but he's had to wait for his time.

"We've got John Egan on the bench and he's a player of the season candidate, so it shows you I have quality through the squad.

"People like Rico Henry and Romaine Sawyers have never played at this level before but they were outstanding today and Rom deserved his standing ovation."

Derby County manager Gary Rowett:

"We got a little more quality on the ball for 20 minutes after the break and got in some decent positions without ever really creating much.

"We got done on the counter and then we gave up the ghost a little bit. We stopped working and that was the bit I didn't like and I told the players so.

"After three wins and a draw it's easy to brush over one or two things. This loss makes it easier to look at things going forward."