Brighton & Hove Albion have defeated Derby County 3-0 at the Amex Stadium to draw level on points with Newcastle United at the top of the Championship table.
Anthony Knockaert, Sam Baldock and Glenn Murray were all on target for the Seagulls, who have now claimed back-to-back wins to get fully back on track following a recent shaky spell.
The race for automatic promotion is now looking increasingly like being a closed shop as Huddersfield Town are nine points adrift of Brighton, albeit with two games in hand to play.
It took just five minutes for the hosts to get up and running, with Knockaert cutting in from the right and firing into the bottom corner for his 13th goal of the season.
Scott Carson was being kept busy by a number of crosses into the area, but Brighton were unable to create another clear-cut opening until the brink of half time when Baldock tucked home following some nice interplay with Murray.
Knockaert tried his luck with a first-time shot shortly after the restart, which Carson took no chances with and tipped over the crossbar in front of the 27,552 spectators.
Derby, who have now found the net in just one of their last seven away outings, looked for a route back into the game but their best opportunity saw Matej Vydra pick out the post on the hour.
Any outside hopes of a comeback were soon put to bed by Murray, however, who found the net at the second attempt after being picked out by a Knockaert cross as the forward trio again linked up.
Baldock almost added further sparkle to the scoreline when sending a deflected shot narrowly wide, but a 19th clean sheet of the season for Albion - the best defensive record in the division - ensured that they took the points in style.
Daniel Lewis
