Brentford 4 Derby 0: Lasse Vibe and Jota’s fine doubles halt Rams’ play-off dreams as Bees romp home
Gary Rowett's Derby were never at the races and must surely now settle for another season in the second tier
GREAT Dane Lasse Vibe mauled Derby as Gary Rowett slipped to his first defeat in charge.
And what a hammering this was for the Rams.
Travelling County fans nursing faint hopes of a run to the play-offs saw their side lucky to escape from the first half with just Vibe’s 32nd-minute opener on the board.
That was a personal landmark for the 30-year-old forward — the first time he has scored in three consecutive home games in his Brentford career.
Rowett sent on half-time subs Will Hughes and Darren Bent and that worked for a short while before the roof fell in.
Jota started it off with a goal in the 70th minute, then Vibe killed off the match eight minutes from time with his 15th of the season.
Bees boss Dean Smith said: “Lasse is a top player and he took his second goal really well. He’ll probably be a little bit annoyed that he didn’t get a hat-trick.
“That was a very good Friday for us.
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“A good result and one of the best performances since I’ve been in charge here, given the calibre of the opposition and the form they’ve been in.”
Lively Jota added his second at the death, but it was all over long before then, with Rowett given a reminder of what a huge job he faces to make the Pride Park men a fighting force next season.
Rowett had gone four games unbeaten since taking over, but he admitted: “That was a poor performance. We weren’t anywhere near good enough and made it too easy for Brentford to score.
“Brentford played with pride and swagger but their second goal was where we got disheartened and gave up the ghost. That was the bit I didn’t like and I told the players that afterwards.”
