Derby County 4-0 Portsmouth: Hosts run rampant in much-needed win
Derby County got back to winning ways in style, brushing aside Portsmouth thanks to an impressive first-half attacking display.
Derby County ended a six-game winless streak with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Portsmouth in the Championship on Friday.
Three goals in the opening 30 minutes put the game beyond Pompey, before Marlon Pack's own goal assured Derby of three points that moved them away from the relegation zone.
The hosts took just eight minutes to break the deadlock, splitting Portsmouth open with two impressive throughballs before Nathaniel Mendez-Laing squared it into the box to set up Kane Wilson's close-range finish.
Eiran Cashin rose high to thump a powerful header in for their second, with Ebou Adams adding to their tally just before the half-hour mark with the help of a big deflection off Tom McIntyre.
Jerry Yates forced a good save out of Nicolas Schmid before the break, though Derby took their foot off the gas in the second half before Marcus Harness, formerly of Portsmouth, saw his low cross turned in by Pack in the 65th minute.
They could have made it five late on - Abdoulaye Kamara's blind backpass was almost pounced on by Kayden Jackson, who had wrongfooted the goalkeeper, but Schmid scrambled back to his line to spare the defender's blushes.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
From that performance, it is hard to believe Derby had not won a match in the Championship since early November, but they did not look back after a stellar first half.
The Rams scored with their first three shots on target, having seven overall from their 17 efforts as they created 1.14 expected goals (xG).
Portsmouth, meanwhile, remain just above the drop zone, only above Cardiff City having scored more goals. However, they failed to test Jacob Widell Zetterstrom once on Friday, despite having one big chance.