Ben Brereton Diaz runs with his mouth open and his arms out wide at his side in celebration after scoring a goalShutterstock

Derby County have now won eight games out of 15 on the road this season - the best in the Championship

Derby County leapfrogged a lacklustre Bristol City into the Championship play-off places with a dazzling win to continue their impressive away form.

Rhian Brewster and Ben Brereton Diaz both found the net as the Rams cruised to a 2-0 lead inside 16 minutes.

Bobby Clark made it 3-0 nine minutes before half-time as Derby ripped City open with a slick passage of one-touch play on the counter-attack.

Patrick Agyemang seemed to have completed the rout midway through the second half, jumping to head the ball in, but there was still another goal in the Rams.

Lars-Jorgen Salvesen's close-range finish completed the rout - and Derby's first 5-0 away win since thrashing Plymouth Argyle on 12 September, 1959.

They moved up to sixth in the table, with the Robins dropping to ninth after a night to forget.

Derby had won seven games on the road before coming to Ashton Gate, but another three points means they move to the top of the league's away form table with eight victories in 15 games, with this also their third consecutive away win.

For City, this was their heaviest home league defeat since a 6-0 loss to Cardiff City in 2010, and they drop from seventh to ninth, behind Watford on goal difference.

Derby started the faster as Callum Elder fired a cross into the box and Brewster ran into the area unmarked to volley home for his first goal in six games.

The away end was still singing when sloppy play from the hosts - as they tried to play out from the back - gifted possession to Derby, who worked it across the box to Brereton Diaz, who slotted it between two bodies and beyond Radek Vitek into the far corner.

Many supporters were late arriving to the stadium - including Bristol City pair Sinclair Armstrong and Neto Borges - as a closure on the M5 gridlocked the city's traffic.

Some of the home fans who made it were booing quickly when Clark made it 3-0 as the Rams ran rings around the hosts.

They won the ball deep in their own half and knocked quick passes up the pitch to Brereton Diaz, who squared the ball to Clark who finished easily past Vitek.

Sam Bell thought he had pulled one back for Bristol City before half-time, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside in the build-up.

Lars-Jorgen Salvesen sits on the floor as he watches the ball fly towards the net, three Bristol City players stand in the box behind him, while Bristol City goalkeeper Radek Vitek lies down to his left Shutterstock

Salvesen's goal to make it 5-0 to Derby ensured it was Bristol City's biggest home league loss since 2010

Robins boss Gerhard Struber tried to turn things around by bringing on Borges and Armstrong at the break, and new signing Delano Burgzorg midway through the half, but it had little impact.

Agyemang showed what was coming when he sent a shot wide before making it 4-0, jumping much higher than George Tanner to head the ball in from Joe Ward's deep cross.

Derby substitute Owen Eames then hit the crossbar - with Rob Dickie's sliding tackle diverting the teenager's effort on to the woodwork - but the fifth goal followed two minutes from time.

Salvesen tapped in former Robin Andreas Weimann's low cross to seal the success.

'No-one's getting carried away' - reaction

Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:

"In all aspects it was not really the day to control or to realise a good performance.

"In all aspects it was nothing. We have to be honest it was not our standard. It was a game far away from the Bristol City team that I know.

"It's the first time that I would say we come completely under the bus and under the wheels with the energy from them, with the physical power from them. We were not ready and create the resilience against a team like that.

"This was not the level you need against Derby, and also the body language - I must say this was far away."

Struber: "Far away from the Bristol City team that I know"

Derby County manager John Eustace speaking to BBC Radio Derby:

"I'm delighted with the effort. We spoke about giving the front players more opportunities.

"For them all to score was great, and Lars getting his goal was good as well. It's a shame Eamesy couldn't get one on his Championship debut.

"There's a lot of hard work ahead, for sure.

"Bristol are a really good footballing team and we knew they wanted to dominate possession, so it was important that we were clinical when we won the ball back.

"No-one's getting carried away - the main thing is to get to 50 points - but the players are gelling and we're getting that consistency."

Eustace: "No-one's getting carried away"

Player of the match

M. Clarke
9.01
11 D. Burgzorg
3.64
23 R. Vítek
3.58
16 R. Dickie
3.43
20 S. Bell
3.38
30 S. Armstrong
3.37
21 Neto Borges
3.24
2 R. McCrorie
3.22
4 A. Randell
3.13
12 J. Knight
3.03
3 C. Pring
3.02
10 S. Twine
3.00
19 G. Tanner
2.95
40 Sam Morsy
2.95
18 E. Riis
2.94
17 M. Sykes
2.84
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