Derby County put in a brilliant performance as they beat Rotherham United at the iPro Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Goals in the first half from Andreas Weimann and Jacob Butterfield put Derby two-nil up at the break and with 14 minutes remaining Richard Keogh added a third for the hosts as they claimed a deserved win.
Going into the game, Derby head coach Paul Clement made one change to the side that beat Huddersfield Town last weekend, with Tom Ince missing out through injury and replaced by Weimann.
Rotherham boss Neil Redfearn made five changes from the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday last time out with Farrend Rawson, Tom Thorpe, Paul Green, Tony Andreu and Matt Derbyshire missing out and Kirk Broadfoot, Joe Mattock, Richie Smallwood, Joe Newell and Danny Ward coming into the side.
Derby start the brighter
It was the hosts who started the brighter and were ahead after just seven minutes when Butterfield played in Craig Forsyth on the left. He turned a brilliant cross into the six-yard box and Weimann arrived on the end of it to fire home his first goal for the Rams since joining from Aston Villa over the summer.
Rotherham threatened immediately after when Jonson Clarke-Harris hit a volley wide from the edge of the box, before former Rams keeper Lee Camp was forced into a good save to deny Butterfield, whose shot was heading towards the top corner.
Johnny Russell also went close to doubling the lead on 20 minutes but following a great move he fired a cross from Cyrus Christie over the bar from 12 yards. Moments after, Derby had another chance as Weimann saw a strike from 25 yards go wide of the target.
Derby continued to press as Bradley Johnson headed over after the half-hour, while Weimann also glanced a header wide.
Rams double their advantage
The home side then doubled their lead as the first half drew to a close. Butterfield found space and took a touch before firing a low left-footed effort beyond Camp into the bottom corner from 25 yards; like Weimann, it was the midfielder's first goal for the club since joining from Huddersfield.
Derby started the second half well on top as Weimann almost got his name on the scoresheet again, but was denied by a goalline clearance from Danny Collins after lobbing former Ram Camp.
Rotherham did try and get back into the game but Derby remained strong defensively and chances were limited compared to the first half despite Rotherham taking control of the start of the second half.
Keogh kills Millers resistance
Derby eventually did get a third goal following a corner as Keogh got his first goal for the Rams since December 2013. He pounced with a right-footed finish from close range after Chris Martin had hit the cross bar with a free kick from 25 yards out.
The hosts finished the game strongly as the cross-bar was rattled again, this time with Jason Shackell meeting a corner from Russell with a header which clipped the top of the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.
That was the last action of the game as Derby remained in fifth and well in the automatic promotion race, but Rotherham slipped to the very foot of the table as the only side yet to reach double figures in their points tally.