Norwich City maintained their position at the Championship summit with a crushing 4-1 win away at Swansea City, while Leeds United remain three points behind them after beating Bristol City 2-0 at Elland Road.
Daniel Farke's side were in imperious form at the Liberty Stadium, securing a sixth straight win thanks to an own goal from Mike van der Hoorn and strikes from Emiliano Buendia, Marco Stiepermann and Teemu Pukki.
Leeds made light work of 10-man Bristol City thanks to goals from Kemar Roofe and Pablo Hernandez to remain on the Canaries' coattails, although they could be leapfrogged into second by Middlesbrough if they overcome Brentford in the late kick-off.
Derby County, meanwhile, kept up their promotion push with a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday, Preston North End thumped Blackburn Rovers 4-1 and Hull City fell to a 2-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest.
CANARIES SWAT ASIDE SWANS
Farke's side were ruthless against Swansea, racing into a 3-0 lead after just 37 minutes.
Van der Hoorn's own goal set them on their way before Buendia's cool finish and Stiepermann's tap-in put the game to bed before half-time.
Daniel James pulled one back for Graham Potter's side, but Pukki had the final say, adding a fourth on the hour mark.
LEEDS PUNISH CITY'S BROWNHILL
Leeds bounced back from their 4-1 defeat to West Brom before the international break with a routine win over Bristol City.
They did not have it all their own way, though, and only made the breakthrough after Josh Brownhill was dismissed 10 minutes into the second half for a second bookable offence.
The Yorkshire side took full advantage of Brownhill's recklessness, scoring through Roofe and Hernandez to keep up the pressure on Norwich.
MARRIOTT PROVES DECISIVE FOR DERBY
Jack Marriott scored his sixth goal in eight games as Frank Lampard's side came from behind to see off struggling Sheffield Wednesday.
The Owls – who have not won at home since August – went in front thanks to Adam Reach's goal, but Derby stormed back to erase the memory of their 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa a fortnight ago.
Harry Wilson pulled them level in the 29th minute before Marriott sealed all three points six minutes later.
In the day's other games, Rotherham United and Sheffield United drew 2-2 – as did Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers – Millwall and Bolton Wanderers played out a 1-1 result and Wigan Athletic were held to a goalless draw by Reading.
