Last updated on .From the section Championship

Said Benrahma put Brentford in front from a cleverly worked corner

A magnificent first-half performance from Brentford saw them comfortably beat west London rivals Queens Park Rangers and continue their Championship promotion push.

The Bees raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from their three forwards - Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins - and could have been five or six up at the break.

Benrahma slotted in from a cleverly worked corner, Mbeumo finished smartly first time and Watkins headed in his 18th league goal of the season from close range as the hosts looked like scoring with every attacking move.

QPR improved after the break and pulled a goal back through Nahki Wells' tap in, but Brentford closed out the game to move to within six points of the top two, Leeds and West Brom.

Third-placed Brentford can now rightly be considered as genuine promotion contenders following a sixth straight home league win in their final season at Griffin Park.

Not only do they have the tightest defence in the division, conceding just 21 goals, but Benrahma, Mbeumo and Watkins look capable of scoring at will.

Aside from their three-goal blitz in 14 minutes, the Bees created numerous other chances before the interval.

Early on they were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Watkins appeared to be bundled over by Geoff Cameron.

Watkins was close to getting on the end of a terrific team move, but was flagged offside, and Cameron deflected the ball just wide of his own post from Josh Dasilva's dangerous low cross. QPR's best chance of the half saw Pontus Jansson almost head into his own net but David Raya tipped the ball away.

The Bees were less impressive after the break and made to pay for taking their foot off the gas when Wells finished Bright Osayi-Samuel's cross from a couple of yards out.

Late on, Eberechi Eze should have made it 3-2 but could not get enough power on his shot from just a few yards out and Raya collected easily, while Watkins missed a couple of equally good chances at the other end by heading off target.

A 12th defeat of the season means QPR continue to languish in mid-table and their 27 Championship games have now seen an incredible 96 goals this season.