Championship: Brentford blast Blackpool away in 4-0 victory

Image: Brentford's Jonathan Douglas battles with Gary Madine

Brentford had 42 shots as they cruised to an emphatic 4-0 win over bottom club Blackpool to maintain their play-off push in the Sky Bet Championship.

A hat-trick from Arsenal loanee Jon Toral and an Andre Gray strike sealed the points against the woeful 10-man Tangerines.

The visitors managed just one effort on goal compared to Brentford's 14 in a game that had the air of a training session after Charles Dunne saw red for Lee Clark's side just before the break.

The midfielder was handed a straight red for a late lunge on Spanish winger Jota, but the outcome of this mismatch was never in doubt after Toral broke the deadlock 15 minutes in.

The former Barcelona youngster exchanged passes with Jonathan Douglas on the edge of the box before toe-poking past Joe Lewis.

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Two minutes later he added to his tally, powering home a far-post header from Gray's precision cross from the byline.

Toral could have secured the match ball as early as the half-hour mark but swept Alex Pritchard's neat through-ball wide of the far post.

Blackpool were reeling and their luck did not get any better when Jamie O'Hara hobbled off after colliding with a team-mate after his side's only effort on goal just before the break.

Blackpool showed little resistance after the interval, Toral finding the side-netting after Pritchard's angled drive was parried into his path by keeper Lewis, who had earlier denied Gray in a one-on-one.

Bees midfielder Toumani Diagouraga, a rare scorer, came close to delighting the home crowd but Lewis was again equal to his low drive.

Gray made it three after 51 minutes when his low deflected drive dribbled in off the post after Lewis had saved his first volleyed effort.

Brentford were queuing up to score and Jota, Pritchard and Moses Odubajo all blazed over as the hosts tried to walk the ball into the net.

Gary Madine's late, mazy run into the Brentford box drew ironic cheers from the travelling fans, who saw little to give them hope for the rest of the campaign.

Centre-back Harlee Dean went close with a curling effort almost on the final whistle, but Brentford made it four and Toral grabbed his hat-trick from the ensuing corner.

Sam Saunders' floated set-piece drifted through the whole visiting defence and found Toral at the far post who bundled home to add to Blackpool's misery.

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