Friday had been a day where England showed some fight, led by captain Joe Root - who had earlier set a new England record for most test runs in a calendar year, surpassing the previous best set by Ashes great Michael Vaughan (1481 runs) in 2002 - but his innings soon turned to misery when dismissed early on Saturday.
The pressure was on the Australian attack to make sure England didn't force its way back into the contest — and captain Pat Cummins would have been ecstatic at what he saw.
The only blemish was that part of the action unfolded unseen when the international TV broadcast feed went down as a result of a power failure to the broadcast area at the Gabba.
Lyon earlier walked off the Gabba a new man without the weight of his 400th test scalp weighing him down. Lyon picked up four wickets, including the key dismissals of Dawid Malan and Ollie Pope.
He had 4-22 on day four after an ugly day three where he finished with the figures of 0-69 from 24 overs.
Cameron Green also had his finest day with the ball in hand, taking two key wickets, including the prized scalp of Ben Stokes.
He finished with 2-23, while Cummins returned 2-51 as the best of the Aussie bowlers.
England briefly stabilised with a 32-run partnership between Stokes and Jos Buttler when they arrived at the crease with the scorecard at 234-5.
However, the tourists were in collapse again just a few minutes later with both batters sent packing.
Lyon had two wickets in his first spell of the day, as Australia captured 3-11 in 25 balls to leave England reeling at 234-5.
England were in real trouble when Root became the second batter to fall early on day four. Root was beaten by a good line and length ball from Green that swung away late after landing a fraction outside off stump.
Root was tempted to push at the delivery, but only managed to send an outside edge through to keeper Carey.
Root fell for 89, meaning he is still yet to record a test century in Australia.
