Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MY AIM IS TROO
Rams team-mate Curtis still marvels at Wayne: If I was going to back anyone to score it would still be HIM
WAYNE ROONEY arrived at Derby at the start of this year with nothing to prove, on the field at least.
But that did not stop the Rams player-coach, who turns 35 later this month, from continuing to hone the skills that made him a global icon.
Fellow veteran Curtis Davies confirmed that happens on a daily basis on the training ground. And that was why, in the 87th minute, he just knew Rooney would convert a free-kick from 22 yards and earn Derby their first win of the season.
Defender Davies said: “Tim Krul wouldn’t have had a chance even if he went the right way. That’s the level of quality he brings.
“I’m not saying he’s out there til three o’clock in the afternoon doing 100 free-kicks. But after training if someone is doing them, he’ ll be helping them and at the same time doing them himself.
“I know it’s only a mannequin wall but I’d say more hit the top corner than go wide – put it that way. That’s why if I wanted to put my money on anyone to score that, it was going to be Wayne.”
Rooney’s flawless technique was painful to watch for the game’s other international striker however.
Norwich frontman Teemu Pukki duffed a penalty early in the second half that would have changed the narrative significantly.
The Finn slipped at th e vital moment (below) and saw the ball scoot up and over via the top of the bar.
Derby defender George Evans breathed a huge sigh of relief having handled Onel Hernandez’s shot but there was no such reprieve for Lukas Rupp when he hacked Jason Knight down later on for the fateful free-kick.
Norwich defender Ben Gibson backed Pukki to bounce back. He said: “Teemu Pukki is absolutely clinical at this level, he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. I know he’ll be frustrated but he’s a top-drawer player. He missed, but he’ll score the next one.”
Derby also had keeper David Marshall to thank for two quality second-half saves, first to bat away Max Aarons’ volley at 0-0 and then to parry a header from sub Jordan Hugill in stoppage time.
The game may have ended in a defeat but it was a personal milestone for Gibson because it was his first league start since December 2018. The centre-back, i n for Everton-bound Ben Godfrey, scored in his one and only Premier League appearance for Burnley in a 5-1 loss, but added just a single cup appearance after that.
He said: “I came here to play football, to be successful and be part of a club that’s growing and heading in the right direction.”
Krul 7, Aarons 7, Zimmermann 7, Gibson 7, Quintilla 6, Rupp 6, Skipp 6, Buendia 6 (Hugill 84), Stiepermann 6 (Vrancic 69, 6), Hernandez 6 (Idah 57, 5),
Pukki 5
Marshall 8, Byrne 7, Evans 6, Davies 7, Clarke 7, Buchanan 7, Holmes 6 (Whittaker 63, 6), Knight 7, Shinnie 7, Jozwiak 6 (Bird 80), Rooney 7 (Marriott 90)