Hudd ends his 15-year wait to ram home goal
TOM HUDDLESTONE ended a long wait for his first Derby goal as 10-man Brentford were beaten 3-0 at Pride Park.
The midfielder, who made his Rams debut in 2003 and is in his second spell with the club, scored at the 125th attempt nine minutes after Sergi Canos was sent off for a tackle on Marcus Olsson.
Huddlestone then supplied the pass that led to Cameron Jerome scoring his first goal since a £1.5million move from Norwich last month.
Matej Vydra’s late penalty sealed a victory that keeps Derby second in the table.
Midfielder Canos was shown a straight red card by Peter Bankes in the 21st minute for a challenge which left Olsson needing treatment and led to Derby scoring two goals in four minutes.
A header from Curtis Davies was pushed out by Daniel Bentley and Huddlestone turned the rebound in from inside the six-yard box.
Then Huddlestone found Tom Lawrence and, although Bentley blocked his shot, Jerome easily put away the loose ball.
Vydra made it three from the spot in stoppage time after Sam Winnall had been tripped by Andreas Bjelland.
Brentford boss Dean Smith accused Derby’s players of helping to get Canos sent off.
He said: “Unfortunately the scoreline is reflective of the referee’s decision which, for me, was very harsh.
“I think the reason he is sent off was because of the reaction of the Derby players. They run around the referee, if you watch it back four or five go straight round him which makes his mind up.
“Sergi wins the ball cleanly, maybe the follow-through catches Olsson but the lad jumps, gets out of the way.
“The referee said it was excessive force but there’s certainly nothing malicious in that tackle.”
Derby boss Gary Rowett said: “It didn’t look like a blatant sending-off, it looked like a dangerous tackle.
“My players surrounded the ref? I think that’s a cop-out, you can’t blame players for surrounding the referee.
“You can blame a player for going in recklessly, you can blame a referee if you don’t think it’s the right decision.”
AARON RAMSEY was the uninvited guest who became star of the party yesterday.
Arsenal fans spilled in ready to drool over PierreEmerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil putting pen to a £350,000-a-week contract.
They were not disappointed, all looked five-star assets, with Mkhitaryan showing what his old club Manchester United missed with three assists.
Aubameyang scored in the 37th minute and Ozil glided across the rain-slicked pitch as if skating on ice.
But it was unsung hat-trick hero Welshman Ramsey, a player whose career has been blighted by injury, who stole the show.
He scored twice as Arsenal netted three in 13 minutes and kept Everton boss Sam Allardyce waiting for his first win at Arsenal in 39 league games.
We expected wham, bang Aubameyang and he joined the goalfest – but it was Ramsey who lit the fires.
Arsenal laid out a juicy welcoming mat for their two high-priced signings by scoring four before the break.
It forced Everton to rewrite their script because they arrived with the purpose of defending and hoping to sneak a goal on the break.
Allardyce, frantic on the touchline, claimed when he arrived it was about clean sheets but they have conceded 15 goals in six games since their last one and have now been hit for five twice by Arsenal this season. Two new boys and one with a new golden contract all combined to put Arsenal into a sixth-minute lead.
Ozil and Aubameyang, a £56million capture, set up Mkhitaryan – a mere £35million arrival – to supply the cross for Ramsey to open the scoring.
Then Mkhitaryan rattled the advertising boards with a fierce 25-yard shot two minutes later.
Arsenal made it two in the 14th minute as Shkodran Mustafi flicked on Ozil’s corner and Laurent Koscielny dipped to head the ball in.
Ramsey got his second in the 19th minute when fed by Ozil, his rocket shot bouncing off the back of Everton debutant Eliaquim Mangala and into the net from 20 yards.
Theo Walcott showed his pace and skill by breaking clear of Arsenal’s pedestrian defence but was denied by a late, brave 27th-minute tackle from Mustafi.
Auba, as he is now dubbed by Arsenal fans, raced from the halfway line to shoot, only to be denied by Jordan Pickford. But there was no stopping the ex-Borussia Dortmund ace when Mkhitaryan threaded a wonderful pass for Auba, looking suspiciously offside, to bring the house down with his first goal.
Everton became the miracle cure for his mysterious ‘fever’ that threatened to rule him out of his debut.
Mustafi headed onto Everton’s bar and you felt sorry for Walcott on his comeback at a club he never let down and it was a shock when was he was hooked.
Everton, who could not get much worse, staged a rally in the second half with Oumar Niasse hitting a post within six minutes of the restart.
Arsenal keeper Petr Cech, who has not had the best of recent times, limped off injured in the 70th minute.
Then Dominic Calvert-Lewis, who had come on for Walcott, outjumped fellow-sub Sead Kolasinac to head in Cuco Martina’s 64th-minute cross as Arsenal took their foot off the pedal.
Ramsey ensured order with the Gunners’ fifth and his third in the 74th minute when Mkhitaryan supplied his third assist.
All this on a day when Everton loan star Ademola Lookman scored the only goal on his debut as Red Bull Leipzig won 1-0 at Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
Arsenal are now unbeaten at home against Everton in all competitions since a 2-1 Premier League defeat in January 1996 under Bruce Rioch.