HONOURS EVEN
DERBY County – and manager Phillip Cocu – needed a lift and received one in the shape of their best display of the season so far in a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest.
The Rams travelled to the City Ground last night having lost five of their six League matches, a poor run of results that left them in the bottom three of the Championship and Cocu under fire.
But plenty of positives came from this performance and should help Derby, if they can be taken into the upcoming games against Cardiff City and Bournemouth.
The point moved Cocu’s team to fourth from bottom and their return of four points from 21 needs urgent
improvement.
Forest, who are one place and one point above the Rams, retained the Brian Clough Trophy and have not lost to Derby in three years.
The one change to the Rams side that lost to Huddersfield Town on Tuesday saw Martyn Waghorn come in for his first start of the season after being sidelined with a calf injury. He replaced Max Bird.
Skipper Wayne Rooney continued his self isolation after unknowingly encountering an individual last week who later tested positive for Covid-19 and missed a second game.
Football played at empty stadiums remains a surreal spectacle and that is certainly felt in fixtures such at this, when the City Ground would have been bouncing as the two teams entered the field.
Instead, there was an eerie quietness, although that did not prevent the tempo from being high as soon as the whistle blew, from Derby especially.
Derby lined up 3-4-3, with Nathan Byrne and Lee Buchanan the wingbacks, although it became a back five when Forest had possession. The industrious Jason Knight and Graeme Shinnie formed the central midfield pairing, eager for work, eager to provide a screen for the defence.
Forest ventured behind the Rams defence in the opening minutes and David Marshall had to be alert to beat out a strike from Lyle Taylor.
It is in attack where Derby have needed more menace, more thrust, and they had it here. Kamil Jozwiak burst into the Forest area and pulled the ball back to Tom Lawrence, who went down under a challenge from Ryan Yates.
There seemed minimal contact, although the Derby shouts for a penalty were anything but minimal. The referee waved away the claims and it looked to be the correct decision.
Knight appeared to have covered every blade of grass in the opening 20 minutes and his energy levels alongside the hard-working Shinnie gave Derby a firm foothold in the contest.
Shinnie was denied by Brice Samba but the keeper could do nothing about Derby going ahead on the half-hour.
Jozwiak’s surge infield led to Knight being brought down. Waghorn and Lawrence stood over the free kick 25 yards out and Waghorn stepped up to curl a stunning effort high beyond Samba and in off the underside of the bar. Rooney would have been proud of that.
Another slick move cut open Forest minutes later and Shinnie had a golden opportunity to double the Rams’ lead but his attempted finish was too close to Samba, who saved. But Cocu’s team had produced its best half of football of the season and they went in at the break one up.
Forest made a change, Anthony Knockaert replacing Lewis Grabban
at the interval. The home side switched system, upped their tempo and levelled after 64 minutes.
The goal came from a corner into the crowded area and the ball broke to Taylor, who pounced to sweep a low finish into the net from inside the six-yard box.
Taylor headed wide minutes later and the introduction of Knockaert, coupled with the equaliser, clearly lifted Forest.
Jozwiak thought he had put Derby back in front with a low strike that beat Samba but the flag was up for offside as Waghorn was judged to have been in Samba’s eyeline.
It looked to be a tough call on Derby and there will be disappointment that they could not find a second goal when on top - that Shinnie chance was a big one - but it is a small step in the right direction.