Derby SOS to Rooney
MUCH more of this and Derby will be fighting relegation before Wayne Rooney pulls on a shirt.
Wazza is primed to make his Rams debut at home to Barnsley on January 2.
And the new year can’t come quickly enough for Rooney to save Derby’s season after a SIXTH successive away defeat – a SIXTH without scoring a goal.
Mark Bowen claimed his Reading side had to work for this win – despite playing against 10-man Derby for 86 minutes.
He said: “Performancewise we had ambition to start the game really fast and I thought we did that.
“The penalty and the sending-off came because of that.
“The natural inclination for players and supporters alike is that you’re 1-0 up, the opposition are down to 10 men and we should be comfortable. But it’s never the case.
“But we finished strong and got the goals – we could have had two or three more.”
There was drama after just four minutes when
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Scott Malone was sent off for fouling Yakou Meite in the area.
It was the perfect opportunity for Charlie Adam to score from the resulting penalty.
Derby’s Tom Lawrence hit the post two minutes later and blasted over after 23 minutes.
Reading keeper Rafael Cabral was forced to save a long-range effort by Jason Knight before he stopped Martyn Waghorn.
The Royals came out stronger in the second half, and increased their lead just before the hour when Lucas Joao struck first time from close range from a low delivery by John Swift.
Derby hit the post again on 66 minutes through
Knight, although Meite converted the second spotkick of the contest late on.
Derby had eight bookings to their name, but manager Phillip Cocu was not complaining.
He said “The bookings I see in a positive way, because it showed how we react together as a team.
“There were moments when there were some provocations after they were two-nil up – they had some tricks. It’s their game.
“If they do it, it shows where we stand and you don’t mess with us.
“The reaction means sometimes you have to stand up and get a booking, just to make sure it’s worth it. I don’t know if they were all yellow cards.”
DERBY