‘BRILLIANT’ NUGENT AT THE DOUBLE
ONE goal ultimately separated these sides on the scoreboard. On the pitch, though, it was a different story.
David Nugent struck twice inside 21 minutes to give Derby an advantage their dominance over newly-promoted Bolton merited.
And despite Gary Madine’s stoppage-time goal lending an air of respectability to the result, the hosts scarcely laid a glove on their superior visitors.
Phil Parkinson has made Bolton a tough nut to crack, which made the simplicity of Derby’s opening goal all the more startling.
Nugent and Matej Vydra are two clever footballers and both were working off the same page here in the eighth minute, when the latter collected possession in space on the left.
Vydra lifted his head and, spying Nugent ghosting in at the front post, the Czech put the ball on a plate for his fellow forward.
Nugent, channelling the finishing ability that saw him capped by England a decade ago, swept the ball first time beyond Mark Howard and into the far corner.
Equally, Derby didn’t have to employ any real guile to slice through Bolton on 21 minutes, albeit the Rams would point to their ambitious, direct football as deserving of its productive outcome.
Johnny Russell scampered onto Andre Wisdom’s ball down the right and promptly crossed into the middle where Nugent, yards from goal and, inexplicably, completely unmarked, headed into an empty net.
“David is a brilliant all-round player for us,” said Rams boss Gary Rowett, who labelled Derby’s first-half display the best since he took charge in March.
“Both his finishes were great. The first one, he got across the defender and applied a deft touch, then for the second he drifted away from the defenders and sensed where the space was.
“That is what any good striker will do in the box.
“To score two goals the way we did was great, but we should have gone in four or five up.”
Bolton boss Parkinson saw things from a different perspective.
He said: “The goals were soft from our point of view. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb against a good side. If you look at footage of the first goal, and think ‘within five seconds the ball will end up in the back of our net,’ you wouldn’t believe it.
“I was surprised by our start. We switched off in two moments and were punished for it. Our decision making defensively in the first half left us open.”
Vydra twice shot off-target when he had chances to extend Derby’s lead.
And shortly before half-time, cavalier right-back Wisdom slalomed into the box before directing his shot a yard wide of the far post.
The narrative didn’t change after the break, with Derby in complete control. Scott Carson was untroubled, as savvy centreback pair Curtis Davies and Richard Keogh easily mopped up until Madine was teed up by Aaron Wilbraham to roll home at the death, too little, too late.
“I give our lads credit for sticking at it in the second half,” said Parkinson. “But we must stay in games a lot better than we did.”
Rowett added: “Luckily for us their goal wasn’t ten minutes earlier.”
No matter. Derby are on an upwards trajectory. Bolton have plenty to do to avoid an opposite direction of travel.