THE BIG SUNDAY INTERVIEW
MIDDLESBROUGH’S Riverside drought is over – even though they did not manage a single shot on target in a game they should have lost.
But 354 minutes since they last found the net, Boro were rescued by a freak own goal when Jayden Bogle shinned the ball past Scott Carson in attempting to clear an Aden Flint header.
It was harsh on Derby who, according to manager Frank Lampard, performed even better than in their 4-1 midweek win at West Brom.
“That opening half-hour was the best we’ve played this season,” said Lampard.
“We played outstandingly well and should have won the game in the first half.
“But being just 1-0 up at Boro is dangerous because they go even more direct.
“It was a freak goal. Jayden is a bit down about it, but it was no reflection on him.”
It’s stretching it to label the Rams the Manchester City of the Championship.
But they bossed Boro for starters in a manner reminiscent of Pep Guardiola’s side.
In the opening 30 minutes, Derby boasted 80 per cent possession and had 10 attempts on goal.
And even those stats do not do justice to their superiority early on.
The 19th-minute goal may have been scruffy but their football most certainly was not with loan kids Mason Mount and Harry Wilson their shining lights. Derby’s pressing game forced Stewart Downing into an uncharacteristic mistake and when Scott Malone whipped in a cross, George Friend, under pressure from Martyn Waghorn, bundled the ball into his own net. Two minutes later, Boro’s goal led a charmed life. A Tom Lawrence shot was well saved by Darren Randolph who recovered quickly to keep out Jack Marriott’s follow-up with his legs.
Then Wilson’s curler struck the woodwork before deflecting off Randolph’s back for a corner.
The second half saw Derby sub David Nugent miss a sitter, shooting straight at Randolph.
He was made to pay nine minutes later with that bizarre own goal.
“We ground out a point,” admitted Pulis. “We started really poorly and were on the back foot.
“Randolph kept us in the game but in the second half, the lads gave it a real go.” P W D L 429 147 90 F A Win %
And although Ranieri believed Lampard had the potential to “change the face” of his Chelsea team, little did he know that he would in fact stamp his mark on the entire history of the club.
Lampard makes an emotional return to Stamford Bridge for the first time this week, as a manager with Championship Derby in the EFL Cup.
It will be the homecoming of an all-time Blues legend after Lampard became one of the club’s best-ever players during his glittering and recordbreaking 13-year career. Lamps joined Chelsea from West Ham for £11million as a promising young midfielder in 2001 and left as an icon in 2014.
Former Blues boss Ranieri revealed: “I remember (chief executive) Colin Hutchison told me, ‘We have the opportunity to buy Frank, do you like Frank?’
“I said, ‘Yes, I like Frank. Fantastic. But is it possible to buy Carrick also’, to make the same central midfield they had at West Ham?
“He said, ‘No, no it is not possible’. I think we didn’t have the money to buy both together.”
Though one got away Ranieri was more than satisfied with the