Rams make hard work of it but grind out a precious win
FOUR wins in their last six matches and a sequence of only two defeats in 11 League games shows this new Derby County team under Frank Lampard are adapting to the Championship.
Further evidence has been seen in the way the Rams have earned their recent victories.
They conceded early but recovered to beat Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday and they controlled their clash with Swansea City for long periods before surviving a nervy ending.
At the DW Stadium on Saturday, Derby showed two sides to their game in beating Wigan Athletic 1-0; impressive with their football in the first half, fiercely determined to hold on to their slender lead in the second.
They will need to be better with the ball than they were in the second half, of course.
They were up against 10 men following the dismissal of Wigan defender Kal Naismith in the 15th minute but anybody arriving at the game late would not have known, given the shape of the second 45 minutes.
But it is not always possible for games to go as you would like and so it is important at such times to come away with a point or three.
There were other examples of this at the weekend as leaders Norwich City needed a 93rd-minute winner at home to Bolton Wanderers, while two late goals gave Sheffield United victory over strugglers Reading. Blades manager Chris Wilder said afterwards: “The second half was great but the first half, not so.”
Leeds United, who are second, had to scrap out a 2-1 home win against Queens Park Rangers and boss Marcelo Bielsa’s quote sums up how matches can go. “At the end of the game we didn’t have any other option than to adapt to the kind of game that the opponent proposed,” he said.
The variety of qualities and characteristics displayed by Derby in their last four wins encapsulate what is needed to challenge at the right end of the table in a division as demanding physically and mentally as the Championship.
Derby are in there challenging and they are in there on merit.
There is plenty of hard work ahead for all of the teams in the top six because each week throws up a new test of credentials, a new and often different hurdle to overcome.
Wigan tested Derby on a cold, wet and windy afternoon.
Only the top two, Norwich and Leeds, have a better home record than the Latics, who started brightly before being reduced to 10 men when Naismith was sent off for denying Harry Wilson what would have been a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
Derby took the lead six minutes later when Jack Marriott, back after injury, reacted sharply to send a clever header from Jayden Bogle’s cross wide of Christian Walton.
The striker now has eight goals for the season, seven have come in his last 10 appearances, and the Rams had Wigan just where they wanted them.
“Derby were magnificent then for 10-15-20 minutes, when they cut us open at will, and on another day could have scored more goals,” said Wigan boss Paul Cook.
There were openings to score a second and third. Craig Bryson had a shot blocked and Wilson saw his effort cleared off the line before Mason Mount was denied by Walton.
Derby should have put the game to bed before half-time. Not doing so left the door ajar for Wigan.
Cook realised he had to tinker with the shape of his team and change the personnel. He made two substitutions after half an hour and then his words/instructions at halftime rallied his players.
Their response, coupled with Derby being unable to repeat the quality of their first-half play, encouraged the home fans.
Derby failed to keep the ball for long enough or pass it well enough in the second half and Wigan were the better side, although they never
seriously troubled Scott Carson.
They deserve credit for their spirit but Derby deserve equal praise for the manner in which they dug in.
Their determination kept Wigan at arm’s length and the burning question as the minutes ticked down was could the Rams finally end a wait of almost three months and record a clean sheet?
Their last had been in a goalless draw against Blackburn Rovers in mid-September. Opportunities to shut out opponents had come and gone, most notably against Swansea City in the previous game, but this time Derby saw it through.
Skipper Richard Keogh and his partner at centre back, Fikayo Tomori, led the way but Derby had talked in the build-up to the game about defending as a collective and they delivered to grind out the win. Defending from front to back is how clean sheets are secured. There are no short-cuts. Solid defending remains a part of the game, thankfully, and should be applauded.
Derby stood up physically and mentally, because it was a feisty affair at times.
The early red card for Naismith left Wigan’s players and fans feeling aggrieved, although there can be few complaints with referee Gavin Ward’s decision, as Wilson had the goal in his sights.
What unravelled should act as something of a learning curve for Wilson as the 21-year-old, on loan from Liverpool, became the focus of attention.
He and Sam Morsy received yellow cards for an altercation after Wilson was on the end of a rough challenge by the Wigan skipper. The two went head-to-head, with Morsy claiming contact from Wilson.
Wilson’s every touch was then booed by home fans and they were not happy when the Welsh international went down in the area as Dan Burn was about to challenge.
Wilson was up quickly and did not claim a penalty but Wigan players surrounded the referee, wanting him to show the Derby man a second yellow card for diving. The referee’s cards remained in his pocket and Wilson was replaced by Florian Jozefzoon a few minutes later.
Derby made hard work of beating Wigan’s 10 men and in turn they put themselves under pressure but such gritty displays and hard-earned wins can bring greater satisfaction and do wonders for the togetherness within a team/squad.