Vydra double sparks Hull demolition
THE showman in Matej Vydra does not need much encouragement to make an appearance when conditions are right. Transferring the trickery to goals, now that is something the £8million striker has not always found so easy. From overhead kick narrowly wide to spectacular free-kick opener, the genie was out of the bottle last night as Derby lit up Pride Park with a shower of goals. Two to Vydra in just over half an hour, a third from Hull old boy Curtis Davies and two by Bradley Johnson had the fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief. And Hull, inept and swept aside, blew the chance to score from the spot. Seb Larsson’s attempt was as ugly and offbeam as the rest of his team’s display. A statistic which might go a little way to explaining Hull’s complete capitulation: They have not won an away League game since their opening fixture last season, a run of 21 games. That is only a partial explanation. After all, the team is new, as is boss Leonid Slutsky, and this is the Championship. Derby started with intent, especially Vydra, who started the ball rolling by steering a free-kick past Allan McGregor. There was a glimmer of hope when Tom Lawrence was judged to have brought down Ola Aina. Cue Larsson’s appalling spot kick. Derby capitalised and David Nugent set up Vydra for the second; then it was the turn of others. Lawrence, making an impressive debut following his transfer from Leicester, pinged over the corner from which Davies headed No 3. By this stage Hull were in such disarray that Vydra might have completed his hat-trick, before Johnson made it four, connecting with Lawrence’s cross from the right and adding a fifth just after half-time.