Lampard furious with referee as fierce rivals draw a blank
Frank Lampard accused referee Keith Stroud of missing “an absolute penalty” as his first experience of the East Midlands derby ended in a stalemate.
Derby extended their unbeaten run against the old enemy to six games but Lampard was frustrated after his promotion chasers were denied a spot-kick in the first half.
Tendayi Darikwa appeared to foul Tom Lawrence in the Forest area after 20 minutes but Stroud infuriated Lampard by refusing to award a penalty.
Joe Lolley, the Forest midfielder, struck the crossbar late on, while Derby’s Harry Wilson forced a superb save from Costel Pantilimon, yet it was a bitter, local argument of few chances.
And Lampard was left to reflect on the pivotal moment which he insisted cost his side two points.
“The referee is on his own thinking that wasn’t a penalty. It was an absolute penalty. [It was] a gamechanger because although it was a fair result in general play, that’s a goal to win us the game,” he said.
“Everybody knew. The other officials knew. The Forest bench knew. I’d be saying the same if it was the other way, ‘We got away with one there’. It’s not a grey area, it’s not a VAR decision. I wouldn’t even refer that to VAR. It’s difficult to take.”
This was the 93rd meeting between the clubs that Brian Clough built in the 1970s, but there was none of the drama to match Forest’s previous Midlands derby, a 5-5 draw with Aston Villa last month.
It is an encounter that has even been branded the “Dysfunctional Derby” in recent years, due to tur- bulence on and off the field. Yet both clubs now appear destined to be in the race for promotion this season and this result lifted Derby into fourth place, while Forest are just outside the play-off places.
After the moment which angered Lampard, Stroud also frustrated Forest by showing only a yellow card to Jayden Bogle for leading with his arm into Ben Osborn.
Relations became increasingly fractious in the second half: Fikayo Tomori almost caught Joao Carvalho with a two-footed lunge in the second half, while Osborn was booked for a crude foul on Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson.
Lolley nearly provided the breakthrough in the 66th minute, forcing a save from Scott Carson, while Pantilimon produced an even better save 14 minutes from time, diving to his right to push away a fine volley from Wilson.
Lolley then struck the top of the crossbar in the 82nd minute, but there was to be no late winner.
Aitor Karanka, the Forest manager, said: “To compete against Derby at this pace in their stadium is good for our improvement and our confidence in the future.
“I wanted our crowd to go home proud, especially after the last few years of coming here, and they are doing that.”
Derby County (4-3-3) Carson; Bogle, Keogh, Tomori, Malone; Bryson, Huddlestone, Mount (Holmes 85); Wilson, Marriott, Lawrence (Nugent 74). Subs Roos (g), Wisdom, Evans, Pearce, Jozefzoon.
Booked Bryson, Bogle, Huddlestone.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1) Pantilimon; Darikwa, Hefele, Robinson, Janko; Yacob, Colback; Lolley (Cash 90), Carvalho, Osborn; Grabban (Murphy 83). Subs Steele (g), Guedioura, Watson, Dias, Ansarifard. Booked Hefele, Osborn, Colback.
Referee Keith Stroud (Hampshire).