Derby County won an entertaining match at Wolves
Rams expose flaws in first half
PAUL Lambert was handed a terrifying glimpse of the problems awaiting him at Molineux as Wolves were undone by a first-half horror show.
Tom Ince and Darren Bent did the damage but shambolic defending meant the hosts – deservedly jeered off at the break – could easily have shipped five or six.
The only ray of light was a spirited second-half comeback that saw goals from Helder Costa and Dave Edwards – either side of a disputed Ince penalty – turn one-way traffic into an end-to-end thriller. By then, though, the damage was done.
Stand-in boss Rob Edwards said he was “proud” of his side’s resilience but for Lambert, watching the game on TV ahead of his official unveiling, the priority must be stiffening a rearguard that, at times, wouldn’t have looked out of place in a big top.
“We basically played in our half too much,” said Edwards. “We didn’t build any momentum and we got punished because they’ve got quality players.
“Obviously there’s a lot to work on. I think the new manager has seen in that second half that there’s a really good group of players here. There’s a big squad, a lot of quality. The thing we need now is consistency. If we can put that
second-half performance together for 90-odd minutes then we’ll get results.”
If they repeat the first 45, they certainly won’t. Composure, shape, the basic fundaments of defending – all were absent as Derby created chance after chance.
The opener was a case in point. Johnny Russell was allowed to cross, Will Hughes – all 5ft 8ins of him – allowed a free header then, when Andy Lonergan saved, there wasn’t a Wolves shirt in sight as Ince lashed home.
Bent then gave Hughes’ beautiful scooped through-ball the finish it deserved, smashing a sumptuous volley beyond the helpless Lonergan.
“Will’s an attacking midfield player,” said McClaren of his 21year-old starlet, whose meteoric progress has been stalled by a combination of injury and poor form. “And if he’s playing that role, we need goals and assists. It’s nice all that stuff in the middle of the park, but it’s what you do at the business end that counts. He’s produced here.”
Listing Derby’s subsequent chances is pointless, so regularly were they created and spurned. Only Lonergan kept them out, his best effort a fulllength leap to tip Jacob Butterfield’s strike onto the post.
Edwards said he was “firm” at half-time. “I said we had to believe in ourselves,” he added. “I said that somewhere in the country today, somebody will come back from 2-0 down – let’s try and make that us.”
Remarkably, they nearly did. George Saville, on for the hopeless Joao Teixeira in the first half, added bite in midfield. Nouha Dicko injected pace.
Costa, one of the only Wolves players to emerge from the first half with credit, got the first, placing Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s knockdown past Scott Carson.
The game then hinged on two penalties – one given, one not. First, Ince tumbled under a brush from Ivan Cavaleiro, getting up to net his second from the spot. Then, just seconds later, the roles of the two players were reversed, only for referee Paul Tierney to wave play on.
Edwards subsequently bundled home Cavaleiro’s cross to ensure an improbably nervous finish that left McClaren simultaneously frustrated and optimistic.
“The first half, that’s the kind of football we want to see,” said McClaren. “That’s the level. Playing on the front foot. Being aggressive. We had energy, we created chances – it had everything apart from that third goal.
“It was unbelievable and I regretted not getting it. I said at half-time that 2-0 was a dangerous scoreline and that’s exactly how it proved. We should have put them to bed.”