CZECH MATEJ! RAMS STAR SINKS BORO
Vydra’s treble is joy for Rowett
MATEJ Vydra was at his breath-taking best as his hat-trick sunk promotion rivals Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.
Vydra showed his undoubted class as his tenth, 11th and 12th goals in just 13 starts this season had Garry Monk’s tenman Boro on the rack.
Gary Rowett’s side leapfrogged their hosts in the table, lifting themselves back into the coveted play-off spots.
And a delighted Rowett hailed Vydra’s heroics.
He said: “That was a fantastic performance from Matej.
“He’s got the composure you need to make a difference at this level. He’s shown again just what a terrific player he is.”
Rowett also saluted a successful collective effort from his team.
The Rams boss added: “As a team, particularly in the second half, we were excellent.
“We managed the game really well, and that was against a Middlesbrough side who are strong here and are also up there in the table on merit.
“I still think there’s more to come from us, though.
“Despite a performance and a result like this, I think we can play better.”
A clinical strike from Vydra divided the two sides at the interval.
The goal came after 13 minutes, with the Czech Republic ace expertly curling home from the edge of the box to leave the home fans stunned.
Boro dominated large parts of the opening 45 minutes, with Britt Assombalonga forcing Scott Carson into a brilliant close-range stop early on.
After the goal the hosts pressed for a leveller, with midfielder Adam Clayton lashing over from a promising position when he really ought to have hit the target.
Assombalonga nodded wide as he darted in to meet a smart cross from Stewart Downing.
But it wasn’t long after the restart before the Rams had created clear daylight between them and Boro.
Vydra made it 2-0 after 47 minutes, hopping off the deck after being upended by Ben Gibson to slot home confidently from the penalty spot.
Boro’s cause was further hindered on the hour mark when Daniel Ayala was ordered off after being shown a second yellow card following a foul on David Nugent.
And just three minutes later it was three.
This time Vydra was alert enough to pounce on a poor clearance from Darren Randolph as the Czech hero went on to slot home his hat-trick goal in style.
Boro were down and out with more than 20 minutes still to play, and the scoreline could have had an uglier look if it hadn’t been for Randolph.
He saved brilliantly twice in the closing stages, first from Andreas Weimann and then as Tom Lawrence darted through for a one-on-one opportunity.
Boro boss Monk was bitterly disappointed as his side had won four of their previous five Championship games and were confident before kick-off.
Monk groaned: “The second half performance in particular was horrible.
“There were far too many individual mistakes.
“I think the right term is that we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.We played some good football in the first half, but the difference has been that Derby were ruthless and clinical.
“Mistakes have cost us goals and ultimately cost us points.”