In the early stages of the game, Derby had two penalty claims waved away by the referee. The first came after deadline-day recruit Bradley Johnson chipped a ball over the top of the Burnley defence for Andreas Weimann to attempt to latch on to. The Austrian international could not reach Johnson’s pass, claiming he was brought down by Michael Duff. The second was a result of a Scott Carson goal kick inadequately dealt with by Burnley defensive duo Michael Keane and Ben Mee. The ball rolled through into the path of Chris Martin, who was beaten to the ball by Burnley ‘keeper Tom Heaton, who Martin collided with inside the box. Both incidents looked tenuous with minimal contact and if the officials had given Derby a penalty for either it would have been extremely harsh on the visitors.
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| Photo courtesy of Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
There were no clear cut chances for either side in the first half but it was Derby who were applying the pressure and dominating the play. Johnny Russell had his strike from outside the box deflected high, dipping into the grateful arms of Heaton, and a Jacob Butterfield attempt from distance on his home debut also rolled comfortably into the goalkeeper’s grasp. Derby’s passing and positioning was encouraging although they were restricted to shots from distance and had many shots blocked by the steely Burnley backline. Things looked more worrying for Burnley however after star signing Andre Gray was substituted through injury and their dim hopes of finding the net were looking even more unlikely. Rouwen Hennings took his place – a Burnley summer signing who is yet to find the net for the Clarets thus far.
Derby continued to apply pressure, yet still no clear cut chances arrived. A Cyrus Christie cross fell to Andreas Weimann but the forward got the ball tangled in his legs and the shot dribbled well wide. Christie was then involved in a rare Burnley chance up the other end, bravely blocking a Mee cross to concede a corner. The corner was whipped in with power to float over the head of Michael Keane reaching Sam Vokes arriving late from the penalty spot, but his chance was thumped high in the air by former Burnley captain Jason Shackell on the line just before the Burnley man’s boot could reach it. The ball dropped back down however and after a weak Carson punch it fell to George Boyd, who skied his chance due to the awkward angle of the shot.
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| Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
The referee blew his half time whistle to bring the hotly-contested but quality-deficient first half to a close. When the players emerged for the second half, Derby began to step up even further in quality and looked closer and closer to a breakthrough. Jacob Butterfield attempted another venomous long range drive only to see it deflected for a corner. Russell’s bending corner kick found the head of Richard Keogh at the near post, and despite the centre back’s header having all the power it needed, the accuracy was some way off and the attempt flew over the bar. Keogh had a chance at redemption from a corner a little later on after Cyrus Christie’s cross on the right hand side was blocked. This time Keogh connected with all the right power and accuracy at the back post, but his header was bravely cleared off the line by Burnley’s Tendayi Darikwa.
Derby’s pressure still continued and the home side did not show signs of tiring. On the contrary, Derby appear to often let the ball do the work with their passing which allows them to conserve energy and sustain constant pressure on their opposition when they have them on the ropes. Derby had more chances as Craig Forsyth cut inside to find Andreas Weimann, who then held onto the ball to await the arrival of George Thorne. Thorne received the ball and shot on his second touch, but the battling midfielder saw his bending long range effort tipped wide for a corner kick. The corner missed everyone in the box and bounced towards Johnson on the left side and his shot was blocked and cleared away.
Burnley responded with a small spell of their own, sensing the tables ready to be turned as Derby were still unable to find a breakthrough. Rouwen Hennings picked up the ball in midfield and ran at the Derby defence, receiving no challenge to his possession of the ball. The Derby backline did cut off his options though and stayed resolute, leaving him no choice except to switch the play to Michael Kightly, slowing things down. Kightly failed to get the best of Craig Forsyth initially, and the Derby left back cleared the ball away. The clearance fell to Burnley in midfield however and the long ball back towards Kightly was not dealt with by Forsyth, who mistimed a tackle and allowed the former Wolves man in behind the defensive line on the right wing. Kightly’s run led to him squaring the ball to Sam Vokes, but the normally prolific dangerman put his shot over the bar.
The clock still ticked and time was running out for someone to break the deadlock. Derby still looked the more likely and created chance after chance. Substitute Jamie Hanson threaded a pass through to Chris Martin who had come deep to collect the ball. Martin played the ball out to the left to Bradley Johnson who crossed to meet the head of Johnny Russell at the back post, only for Russell to have his low header hooked away by the hand of Tom Heaton and cleared by the defenders. The game stayed 0-0 and in the desperation of the final moments, Chris Martin attempted a 25 yard low drive which Heaton again managed to palm away to safety to keep the scores level until the referee blew his whistle for full time.
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| Twitter; @dcfcofficial |
One of the standout performers in a Derby shirt was Richard Keogh, who recently seems to be flourishing after losing the burden of captaincy. The defender appears to be winning back the fans who so harshly criticised him last season due to him now not being under the pressure of the armband. Not only is Keogh finding it easier being able to just focus on his own performance but the Republic of Ireland international has also been helped by fans only having to focus on his performance. A regular criticism of Keogh was that he can sometimes be a valuable asset in defence, but that he is not ‘captain material’. Fans who are no longer judging his perceived lack of leadership can see that he has always been a good defender leading by example.
Another player who took another step to winning back the fans is right-back Cyrus Christie. Christie suffered towards the end of the last season with a lack of confidence, something he admits openly. Head Coach Paul Clement referred to Christie’s fitness in his post-match interview saying that he was impressed by Christie’s match sharpness. Perhaps this is indicative of some fitness issues going into preseason and the opening weeks of the league season. Christie too talked about feeling “fitter and sharper” in this game and this could perhaps be to say that the defender came back into preseason feeling unfit and out of shape, which would explain his absence from even the bench on some match days thus far in the season. Speculation aside, it was good to see Cyrus Christie with his head up and looking confident above all else. His confidence since the international break could have something to do with his goal for the Republic of Ireland, his first international goal, although he humbly dubbed it a “fluke” when asked about this goal in his post-match interview.
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| Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
All over the pitch, Derby fans saw the most confident looking team they’ve seen all season. The players are clearly buoyed by the previous two results, following up their first win of the season with another important win on Tuesday night against Reading. Although the result of this one only gives Derby one point of the three that they undoubtedly deserved, it is another important result avoiding defeat to one of the league’s top teams, just as Derby did in the games against Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Reading. The league table may be less than relevant as far as standings go this early on, but the table does still read only one loss in eight for the Rams. Derby are playing attacking football, but not losing games due to resolute defending. There are never any guarantees, but that is the blueprint for promotion from the Championship.
