Rovers were able to seal back-to-back victories and return to winning ways on the road after a fantastic first-half brace from Chile’s Ben Brereton Díaz saw Rovers hold onto their second away triumph of the season, despite a late scare.
After Rovers got back on track with their 2-0 victory over Reading last Saturday, Tony Mowbray was forced into two changes for the game at Pride Park. Ryan Nyambe and former Ram, Daniel Ayala were both ruled out for the game with injuries, which saw another former Derby player in Bradley Johnson come into the side, alongside Jan Paul van Hecke. The Dutchman filled in for Ayala alongside the skipper, Darragh Lenihan, who were flanked by John Buckley at right-back and Tayo Edun at left-back, who was still filling in for the injured Harry Pickering. Bradley Johnson, meanwhile, took Buckley’s vacated midfield spot alongside Joe Rothwell and Lewis Travis. There was some good news for Rovers in amidst all of the injury issues, as this game marked the return of Joe Rankin-Costello to a first-team matchday squad, for the first time since his injury in April 2021.
Following a minute’s silence taking place to mark Remembrance Day, given this was Derby’s closest home fixture to 11th November, referee Steve Martin soon signalled for Rovers to take the kick-off as the visitors were looking to be the first team to beat Derby County at Pride Park, this season.
Rovers started brightly inside the first 60 seconds as they made a break down the left through Tayo Edun who fed in an inviting cross for Sam Gallagher to try and connect with, but the forward failed to steer his attempt goalwards, as his effort rippled the side-netting.
The visitors continued to pile on the pressure in the opening exchanges and managed to make it count in the 7th minute when Ben Brereton Díaz grabbed his 11th goal of the season. A fantastic low cross from John Buckley, who despite playing at right-back, was given license to break forward, saw him deliver a peach of a ball towards the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ as neither Phil Jagielka nor Curtis Davies could clear. The Chilean connected with the ball at the far-post with an improvised touch, which saw Roos stop the ball on the line, before Brereton Díaz followed the ball up to bundle it over the line. With all eyes turned towards the official, Mr. Martin confirmed the effort had crossed the line courtesy of goal-line technology, as the former Nottingham Forest forward wheeled away in celebration of opening Rovers’ account for the afternoon.
Rovers’ dominance in the first-half didn’t stop there, as six minutes after the goal, Rovers thought they’d grabbed a second through on-loan Brighton and Hove Albion defender, Jan Paul van Hecke. The Dutchman rose highest to meet Joe Rothwell’s corner, but the defender – who should have opened his Rovers account last week – saw his effort crash off the post.
Following a rather quiet seven-minute spell, Rovers ramped up the pressure once again and managed to force a second goal on the 20th minute as Ben Brereton Díaz grabbed his 12th of the season, which was also his second of the game. John Buckley once again played a pivotal part in the goal as he broke inside from right-back and fed Sam Gallagher. The forward played a quick through-ball into the path of Tyrhys Dolan, before continuing his run forward, however the pass Dolan slipped through Craig Forsyth and Curtis Davies saw Brereton Díaz latch on, as the forward’s first touch saw him eliminate his marker in Jagielka, before sliding the ball past the on-rushing Roos towards the near-post, as the Chilean again wheeled away in celebration of making it 2-0 to Rovers.
Four minutes later, Ben Brereton Díaz nearly secured the match ball for the second time this season. Some good interplay between Lewis Travis and Sam Gallagher saw them craft a chance for Ben Brereton Díaz, yet the forward lacked the composure to grab his second career treble as Roos produced a save from close-range.
The first booking of the game appeared in the 29th minute as Graeme Shinnie went in hard on Sam Gallagher.
More solid exchanges by Rovers saw Ben Brereton Díaz nearly turn provider for Sam Gallagher, as the attackers linked up. The former picked the ball up on the left and delivered a wonderfully inviting cross towards the far-post which probably bounced at the wrong time for Gallagher as he was stretching prior to making contact with the ball, which soon hit his knee before spinning wide.
Derby finally got into the game by the 40th minute as they tried to hit Rovers on the counter-attack but were denied by a fine save by Thomas Kaminski from an effort by former Manchester United wonderkid, Ravel Morrison.
As half-time approached, referee Steve Martin called for one minute of time to be allocated onto the end of the first period.
That extra minute proved crucial as Rovers nearly extended their lead to three at the break. Ex-Ram Bradley Johnson lined up an effort from just inside the area which troubled Roos, as he denied the midfielder’s effort which was deflected en-route to goal, with his legs. The follow-up was picked up by an off-balance Dolan who, unfortunately for Rovers, couldn’t poke home the third.
That chance proved to be the last of the half, as referee Steve Martin soon called time on a period which Rovers should have had double or triple the number of goals they ended with, as was the openness of Derby County’s defensive efforts.
At the break, Wayne Rooney would have been furious with how his side had failed to defend, given how well their record at home had been prior to this tie. Before the arrival of Rovers, the Rams had only conceded five goals at Pride Park, which was the joint-second lowest home goals conceded alongside Fulham and Stoke City. The former Manchester United forward would have been calling upon his team to tighten up at the back and look towards providing more of a cutting edge to a game which had only seen them tally up one shot all half.
Tony Mowbray would have had mixed feelings in the away dressing room, despite the fact his side were ahead by two. The gaffer would have been pleased how his side had gotten ahead, but he would have been disappointed that it was only by the two-goal margin and that they were sat in the dressing room with half-a-dozen on the scoreline, given the quality of the chances they had crafted. The boss would have been cautiously reminding his side of their recent defensive frailties when they’d previously been ahead by a two-goal cushion but would have been quick to encourage them to seek the third goal.
Just before play was restarted, Wayne Rooney made a double change at the break in the hope of adding an attacking impetus to his side. Former Rover, Colin Kazim-Richards was introduced alongside Sam Baldock, both of whom replaced Louie Sibley and Kamil Jóźwiak.
When the players returned to the pitch, Derby restarted the game in the hope that their changes could help them avoid their first defeat in six, which came away at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United towards the end of September.
In the 50th minute, another former Rover, Tom Lawrence saw yellow after fouling Darragh Lenihan on halfway.
Derby were already showing more of an attacking threat in early stages of the second-half, than they did in the whole first period, as they tested Thomas Kaminski in the 57th minute. The Belgian was forced to pull off a fine stop from a Ravel Morrison free-kick, as the Belgian produced a fine reflex save, to deny the Jamaican international from fizzing the ball into the corner nearest to Kaminski. The resultant corner saw Phil Jagielka nod over the bar, much to the agony of the home fans.
On the hour mark, Darragh Lenihan repaid the favour to Lawrence after the Irishman brought down the Welshman and received a booking for his troubles. The free-kick which resulted from the foul saw Max Bird try his luck, but he couldn’t keep the ball from ballooning over the bar.
The 75th minute saw Tom Lawrence try his luck from range, but he failed to hit the target as the ball drifted wide. From the stoppage, movement on both benches occurred, as Rovers introduced Reda Khadra for Tyrhys Dolan, whilst Derby’s final change saw Festy Ebosele come on for Graeme Shinnie.
10 minutes after his introduction, Ebosele tried to bring the game to life by attempting a Rothwell-esque run through the Rovers defence but was stopped in his tracks by John Buckley who was also on the receiving end of a yellow card.
The 86th minute saw Rovers’ second change of the day. Sam Gallagher was given a rapturous reception by the away fans as Ian Poveda came on to replace him, for the final moments.
Khadra managed to get himself involved in the play in the 88th minute, but for the wrong reasons, as he became the second Rovers player to bring down Ebosele and receive a yellow card for it.
Things got a bit nervy for Rovers in the 89th minute, as Curtis Davies managed to pull one back for the home side with a fine strike. Derby were awarded a free-kick near to the byline on the right-hand side and Max Bird clipped the ball into the mixer. A flick saw the ball diverted towards Davies who did brilliantly to sneak away from Lenihan before finding the top right-hand corner with a hooked finish, as the arrears were reduced to 2-1.
Ian Poveda soon became the fourth Rover to be booked, as the on-loan Leeds United attacker was cautioned for time-wasting.
As the 90th minute ticked over, Steve Martin added on five extra minutes onto the end of the tie, as Derby pushed for a late equaliser.
The 92nd minute saw Rovers again receive a booking as Lewis Travis hauled down Morrison on halfway. Derby worked the free-kick well, as Lawrence floated the ball into the box before it fell for Kazim-Richards after being flicked on by a teammate. The Turkish international saw the ball land to his feet amongst the flying bodies and managed to get enough on it to direct a left-footed effort at goal, which trickled towards the net. Luckily for Rovers, although Kaminski was beaten the left-hand post came to Rovers’ rescue, as Derby were awarded a corner.
94 minutes appeared on the clock as Derby looked to salvage something from the corner. The goalscorer Davies won the header and managed to divert it towards Kazim-Richards who again got the better of Kaminski with an effort, but lacked the accuracy required to draw Derby level late on, as he fired wide against his former club.
Colin Kazim-Richards’ miss proved to be the game’s final act, as the curtain came down on a tense game, soon after the goal-kick was taken, with Rovers delighted that they could hold onto the points and pick up a valued second away win of the campaign.
Although Rovers couldn’t keep their second clean sheet on the bounce, which would have been their third of the season, they managed to banish some of the spooks of letting leads slip on Halloween weekend. They did, however, earn the tag of being the first side to beat Derby County at Pride Park in 2021-22, which despite their rather unjust league position, is no mean feat to ignore. Tony Mowbray’s should also be praised for the manner in which they created both goals and dominated the first period, particularly given the absence of key defensive figures such as Daniel Ayala, Ryan Nyambe and Harry Pickering. Ben Brereton Díaz once again showed his class by grabbing his 12th goal of the campaign, and as he creeps ever closer towards the 20-goal mark, the bookies began to sweat a little more fervently.
After such a positive result, Rovers now find themselves back on the cusp of the playoff picture after 15 games. Mowbray’s side sit 7th with 23 points and a positive goal-difference of +7, which will no doubt breed confidence throughout the group.
Rovers’ next three games sees them slug it out with two relegated sides in an Ewood Park double bill before embarking on a long away trip down south. Next up for Rovers is promotion-chasing Fulham, who come to Ewood Park on Wednesday 3rd November. The game, which pits the Championship’s top two scorers in Aleksandar Mitrović who has 18 goals and our own Chilean, Ben Brereton Díaz, who has 12, is live on Sky Sports, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm. Following that clash, a sold-out away end arrives at Ewood Park, as Sheffield United roll into town for their 3pm clash with Rovers on Saturday 6th November. Once the greasy chip butty connoisseurs slide out of town, Rovers hop back on the bus and make the 396.2 mile round trip to Ashton Gate, to face Bristol City, who finally picked up a home win on Saturday through their 2-1 victory over Barnsley, which was their first home triumph since January 2021 – 17 home games ago.
