Carling Cup - Derby stun United in semi-final

Eurosport - Thu, 08 Jan 09:20:00 2009

An inspired Derby County defeated Manchester United 1-0 in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg at Pride Park.

FOOTBALL; Derby County's Steve Davies (L) gets above Manchester United's Anderson, Jan 2009 - 0

Kris Commons"s 30th-minute strike clinched victory for the Rams after United's defenders backed off the midfielder, who punished their retreat with a fierce drive past Tomasz Kuszczak.

United looked devoid of ideas in attack and, despite the second half introduction of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Carrick, were unable to cancel their arrears, against a dogged and tenacious Derby rearguard.

The cameras were all trained on manager-in-waiting, Nigel Clough, as the new boss was introduced to the home fans, who responded in buoyant fashion with the feeling clearly infectious as the Derby players began the game brightly.

Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a young side, mostly of players of 21 years or under, and the changes caused a number of uncharacteristic unforced errors from United's defence.

The first glimpse of indecision saw Jonny Evans and John O'Shea contrive to make unconvincing clearances in their box, prompting desperate blocks from first Kuszczak, then Nemanja Vidic at the feet of Derby striker Steve Davies's feet.

But 21-year-old Evans atoned for his lack of conviction moments later, scampering back to the United goal-line to clear Mile Sterjovski's shot away, with his keeper stranded, following a Kris Commons corner.

United enjoyed the majority of possession, but could not convert their territorial domination into anything tangible; their best chance falling to O'Shea after a slick exchange with Nani down the left, before the defender's shot was bravely blocked by the retreating Paul Green.

On the half-hour mark, the visitors were made to pay as Commons unleashed a rasping drive from the edge of the area to beat Kuszczak down to his left - a superb opportunist strike, but Ferguson will have bemoaned the lack of pressure applied by his defenders.

Carlos Tevez, desperate to make his mark on proceedings, became increasingly frustrated by a lack of service and dropped deeper and deeper, leaving Danny Wellbeck isolated up-front, leaving both players despondent.

Ferguson resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes at half-time, instead waiting until the 63rd minute to employ the much-revered duo of Rooney and Ronaldo at the expense of the ineffectual Paul Scholes and Wellbeck, with Carrick introduced ten minutes later.

Two chances followed with Ronaldo the culprit on both occasions; the first, a shot from the edge of the box after a foraging run from Rafael, which drifted narrowly wide and the second a trademark free-kick, which came even closer to finding its way into the far corner of Carroll's net.

But it was Derby who had the best opportunity squandered in the 80th minute, after another incisive run and shot from Commons was parried by Kuszczak, and Hulse inexplicably skyed his follow-up shot over the bar.

Ronaldo had another free-kick which he failed to convert, while Commons latched on to substitute Gary Teale's through ball but dragged his shot wide when through on goal.

But Derby clung on to their victory and caretaker boss David Lowe boasts a perfect record from his one game in charge against the English and European champions, with The Rams taking a one-goal lead to Old Trafford for the second leg in two weeks' time.

Dan Quarrel / Eurosport

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  1. Hay fellow Man united fans.
    This is Turyabe victor in­ Uganda.
    loosing is normal in soccer. it motivates you­ to work harder so that you should not loose­ again.
    However Furguson should always be able to make­ changes earlier let say at the begining of second half­ if the game is not going well.
    when you bring in­ substitutes late, they tend to play on pressure and­ they dont pereform well.

    From Turiabe, on Thu 8 Jan 7:46AM

  2. If Derby play like that at old Traf' we can win,­ all it takes is 1 goal away from home, bring it on.

    From Tony, on Thu 8 Jan 7:38AM

  3. champions....youre having a laff...manure think they­ are special..up their own arses ..get into the real­ world youre nothing special..bet dublin kent and­ cornwall sad places today

    From andy, on Thu 8 Jan 7:27AM

  4. Im proberly in for some mud slinging here but its­ possible derby can do it!!! Portsmouth did in last­ seasons F.A Cup. Dreaming I'm sure but who knows.­ Play Up Derby and go on to turn coats team

    From mikerixon1, on Thu 8 Jan 7:24AM

  5. COME ON MAN UNITED THATS THE BEGINING OF CARLING CUP,­ SECOND LEG AT OLD TRAFFORD, PULL UR SOCKS UP 3-0 IN­ FORTH NITE

    From temee, on Thu 8 Jan 7:09AM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    MASS EXIT @ THE THEARTRE OF DOOM STARTS TO UNFOLD THE­ FUSE HAS BEEN LIT PIZZA FACE FERGIE IN A STEW AS THEM­ GLAYSERS WANT TO RECOUPE THERE DEBT MONEY AND ITS DIRE­ STRAIGHTS ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP GOOD LOOKIN TEVEZ ON­ THE SALARY AND BERBATOSSER THAT WAS GANGSTERED INTO THE­ SIDE WE ARE ALL AWARE THE EVIL RED RAGG REGIME IS HOOD­ WINKING THERE GULLABLE BLINKERED SUPPORTERS FROM­ BANGLADESHE AND PAKISTAN ALSO NOT TO MENTION­ SURREY....RISE O`H RISE THE REAL TRUE MANCHESTER CITY­ AS THINGS WILL GET BETTER AND THE SALFORD GIPSIES CAN­ GLOAT AND MOAN AND WHITTLE AWAY INTO DISPAIRE THE TIMES­ HAVE CHANGED AND NOT TO LATE R.I.P. M.U. THE SPOTLIGHT­ WILL BE ON THE MANCHESTER BLUECAMP NOW AS YOU CAN­ REMENISS AS YOU KEEP DOING C.T.I.D.

    From mcpluker, on Thu 8 Jan 7:07AM

  7. Derby have yet to face them at Old Trafford and I­ don't see Man U being knocked out

    Really..... I­ bet nobody thought of that!

    From El-Tony., on Thu 8 Jan 6:55AM

  8. Derby have yet to face them at Old Trafford and I­ don't see Man U being knocked out.

    From sappercommando25, on Thu 8 Jan 6:45AM

  9. Oh, S*#t!!!! They still have to come to Old Trafford!

    From Okechuku, on Thu 8 Jan 6:09AM

  10. Impressive display by the Rams....Hope they keep it up.­ Why do l have a feeling that it's been declared a­ Red Letter dated public holiday in Derby? One question­ for all the "One United"/ Manchester United­ haters.....did any other team in England win anything­ last season (and please don't mention Spurs and­ Portsmouth - no disrespect)? Amazing how the Arsenal­ and Liverpool fans still got stuff to say.....
    People,­ dont u just wish y'all supported Man United so at­ the least u'd have something to show at the end of­ every season? Be civil.Stop the disrespectful comments­ about the team that put English football back on the­ map of world football and is STILL managed by arguably­ the best in the business today who is Sir - to you all­ - Alex Ferguson.

    From Okechuku, on Thu 8 Jan 6:07AM

  11. Well you can't win every game... Derby deserved­ winners? Too right, again like I said about United on­ their World Club Championship triumph, hard work and­ determination, that's what Derby did, well done The­ Rams... But the 'killer', it's not over­ yet!

    From , on Thu 8 Jan 5:58AM

  12. Good job Derby. You guys really did me proud. Am an­ Arsenal fan for life and this idea of fielding young­ unripe players by ManU seems to bertay them sincerely.­ 1`d like to refer then to Arsene W. the secret behind­ fielding real young players who can actually­ deliver,...That was the goal of the year!..believe­ me..really stunning. ManU,..THIS IS MA MESSAGE TO U­ BUDDIES,..BE PREpared to be battered in the battle­ ground to avoid getting frustrated. There are many­ other INSPIRED squads out there ready to squash you­ guys!!
    Sorry for that.

    From Mutemidann, on Thu 8 Jan 5:18AM

  13. Derby beat man u. Can You imagine that world cup club­ champions were beaten by derby. This shows that they­ are no where near the great great LIVERPOOL. Ha ha

    From lisachichee, on Thu 8 Jan 5:16AM

  14. MANURE IS A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YNWA

    From elnino, on Thu 8 Jan 5:11AM

  15. mug, you're exactly what I've just said and I­ haven't even comment on the team. I guess­ you're already a manure more than I will ever be.

    From c, on Thu 8 Jan 4:27AM

  16. like someone had commented earlier..we need a better­ midfield than wat we have now.. we need a replica of­ '99..a plyr like becks who can read the play and­ make pin-point crosses..a captain lyk keano who wud­ rather get himslf redcarded than letting the opponent­ score..who wud stick into challenges..a true team­ plyr..our defence and attack are just great..itz the­ delivery tat is lacking.. we have more of show-offs in­ the team now.. not tat i dnt lyk ronaldo..bt he wastes­ a lot of possession these days thinking he is the only­ one who can dribble and score..he basicaly lacks tat­ lil "something" tat the­ messi's..fabergas's..and the beckham's­ have..he forgets abt the team!! nwez manutd..come­ on..we can do it..as a team..and only as a team!!­ manutd was never abt a single plyr..bt has been alwyz a­ grt team tat made great plyrz..please continue that­ legacy..
    -manutd4lifE

    From stanley, on Thu 8 Jan 4:17AM

  17. the better team on the day won..well done derby..manutd­ need to take every game seriously..which ever lineup we­ pt up..all need to play with a passion for­ wining..another stepping stone for us.. just bcoz v won­ evrything that came our way last yr does not assure­ anything this year..so we need to put our feets on the­ ground and work hard and play with the desire to win­ everything and keep it goin.. last yrz success doez not­ guaranty us this yrz success..i think some of our plyrz­ are a bit more relaxed this yr, unlike last yrz..SAF­ needz to giv them a tap on the shoulder and mk them­ undrstnd tat dey need to wrk hard for thr plc in the­ squad..
    -manutd4lifE

    From stanley, on Thu 8 Jan 4:02AM

  18. ccseong you should learn to know that whether you call­ us manure of champions or devils of premier league you­ make no value to yourself other than get a headache.­ After these few years of your life, you'll be­ manure. Mind your own silliness.

    From Majoser, on Thu 8 Jan 3:50AM

  19. This is like reading a kids book,all this over a game­ of football.Man utd lost and thats it.Next time either­ field a full side or take the consequences. COME ON YOU­ DERBY LOL.

    From shaun o, on Thu 8 Jan 3:25AM

  20. I can say derby deserved it, they played really well n­ some of man utd players like tevez, welbeck, gibson,­ did ntg. Its like they were not on d pitch. well dis­ season man utd nid to improve their away form! things­ wil b diff at OT though n i dun think after d 2nd leg­ derby wil win.

    From tidus520520, on Thu 8 Jan 3:18AM
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