Premier League quality prevents Derby progressing

Since the fourth round draw was made, the general football pundits and fans of Derby County have been awaiting this tie in anticipation. Both sides have wobbled in recent times to achieve the expectations of their fans and this would be a battle of two sides in need of picking up after poor form has cost them dear in their league status.

Follow e-Derby County on Twitter - LINK

Article by Fred Gough

Derby County [1] Manchester United [3] - Attendance: 31,134

Paul Clement made no changes to his starting eleven however there was a place on the bench for new recruit Marcus Olsson, the left back from Blackburn Rovers replaced the Birmingham City bound till the end of the season Ryan Shotton who has fallen out of favour since the start of the campaign.

The experienced Dutch coach Louis van Gaal named a strong and formidable team after telling journalists that he felt that they were preparing for his blood to be spilled should the SkyBet Championship side shock Manchester United.

It was the Red Devils who started displaying their fine touches amounting to a high possession count in the opening twenty minutes and it was little surprise that they broke past the Derby defence on numerous occasions, Anthony Martial trying his luck after neat work by former Everton duo of Marouane Fellani and Wayne Rooney before the Birmingham born Irishman Cyrus Christie had the first real attempt on goal for either side.

Sitting deep allowed Manchester United to press their hosts and it was the England captain Rooney who capitalised on the lack of quality to retain possession from Derby, patient play before curling an effort past Scott Carson.

The Rams knew Manchester United’s record against lower league opposition in cup competitions was strong, only a 1-0 defeat at home to Leeds in 2010 being the only dent on this form and it was little surprise that this was looking likely to be the end of the FA Cup road to Wembley for the home side, but a close attempt by Nick Blackman encouraged them to try and exploit the weaknesses of their tough adversaries and after a sustained spell of getting their grip on the game, they equalised.

A route one ball from goalkeeper Carson, found striker Chris Martin who punted further forward to the on rushing George Thorne who poked home the equaliser to make the away support nervous going into the half time break.

Half Time: Derby County 1 Manchester United 1

As the rain fell the more the iPro crowd could sense a belief in the Championship side, Blackman again coming close but the more ruthless openings were made by the stronger of the two clubs.

Irish central defender Richard Keogh continuing to wear a protective mask after a broken nose suffered in the defeat against Birmingham expertly blocked Rooney doubling his tally, before Fellani rose high to head straight at the former England ‘keeper Carson.

It didn’t astonish many watching the match, be it live in the stadium or on the BBC One coverage that shortly after the hour the pace of Manchester United unhooked The Rams defence once more when last season’s loanee at the iPro Stadium Jesse Lingard found Dutchman Daley Blind unmarked to calm the large following of away support.

Jacob Butterfield released by the eleven times winners of this famous competition when only a teenager attempted to be the resurgence for the home side but his long range effort failed to test David de Gea.

However the inevitable result was sealed when the impressive Martial teed up Juan Mata after running rings around Christie.

Full Time: Derby County 1 Manchester United 3

Paul Clement praised his team’s efforts and felt there was no disgrace from the way his side handled the tie.

Ultimately the quality shone through and that was why the score-line is a honest reflection of the gulf of the two clubs at this present time. Hopefully when Derby return to league action against Preston North End they will take the spirit shown in this game and the stupefying result at Turf Moor and claim their first victory in the SkyBet Championship since Boxing Day.

February on paper looks like a big month for the Rams to take their advantage of playing a lot of the steady-eddying sides in the division before coming up against Hull City in early April.

Teams:

DCFC [4-3-3] – Carson, Christie, Keogh, Shackell, Warnock (y/c - ), Thorne (Russell – 76), Ince, Butterfield, Johnson (Hendrick – 76), Blackman (Camara – 59) & Martin; Substitutes – Grant, Bryson, Hendrick, Russell, Baird, Camara & Olsson.

Manchester United – de Gea, Varela, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson, Schneiderlin (Carrick – 74), Fellani, Lingard, Mata (Herrera – 84), Martial & Rooney; Substitutes – Depay, Januzaj, Carrick, Romero, Herrera, McNair & Pereira.

© e-Media Group 2016 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of @e_media_group