Pride Park Stadium
Derby County tasted a narrow 1-0 defeat against Preston
North End at Pride Park Stadium in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday.
North End got their noses in front through Alfie Devine’s long-range effort against the run of play after half an hour.
The match saw a flurry of chances for Derby as they pressed for an equaliser in front of almost 30,000 supporters, with home debutants Ben Brereton Díaz and Patrick Agyemang coming close, but Preston’s resolve held firm to keep the score at 1-0 and claim the win despite a bright second half Rams display.
Head Coach John Eustace named an unchanged line-up and bench from the side that earned maximum points in a 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion last weekend, with Brereton Díaz, Max Johnston and Lewis Travis all making their first home appearances in black and white.
Link-up play between Brereton Díaz and Bobby Clark looked to provide a fruitful avenue for the Rams early on, but firm defensive work kept Derby at bay.
Jordan Storey had the first clear opportunity of the match in the fifth minute for the visitors. He was thwarted by a block in the penalty area after the Preston defender had risen well to meet Devine’s corner kick in a crowded penalty area.
Former Derby man Lewis Dobbin went searching for a penalty in the eighth minute after he went down under pressure from Dion Sanderson, but the defender was judged to have not impeded the Preston forward by referee Lewis Smith.
Derby mounted pressure in the 14th minute, as a well-formed attack materialised after tidy play between Callum Elder and Clark, who looked to charge into the penalty area, but he was crowded out by the Preston defence.
A cross shortly afterwards appeared to carry a threat as striker Carlton Morris leapt highest to meet it, but again the danger was cleared well by the visitors.
Elder and Brereton Díaz continued to be the lively avenue for Derby down the left flank, and sharp thinking saw the Chilean international switch the ball across the pitch to Johnston, who delivered a dangerous-looking cross that was dealt with by the opposition.
Despite the Rams’ control, a quick attack from the visitors saw them take the lead after half an hour. The ball was worked to Devine in space on the edge of the box, and his strike arrowed into the top corner to give North End the advantage in the match.
Clark had an effort blocked in the 37th minute as once again a Derby attack was met with resistance from the visitors, who aimed to take their goal lead into the half-time break.
Jacob Widell Zetterström in the Derby goal was called into action when an out-swinging low cross from the right met the boot of Preston striker Milutin Osmajić and headed low towards goal in the 40th minute - but the Swedish shot-stopper reacted fast to palm the ball away from danger.
Brereton Díaz was unleashed on goal by a flick-on from Morris in the last minute of the first half. He drove towards goalkeeper Daniel Iversen with two team-mates flanking him and opted to shoot, but was denied as the shot-stopper saved his effort.
Clark had appeals for a penalty after he went down under pressure from a Preston defender in the last moments of the half. Morris had headed Johnston’s cross down to the attacker and he looked in with a chance to shoot before the effective clearance.
Eustace made one change at the break as Agyemang came on to make his first outing at Pride Park, with Elder making way.
The attacker looked to be in with a chance soon after the restart, as Brereton Díaz played a ball over the top for Agyemang to chase, but the pass just evaded his boot.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Devine looked to replicate his earlier long-range strike, but this time Zetterström was equal to it in the Derby goal.
A delivery from Sanderson landed at the feet of Agyemang in
the 58th minute, and he twisted and turned to try and get a shot off - but the ball was nicked
away from him by a defender before he could finish.
Derby continued to drive forward and close control from Travis on the edge of the box allowed him to thread the ball from Agyemang to Forsyth, who ran into the box on the overlap. Forsyth got on the ball and nudged past one defender and then unleashed an outside-of-the-boot effort that wrapped around the wrong side of the post.
Agyemang then fashioned a shooting chance of his own in the 66th minute when he turned around Whiteman, ran on goal and hit a low effort that was saved by the boot of Iversen.
The USA international created another similar chance minutes later, this time he rounded Storey and forced a save from the goalkeeper, who parried behind for a corner.
The resulting set piece saw Derby go near yet again. The rebound found Adams and led to Johnston crossing from the left. Brereton Díaz headed the ball back across the goal into a space that invited a tap-in, but Preston cleared the danger with last-ditch defending.
The Rams’ pressure furthered as substitute Andi Weimann ran
into a promising position in the 78th minute as Agyemang held possession on the
left flank and looked to find the forward with a pass that was well-thwarted by
the Preston defence.
Lars-Jørgen Salvesen and Joe Ward were brought on with Derby searching for an equaliser in the dying stages. The game entered the last of six minutes of added time a nod-on from Salvesen found Agyemang in the box, who went to ground, but had his penalty appeals firmly waved away as North End held on for the win despite the Rams' best efforts.
Derby County: Zetterström (GK), Forsyth, Clarke, Morris, Elder (Agyemang 46), Johnston, Brereton Díaz (Salvesen 87), Travis (C), Sanderson, Adams (Ward 87), Clark (Weimann 66).
Substitutes Not Used: Vickers (GK), Batth, Ozoh, Jackson, Nyambe.
Preston North End: Iversen (GK), Valentín, Whiteman (C), McCann, Storey, Hughes, Dobbin (Armstrong 67), Gibson (Vukcevic 85), Devine (Smith 85), Small (Lindsay 74), Osmajić (Jebbison 74).
Substitutes Not Used: Walton (GK), Frøkjær, Þórðarson, Offiah.
Referee: Lewis Smith
Assistant Referees: Hugh Gilroy, Daniel Leach
Fourth Official: Simon Mather
29,143 (1,818 Preston North End supporters)
The Rams are back on the road for Sky Bet Championship action at Wrexham on Saturday 27th September (12.30pm kick-off).
