Pride Park Stadium
Derby County secured maximum points in the Sky Bet Championship with a 2-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday.
After a stalemate in the first period, Rhian Brewster’s fifth goal of the season put the Rams ahead at Pride Park Stadium early in the second half.
The lead was compounded in the 67th minute when Patrick Agyemang
headed himself into double figures with his 10th goal of the campaign – a towering
header from a corner.
The first chance on target of the match came when Joe Ward struck a free-kick from the edge of the area right into the bottom corner in the tenth minute and forced an excellent diving stop from Swansea goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux.
The Rams won a corner after the save deflected out, but the visitors.
Swansea looked liveliest seven minutes later when Josh Tymon carried the ball through the centre of the park to find Ji-sung Eom at the far post, whose volley attempt was sternly blocked by Ward.
Patrick Agyemang and Ben Cabango had a strong battle at the top of the field, with Derby looking to get behind on multiple occasions, but the Swans kept Derby at bay.
Swansea held possession for the majority of the first period, with Derby aiming to pounce on the counter.
Eom continued to be Swansea’s best threat as he twice took the ball on the inside right and attempted to curl on target but couldn’t find the accuracy to threaten.
Ben Brereton Díaz looked to be in behind in the 40th minute when Sam Szmodics threaded a through ball to the attacker to put him one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the offside flag went up before he could make the most of the chance.
Szmodics had the first opportunity of the second half after a sustained attack around Swansea’s box. A cross from Ward came out of the area to Szmodics, who hit a deflected effort on the half-volley to earn a corner kick.
Callum Elder’s delivery from the resulting set piece got Derby ahead. The ball in was deflected in the box and dropped onto Brewster’s head before rebounding back to him to finish from close range.
The Rams' defence had to withstand pressure after the goal; Ethan Galbraith struck a wayward shot after a quick attack from down the left saw a dangerous delivery in from Tymon. Galbraith’s skewed effort landed at Gonçalo Franco’s feet on the opposite side and
Agyemang came close when he met a ball into the box with a towering header, but Vigouroux came from his line soon enough to see the ball out for a corner.
But the American striker tried once more, and this time was successful as he rose and bullet the ball into the net with another headed goal for him - his tenth total Championship goal for the club.
A flowing move down the right nearly saw substitute Bobby Clark notch in the 76th minute, as Szmodics played a neat combination with Brereton Díaz to cross into Clark, whose attempt was thwarted by a strong block inside the penalty area.
Derby came close to a third goal from a corner. Agyemang rose highest again in the 83rd minute, but this time Vigouroux was equal to it and made a diving stop.
The game remained at 2-0 as the Rams saw out the closing stages to take three points on home turf.
Derby County: Vickers (GK), Clarke (C), Agyemang, Brewster (Clark 72), Ozoh, Szmodics (Banel), Elder, Ward, Brereton Díaz (Morris 90+3), Sanderson, Fraulo (Thompson 72).
Unused Substitutes: O’Donnell (GK), Murkin, Forsyth, Batth.
Swansea City: Vigouroux (GK), Cabango, Stamenic, Vipotnik, Eom (Nunes 65), Tymon, Burgess, Franco (Yalcouyé 77), Cullen (Walta 65), Galbraith, Ronald (Widell 77).
Unused Substitutes: Fisher (GK), Key, Fulton, Samuels-Smith, Ward.
27,841 (including 1,063 Swansea Supporters)
The Rams will head out on the road on Saturday 21st February to face Watford in the Sky Bet Championship at Vicarage Road (3pm kick-off).
