Rams Move To Six Unbeaten With 2-0 Victory Over Swans

Derby County secured their first home victory of the 2020/21 season in brilliant fashion with a 2-0 victory over Swansea City.

The win moved the Rams to six games unbeaten with Wayne Rooney on the touchline as interim manager as well as earning a fourth consecutive clean sheet.

Derby burst out of the blocks and within minutes grabbed the lead as Colin Kazim-Richards poked round the Swans’ goalkeeper from close-range before Kamil Jozwiak bagged his first goal for the Rams with a superb left-footed strike late on in the opening half.

It took just three minutes for the Rams to take the lead after they were awarded a free-kick just inside the Swansea half. Graeme Shinnie sent a perfectly weighted delivery that dipped to Lee Buchanan on the edge of the area.

The full-back flicked on to Kazim-Richards to run onto fight in front of the goal. He did a subtle flick with his right foot to bent it round the keeper to break the deadlock.

A bright start almost got brighter on the 20-minute mark when Krystian Bielik set Jason Knight and his half-volley from 20-yards out rattled off the far post.

The Rams doubled their lead with just under ten minutes left to play in the half through a glorious left-footed strike by Jozwiak.

In the build-up, Nathan Byrne pinged a ball down the line to Knight. The midfielder’s cross was deflected up and into the area and Martyn Waghorn poked the loose ball into the path of the Poland international to rifle across goal and into the back of the net.

Kazim-Richards came so close to doubling his tally in the first-half’s injury time when he directed a corner from the right and headed onto the crossbar.

Meanwhile, Swansea were unable to carve out an opportunity, leaving David Marshall without having to make a save in the opening half.

The Swans made three changes at the half and came out with more of an attacking intent.

Just ahead of the hour mark, Andre Wisdom slid in to make an important block to stop a cross from the right after Jamal Lowe led an attack for the visitors.

The Rams’ first half goals were enough while the defence continued to hold strong in the second half to deny Swansea a shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.

The Rams will look to back up the victory on Saturday when they travel to South Yorkshire to face Rotherham.

Derby County: Marshall (C), Wisdom, Shinnie, Bielik, Jozwiak (Sibley, 90), Waghorn (Holmes, 73) Byrne, Kazim-Richards (Stretton, 90) , Clarke, Buchanan, Knight.

Substitutes: Roos, Forsyth, Bird, Evans, McDonald, Hector-Ingram.

Swansea City: Woodman, Bennett, Guehi, Fulton (Palmer, 45), Smith (Cullen, 82), Grimes (C), Lowe (Garrick, 61), Ayew, Roberts, Bidwell (Manning, 45), Naughton (Dhanda, 45).

Substitutes: Benda, Gyökeres, Routledge, Cabango.