Nottingham Forest vs Derby County. Sky Bet Championship.
The City Ground.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at the City Ground
Saturday 24 October 2020 07:13, UK
Kamil Jozwiak had a late strike ruled out as Derby were denied a much-needed victory in a 1-1 East Midlands derby draw with Nottingham Forest.
Chasing their second league win of the season, Phillip Cocu's men took the lead in style through Martyn Waghorn's beautiful free-kick (30), but Lyle Taylor levelled with his first goal since joining Forest (64).
There were impassioned celebrations when Poland international Jozwiak arrowed into the bottom left corner, but these were quickly halted by referee Tony Harrington, with Waghorn blocking goalkeeper Brice Samba's line of sight as the shot came in.
The Rams have subsequently swapped places with Barnsley, who drop into the relegation zone ahead of Saturday's clash with Millwall, while Forest sit just a point and a place ahead of their rivals.
For the first time since taking charge on October 6, Forest boss Chris Hughton partnered Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor in attack. It was Ryan Yates, however, who posed the greater threat, with the midfielder's diving header one of the hosts' better openings.
Chances came at a premium and it was from a set-piece the deadlock was broken. Waghorn stepped up after Jason Knight was fouled 20 yards out and bent a sublime free-kick over the wall and in via the crossbar.
It should have been 2-0 shortly after when Graeme Shinnie fired into Brice Samba's midriff and Derby were made to pay when Taylor swept home an equaliser after substitute Anthony Knockaert's corner had caused panic in the penalty area.
With less than 15 minutes to play, the visitors thought they had all but secured a first East Midlands derby in over three years when Jozwiak collected Tom Lawrence's square ball and tucked a shot into the bottom corner. But after some deliberation, the officials chalked the strike off due to Waghorn's position.
Derby manager Phillip Cocu...
"It was brilliant what he gave us today after a long time out with injury. A lot of energy, kept the ball and scored a great goal. He can play as a striker but he can also change his position and I think that gave us a lot in most of the game. I'm happy he's back."
Nottingham Forest's Chris Hughton: "We started slow against a Derby team that played a 5-4-1 and broke really well off of that. They've got some good, young, talented players that can receive the ball in tight spaces and it was for us to break them down. We certainly weren't able to do that well enough in the first half.
"I don't think it's going a goal behind that allows us to be a better team in the second half, I just think in our last two games, we haven't dealt with the first half as well we have the second. It's about scoring goals for us. In midweek, we had enough chances to win a couple of games, but I'm still very much learning about this group of lads."
Derby's Phillip Cocu: "I'm not happy because I think victory was stolen from us. That's very clear. In football, you have to look at your own performance. I try to do it and I'm quite open when I'm not pleased with a performance. I don't like to talk about the referees every time but they make me do it. If you see Forest's goal, it's an exact copy of our second goal but one is a goal, the other is not a goal.
"It's a big frustration but I think we played a real good game. It was a great first half. In the second half, we knew they'd push us back a little bit more but we held up ok without having a lot of possession. I'm happy that we have a point after two defeats but I think it says enough that I'm really not pleased at this time."
Both sides are next in action at 7.45pm on Wednesday October 28. Nottingham Forest travel to Kenilworth Road to take on Luton, while Derby take on Cardiff at the Cardiff City Stadium. Both fixtures are available to watch on Sky Sports Football Red Button.
