Derby came back from a two-goal deficit to overhaul Nottingham Forest in a gripping FA Cup fourth-round replay.
Rams overhaul Midlands Rivals
Derby came back from a two-goal deficit to overhaul Nottingham Forest in a gripping FA Cup fourth-round replay.
Making sure of a winning return for boss Nigel Clough at the City Ground, the Rams showed a terrific fighting attitude to see off their East Midlands rivals.
Forest had a dream start when midfielder Chris Cohen netted on 60 seconds before Nathan Tyson doubled their advantage from the penalty spot soon after.
But County battled tremendously and were soon back in the game when Rob Hulse fired home just minutes later.
Three goals in half-an-hour were then added to by the visitors as Paul Green levelled the scoreline with a fine shot on the hour.
Kris Commons then made sure of a safe passage through for the Rams in an absolute thriller at the City Ground.
Arctic
The Arctic conditions did little to detract from the white-hot atmosphere inside the City Ground at kick-off.
And Cohen was soon to raise the noise levels by several decibels.
The midfielder collected a return pass from his own short corner and, after taking a touch to make the shooting angle more favourable, curled a left-foot shot past the unsighted Stephen Bywater from the edge of the area.
The Forest fans that jeered Commons' every touch momentarily stopped to hold their breath when his curling shot looped inches past the far post after seven minutes.
Matt Thornhill looped a header narrowly wide and Lewis McGugan stung Bywater's palms with a fiercely-struck volley before Forest extended their advantage.
Tyson broke the offside trap and raced goalwards before being tripped by Bywater as he took the ball round the Derby keeper.
Penalty
Referee Chris Foy wasted no time in pointing to the penalty spot. Bywater was shown a yellow card and was arguably fortunate not to see red after denying Tyson a clear-cut scoring opportunity as the last man.
Tyson dusted himself down, however, and fired the ball into the top corner.
Derby responded well and Commons forced Paul Smith to block a powerful shot from the right-hand side of the area midway through the first half.
The Rams halved their deficit in the 28th minute when Hulse rose unchallenged at the far post to guide Gary Teale's left-wing cross into the opposite corner.
Cohen's low shot had to be palmed away by Bywater at the start of the second half.
Equaliser
But Derby were in the ascendancy and they equalised on the hour when Green took advantage of some more statuesque Forest defending to head home another Teale cross.
A swift counter-attack almost saw Forest retake the lead four minutes later.
Tyson led the charge, collecting Smith's long throw on the halfway line before advancing to the edge of the area where he swung a low cross into the six-yard box.
But Garath McCleary did not get the desired contact and his prod goalwards hit Bywater and rolled agonisingly wide.
Green dribbled a shot narrowly wide midway through the second half before a thunderous shot from Commons - reminiscent of the one he unleashed in the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg defeat of Manchester United - cannoned back off the foot of the post.
Winner
However, Commons finally did find the net in the 73rd minute and it proved to be decisive.
The Scotland international wrong-footed Wes Morgan and created a yard of space for himself.
His shot clipped Morgan as the Forest defender tried to recover and the ball looped beyond Smith and into the far corner.
Substitute Mark Byrne had a golden opportunity to force extra-time with two minutes remaining but the youngster took a heavy touch when trying to control Morgan's cross and scuffed his far-post shot wide as Bywater closed in on him.
| Nottingham Forest |
Team Statistics |
Derby County |
| 2 |
Goals |
3 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 7 |
Corners |
6 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 50.9 |
Possession |
49.1 |
|
