Philip Cocu's wait for second win as Derby boss goes on as Cardiff's equaliser earns them a point
Derby County 1 Cardiff City 1
Phillip Cocu is still looking for his second win as Derby County manager after Neil Warnock’s Cardiff City picked up a third consecutive draw in an entertaining encounter at Pride Park that could have gone either way.
After last season’s run to the Championship play-offs under Frank Lampard, Cocu took over a club with raised expectations but the victory at Huddersfield in the first match of the new season remains his only success in seven attempts to date.
A scare that prompted a quickly-reversed stadium evacuation half an hour before kick-off - reportedly after some flares had been discovered in a concourse area - preceded a lively opening to the action on the field that saw Derby in front after six minutes and a Cardiff equaliser by the 19th.
Scott Malone, once a Cardiff player and restored at left-back in the Derby line-up after a 3-0 defeat at Brentford before the international break, gave Cocu’s side their early advantage after a flurry of goal attempts and blocks culminated in a save by goalkeeper Alex Smithies from a Tom Huddlestone effort before Martyn Waghorn scooped a loose ball back across goal for his teammate to stab home.
There were appeals for handball by Waghorn in the build-up but referee Darren England was not moved. It was the start Cocu had hoped for after five matches without a win but Cardiff, who were missing striker Lee Tomlin due to whiplash injuries sustained in a road accident, quickly tested a Derby defence in which Matt Clarke was recalled in another change, and a penalty conceded by captain Richard Keogh allowed the visitors to draw level.
It came moments after Derby felt they should have had a penalty against Sean Morrison for bringing down Waghorn. Robert Glatzel, Neil Warnock’s £5.5 million summer signing from German second-tier club Heidenheim, both won the penalty and converted it, thumping the ball into the right-hand corner for his first Cardiff goal.
There was an expansive flow to the game but as much as Derby were full of movement going forward they looked shaky at times at the back and Krystian Bielik, the former Arsenal midfielder who signed for Cocu in August, was close to an own goal as a clumsy interception of a long throw spun just wide of Kelle Roos’s left-hand post.
Derby were close to restoring their lead twice early in the second half, Jack Marriott hitting the bar with a left-foot shot from 20 yards after Cardiff gave him space to set himself, before Smithies made a fine save to deny Waghorn as the busy striker forced an opening.
Waghorn went close again as Derby began to apply sustained pressure, to which Warnock responded with a double change on the flanks, sending on Junior Hoilett and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. A sloppy pass by Keogh let in Leandro Bacuna but the midfielder could not beat Roos.
Warnock’s move prompted a better spell from Cardiff, with Hoilett posing a new threat in particular. Another Derby error, this time by Matt Clarke, allowed Mendez-Laing to break, resulting in a chance for Callum Paterson but Clarke’s teammate Max Lowe did enough to prevent a strike on target. Huddleston then managed to dispossess Hoilett just as the Canadian lined-up a shot after a Malone giveaway.
In a finish to the match as lively as the start, Tom Lawrence wasted a chance for Derby with a free kick over the bar and Clarke cleared a Glatzel header from under his own bar.
Match details
Derby County (4-2-1-3): Roos; Lowe, Keogh, Clarke, Malone; Huddlestone, Bielik; Holmes (Jozefzoon 80); Waghorn, Marriott (Martin 85), Lawrence.
Substitutes not used: Hamer (g), Paterson, Dowell, Davies, Knight
Bookings: Keogh, Lawrence.
Cardiff City (4-1-4-1): Smithies; Peltier, Morrison, Flint, Bennett; Bacuna; Whyte (Mendez-Laing 60), Paterson, Ralls, Murphy (Hoilett 60); Glatzel (Bogle 88).
Substitutes not used: Day (g), Vaulks, Vassell, Nelson.
Bookings: Peltier, Flint.
Referee: Darren England (South Yorkshire)
Attendance: 25, 873.
