Travelsick Derby fall foul to the Adam Johnson Show

Middlesbrough 2 Derby County 0

To paraphrase BBC Five Live rather succinct summary of the game ‘Derby were so poor, it was unreal’. Such a response may not have been unexpected given Derby’s recent away form; but the Rams actually held the upper hand against Middlesbrough in the form stakes.

At no point during the ninety minutes of ‘football’ on show did Derby appear to be comfortable. The first scare came after four minutes when if it wasn’t for a block from Shaun Barker then the Rams would have almost certainly been trailing.

The current injury crisis is by far the biggest factor in Derby’s season so far; the crisis was deepened just 12 minutes in to the game as Kris Commons limped off with a recurrence of his hamstring injury. As if that wasn’t penance enough Derby soon lost Jay McEveley to a fractured cheek bone as well, the Scot getting caught during a passionate tackle.

With two enforced changes made in less than 20 minutes it is hardly surprising that the Rams looked rattled. A little over a minute later and the price had been paid. Adam Johnson by far the best man on the pitch made a little run into the Derby box, Barker caught flat-footed brought the England U21 international down leaving the referee with little choice but to award the resulting spot kick. Johnson fired his penalty straight down the middle of goal to get the game off the mark.

It took until the hour mark before either side made any other move of significance. Once again this move came from Adam Johnson, drifting in from the wing the ‘boro midfielder let fly from the edge of the box, the sweet ball flew past Bywater curling nicely into the far corner of the net.

For Derby Dickov came closest from a 30yard free kick and Teale also had a shot blocked, but in any other game these attempts would rarely garner a mention.

Derby’s away form is currently little short of abysmal, if this run continues then injury crisis or not difficult questions will have to be asked.